Max Lucado Daily: God Came Near
God Came Near
Posted: 28 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
We are eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16, RSV
God came near. To be seen.
And ... those who saw him were never the same. “We saw his glory” exclaimed one follower. “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty,” whispered a martyr…
Christianity, in its purest form, is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating him whom we see.
Job 30
1 "But now they mock me,
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed [a] the parched land
in desolate wastelands at night.
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,
and their food [b] was the root of the broom tree.
5 They were banished from their fellow men,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They brayed among the bushes
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,
they were driven out of the land.
9 "And now their sons mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.
10 They detest me and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right the tribe [c] attacks;
they lay snares for my feet,
they build their siege ramps against me.
13 They break up my road;
they succeed in destroying me—
without anyone's helping them. [d]
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors overwhelm me;
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16 "And now my life ebbs away;
days of suffering grip me.
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.
18 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me [e] ;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
20 "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;
with the might of your hand you attack me.
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
you toss me about in the storm.
23 I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.
24 "Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.
27 The churning inside me never stops;
days of suffering confront me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother of jackals,
a companion of owls.
30 My skin grows black and peels;
my body burns with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to mourning,
and my flute to the sound of wailing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Truth Or Error?
October 29, 2010 — by Anne Cetas
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God. —2 Timothy 2:15
Steve often witnesses to his co- workers. But when he mentions something directly from the Bible, someone frequently responds: “Wait! That was written by men, and it’s full of errors just like any other book.”
The following letter to the editor in our local newspaper expresses a similar thought: “Believers cite that the Word of God is infallible, but I see no apparent reason to believe that the words written in the Bible by man are any more infallible than the words written in a science journal by man.”
How do we respond when the Scriptures are so readily dismissed as being just man’s words with errors? Most of us aren’t biblical scholars and may not have an answer. But if we do some reading (2 Tim. 2:15), we’ll find the evidence that it’s God-inspired (3:16) and therefore trustworthy.
For example, consider this: Over a period of 1,600 years, 40 different authors wrote the 66 books of the Bible. There were 400 silent years between the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 of the New Testament. Yet, Genesis to Revelation tell one unified story.
While we accept the Bible by faith, there’s plenty of evidence that it’s true. Let’s be diligent to study and share what we learn with others.
For Further Study
To understand more about why we can trust the Bible, read Can I Really Trust The Bible?
at www.discoveryseries.org/q0402
In a skeptical world you can trust God’s reliable Word.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 29th, 2010
Substitution
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him —2 Corinthians 5:21
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made. . . to be sin. . . .” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9 , where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (seeGalatians 4:19).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Being Someone's Miracle - #6210
Friday, October 29, 2010
My fascination started at a historic old life-saving station on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was there I learned about the heroism of the crews who once manned those life-saving stations all along the maritime Atlantic coast. Their heroism actually gave birth to what we know today as the United States Coast Guard. Their motto says it all: "So others may live." Some of that modern-day heroism was portrayed in a recent movie called "The Guardian." It's a story about that elite group of 280 men and women known as rescue swimmers - the first responders who jump from choppers into violent seas to rescue people who would otherwise die there. Now in the movie, a veteran rescuer shows a film of a burning ship from which he helped to rescue some desperate crewmen. He frames the essence of their mission in these sobering words: "They're looking for a miracle to save them. You have to find a way to be that miracle."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Being Someone's Miracle."
Now, I can just imagine Jesus saying those words to me and to you about the people who are part of our lives day after day. "They're looking for a miracle to save them, and you have to find a way to be that miracle." Because they are, in God's words from the Bible, "lost" (Luke 19:10 ), "condemned" (John 3:18 ), "those who are being led away to death" (Proverbs 24:16 ), and "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12 ).
The folks around you may not realize they're dying spiritually. But they do know that something's missing, that life isn't working, that they don't have personal peace, or that they are living as one writer said, "lives of quiet desperation." They need a miracle to save them - they need a miracle with skin on. Someone close enough to rescue them from a life and an eternity without Christ. A spiritual rescuer who will take whatever risks necessary to bring them to the real Rescuer, Jesus Christ.
They need you. Just as another man in need of a miracle needed the people who could get him to Jesus. Their story is in Mark 2 , beginning with verse 3, it's our word for today from the Word of God. And in many ways, it's your story and the story of someone you know who has never met Jesus. "Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus, because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was on. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'" Later He told the paralyzed man to take up his mat and walk, and the miracle man "walked out in full view of them all."
But no life-changing miracle can happen unless someone cares enough about him to get him to Jesus. You know people like that, and you've been placed in their life to be God's designated bringer. It starts when you ask God for the passion of those four, through-the-roof friends, "I've got to get him to Jesus whatever it takes."
What does it mean to be their miracle? You pray daily for God to open up natural opportunities for you to talk about Jesus. Then you look for those opportunities as you go through your day. Don't count on getting them to a meeting; you need to reach them where they are. Use the power of your personal hope story to open their heart...your story of the difference that Jesus is making in your life. Most of all, pray every day by name for the lost people that God has planted around you.
Yes, you'll be afraid. Yes, there will be obstacles. Yes, it may take a lot of patience and perseverance. But lives are at stake - every bit as much as they are for those people going down in those stormy seas. They need a miracle to save them. Find a way to be that miracle!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Matthew 13, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Miracles Await
Miracles Await
Posted: 27 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Don’t judge other people or you will be judged. Matthew 7:1
Rather than see the man born blind as an opportunity for discussion, Jesus saw him as an opportunity for God. Why was he blind? “So God’s power could be shown in him” (John 9:3).
What a perspective! The man wasn’t a victim of fate; he was a miracle waiting to happen. Jesus didn’t label him. He helped him. Jesus was more concerned about the future than the past.
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'[a] 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
The Parable of the Weeds
24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Emergency Kit
October 28, 2010
Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. —Ephesians 6:13
For a dozen years, I took an auto emergency kit on every long driving trip but never had to use it. It became such a familiar item that on the night we really needed it, I forgot it was there. But fortunately my wife remembered.
After hitting a deer on a dark rural highway, our van was completely disabled. While I fumbled with a small flashlight to assess the damage and call a tow truck, my wife opened the emergency kit, set out a reflective warning marker, then turned on the bright flashlight, much to my surprise. Later we talked about how a crisis can cause us to forget the resources we have, just when we need them most.
Paul urged the Ephesians to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). This protective covering includes truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, and prayer (vv.14-18). Although these spiritual resources guard us each day, we need to remember them when disaster strikes and the enemy tries to undermine our confidence in God’s love and care.
Use the kit. “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (v.13). —David McCasland
When Satan launches his attack,
We must take heart and pray;
If we submit ourselves to God,
He’ll be our strength and stay. —Sper
God provides the armor, but we must put it on.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 28th, 2010
Justification by Faith
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life —Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Paved-Over Problems - #6209
Thursday, October 28, 2010
If you travel America's interstate highways much, you've seen lots of cars, lots of scenery, and lots of road kills. Yes, many animals still think they can beat the cars that are storming down the highway - and they're wrong. They end up as those carcasses we see by the edge of the road. It must be a full-time job just picking up all those road kills. At one spot on an interstate in Pennsylvania, they didn't pick up one of them. The news reported that a paving crew found a dead deer in their path and they didn't remove it. They just paved right over it! Great! No one could see it now, but they sure felt it!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Paved-Over Problems."
It may seem unbelievable that people actually paved over an obstacle in the road. But don't be surprised, it happens all the time - in human relationships. Instead of dealing with a conflict or a problem, we just pave over it. But everyone's still going to keep hitting that bump in the road. And it's going to keep causing problems until you get it out in the open and get rid of it.
God has never been a fan of paving over problems. Throughout the Bible, He consistently tells us to do quick repairs, to deal with things while they're small, to face issues rather than burying them. For example, in Ephesians 4 , beginning with verse 26, our word for today from the Word of God, He says: "In your anger do not sin." Notice - God recognizes there will be times when we get angry, but there's a way to keep that from becoming a hurtful sin. "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."
Don't pave over the disagreement or the hurt. Deal with it right away while it's small, before you stuff it and give the devil something he can turn into bitterness and resentment. In fact, the very next verse says: "And do not give the devil a foothold." A few verses later, God commands us to deal aggressively with any "road kill" that we might be tempted to just pave over. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
I know of no way to get rid of hard feelings and hurts and conflicts without getting them out in the open where you can face them and deal with them. Sometimes that means taking the risk of confronting; "speaking the truth in love," as the Bible says. Even here, we're told in Ephesians how to - and not to - do it: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up." You confront in a building up way; not a tearing down way. First, gently explain how you feel, recognizing that your feelings might be wrong. Let them explain what they meant to say or do - often understanding eliminates the issue. Extend to that person who hurt you the same undeserved forgiveness that Jesus extended to you. Then work together on steps that can help you walk together in harmony from here.
The things you've tried to bury are like ticking time bombs or toxic waste dumps. The longer you wait to deal with them, the bigger and deeper they will grow. Peace at any price usually means just war postponed...and bigger than it would have been if you had dealt with it sooner. How many marriages could have been saved, how many family relationships could have been saved, how many friendships, ministries, churches could have been spared devastating hurts and divisions if only someone had refused to pave over what should have been confronted and removed. Allow me to suggest a good time to do that in your life - today!
Miracles Await
Posted: 27 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Don’t judge other people or you will be judged. Matthew 7:1
Rather than see the man born blind as an opportunity for discussion, Jesus saw him as an opportunity for God. Why was he blind? “So God’s power could be shown in him” (John 9:3).
What a perspective! The man wasn’t a victim of fate; he was a miracle waiting to happen. Jesus didn’t label him. He helped him. Jesus was more concerned about the future than the past.
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'[a] 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
The Parable of the Weeds
24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Emergency Kit
October 28, 2010
Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. —Ephesians 6:13
For a dozen years, I took an auto emergency kit on every long driving trip but never had to use it. It became such a familiar item that on the night we really needed it, I forgot it was there. But fortunately my wife remembered.
After hitting a deer on a dark rural highway, our van was completely disabled. While I fumbled with a small flashlight to assess the damage and call a tow truck, my wife opened the emergency kit, set out a reflective warning marker, then turned on the bright flashlight, much to my surprise. Later we talked about how a crisis can cause us to forget the resources we have, just when we need them most.
Paul urged the Ephesians to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). This protective covering includes truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, and prayer (vv.14-18). Although these spiritual resources guard us each day, we need to remember them when disaster strikes and the enemy tries to undermine our confidence in God’s love and care.
Use the kit. “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (v.13). —David McCasland
When Satan launches his attack,
We must take heart and pray;
If we submit ourselves to God,
He’ll be our strength and stay. —Sper
God provides the armor, but we must put it on.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 28th, 2010
Justification by Faith
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life —Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Paved-Over Problems - #6209
Thursday, October 28, 2010
If you travel America's interstate highways much, you've seen lots of cars, lots of scenery, and lots of road kills. Yes, many animals still think they can beat the cars that are storming down the highway - and they're wrong. They end up as those carcasses we see by the edge of the road. It must be a full-time job just picking up all those road kills. At one spot on an interstate in Pennsylvania, they didn't pick up one of them. The news reported that a paving crew found a dead deer in their path and they didn't remove it. They just paved right over it! Great! No one could see it now, but they sure felt it!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Paved-Over Problems."
It may seem unbelievable that people actually paved over an obstacle in the road. But don't be surprised, it happens all the time - in human relationships. Instead of dealing with a conflict or a problem, we just pave over it. But everyone's still going to keep hitting that bump in the road. And it's going to keep causing problems until you get it out in the open and get rid of it.
God has never been a fan of paving over problems. Throughout the Bible, He consistently tells us to do quick repairs, to deal with things while they're small, to face issues rather than burying them. For example, in Ephesians 4 , beginning with verse 26, our word for today from the Word of God, He says: "In your anger do not sin." Notice - God recognizes there will be times when we get angry, but there's a way to keep that from becoming a hurtful sin. "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."
Don't pave over the disagreement or the hurt. Deal with it right away while it's small, before you stuff it and give the devil something he can turn into bitterness and resentment. In fact, the very next verse says: "And do not give the devil a foothold." A few verses later, God commands us to deal aggressively with any "road kill" that we might be tempted to just pave over. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
I know of no way to get rid of hard feelings and hurts and conflicts without getting them out in the open where you can face them and deal with them. Sometimes that means taking the risk of confronting; "speaking the truth in love," as the Bible says. Even here, we're told in Ephesians how to - and not to - do it: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up." You confront in a building up way; not a tearing down way. First, gently explain how you feel, recognizing that your feelings might be wrong. Let them explain what they meant to say or do - often understanding eliminates the issue. Extend to that person who hurt you the same undeserved forgiveness that Jesus extended to you. Then work together on steps that can help you walk together in harmony from here.
The things you've tried to bury are like ticking time bombs or toxic waste dumps. The longer you wait to deal with them, the bigger and deeper they will grow. Peace at any price usually means just war postponed...and bigger than it would have been if you had dealt with it sooner. How many marriages could have been saved, how many family relationships could have been saved, how many friendships, ministries, churches could have been spared devastating hurts and divisions if only someone had refused to pave over what should have been confronted and removed. Allow me to suggest a good time to do that in your life - today!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Job 29, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Ambition
Ambition
Posted: 26 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. Job 28:28, NKJV
Ambition is that grit in the soul that creates disenchantment with the ordinary and puts the dare into dreams.
But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige; a roaring hunger for achievement that devours people as a lion devours an animal, leaving behind only the skeletal remains of relationships ...
God won’t tolerate it.
Job 29
1 Job continued his discourse:
2 "How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,
3 when his lamp shone upon my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
6 when my path was drenched with cream
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
7 "When I went to the gate of the city
and took my seat in the public square,
8 the young men saw me and stepped aside
and the old men rose to their feet;
9 the chief men refrained from speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,
12 because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
13 The man who was dying blessed me;
I made the widow's heart sing.
14 I put on righteousness as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy;
I took up the case of the stranger.
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims from their teeth.
18 "I thought, 'I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
19 My roots will reach to the water,
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
20 My glory will remain fresh in me,
the bow ever new in my hand.'
21 "Men listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
my words fell gently on their ears.
23 They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face was precious to them. [d]
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;
I dwelt as a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Judges 16:4-17
4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."
6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."
7 Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.
9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."
11 He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."
12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
13 Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied." He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric
14 and tightened it with the pin. Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
15 Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength."
16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.
17 So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."
A Lock Of Hair
October 27, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
The Lord . . . [shows] Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. —2 Chronicles 16:9
After his return from the moon, Neil Armstrong was often plagued by the media. Seeking greater privacy, he moved his family into a small town. But notoriety was a nuisance even there. Armstrong’s barber found out that people would pay good money to get a lock of his hair. So after giving the space hero several haircuts, he sold the clippings to a buyer for $3,000! Armstrong was shocked at the barber’s opportunism.
The Scriptures tell of another story of disloyalty and a haircut. As a symbol of God’s calling of Samson as a Nazirite, he was never to cut his hair (Judg. 13:5). When the Spirit of God came upon him, he was given super-human strength over his enemies (15:14). Wanting to overpower him, the Philistines hired Delilah, a woman who had a relationship with him, to find out the secret of that strength. He foolishly told her that his power would be gone if his hair were cut. She lulled him to sleep and had him shorn (16:5,19).
Greed can drive us to be disloyal to others and to God, causing us to make sinful choices. Our desire should be to exhibit a heart that is fully committed to love the Lord and others. He shows “Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).
O Lord, may my heart be loyal to You
In all that I say and all that I do;
When a trusted person is not a true friend,
I know that on You I can always depend. —Hess
Loyalty is the test of true love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 27th, 2010
The Method of Missions
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . —Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go . . . make disciples of all the nations . . . .” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me . . . . Gotherefore. . .” (Matthew 28:18-19).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The High Price of Saving Your Life - #6208
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Just another day on the subways of New York. That's what Wesley Autrey thought it was going to be as he waited for the next train with his two young daughters. There it was - the light of the approaching subway. Suddenly, a young man near him stumbled off the platform and fell onto the tracks below. Later, that 19-year-old's family said it was because of a recurring medical problem he had. With the subway approaching, Wesley Autrey made his choice. He dove on top of the fallen man and rolled him into the drainage trough between the tracks. Then he threw his body on top of the young man, forcing him to stay down. It was too late for the subway to stop. The train ran right over the spot where one man was literally laying his life on the line for another man. The subway missed them by two inches.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The High Price of Saving Your Life."
Every national newscast used the same word to describe Wesley Autrey that night: hero. He really was. The young man's parents believe he's alive today because of one man who put himself between their son and what would have killed him. Clearly, the rescuer was willing to give his life so someone else could live.
I'm alive today because of a hero who did that for me; except it cost Him His life for me to live. That Rescuer is, of course, Jesus. In all the meetings and creeds and denominations and beliefs, it's easy to miss what Jesus is really all about. When the blockbuster movie, The Passion of the Christ, came out, it took millions of people back to before there was a Christianity - to when it was just Christ being beaten and butchered and crucified on a bloody cross. He could have called thousands of angels to rescue Him, but He refused to be rescued because He was rescuing me. He was rescuing you. He was rescuing a world of us who have broken God's laws and deserve the hell that's the penalty for it.
That's the Jesus that comes knocking on the door of your heart this very day. He's giving you an opportunity to open your life to the only One who can rescue you from the death penalty for your sin. He died so you don't have to. You need to hear what He Himself says about His love for you and the price He paid for you because He does.
He talked about it in John 10 , beginning with verse 11, our word for today from the Word of God. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep...I lay down My life...No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord." Jesus wasn't a victim of religious leaders or Roman executioners. He created those people. He created the tree they nailed Him to. They didn't take His life; He gave His life. And here's the part you must not miss. He gave it for you. He put Himself between you and the judgment of Almighty God, and He took it for you. The Bible sums it up in eight powerful words: "Jesus Christ laid down His life for us." You might as well put your in that verse. "Jesus Christ laid down His life for (and there's your name)." Or, "Jesus Christ laid down His life for me."
It doesn't make sense to ignore this Rescuer or to push Him away. On His behalf, I beg you, let Jesus rescue you! He did all He could do so you could live, but it's your move now. He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead, and He's knocking on the door of your heart this very day. Tell Him, "Jesus, I have no hope but You. I can't just sit here when You gave Your life for me. I'm turning from my sin to embrace You as my Rescuer from my sin."
If that's what you want, I want to offer you whatever encouragement we can give you at this crossroads moment in your life. We've actually set up our website to be a place where you can go and check out a simple explanation of how to get started with Jesus. I want to invite you to go there today. It's yoursforlife.net.
See no one has ever loved you like Jesus has. This is the day you can have that love; the day that you belong to the One who loves you the most.
Ambition
Posted: 26 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. Job 28:28, NKJV
Ambition is that grit in the soul that creates disenchantment with the ordinary and puts the dare into dreams.
But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige; a roaring hunger for achievement that devours people as a lion devours an animal, leaving behind only the skeletal remains of relationships ...
God won’t tolerate it.
Job 29
1 Job continued his discourse:
2 "How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,
3 when his lamp shone upon my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
6 when my path was drenched with cream
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
7 "When I went to the gate of the city
and took my seat in the public square,
8 the young men saw me and stepped aside
and the old men rose to their feet;
9 the chief men refrained from speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,
12 because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
13 The man who was dying blessed me;
I made the widow's heart sing.
14 I put on righteousness as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy;
I took up the case of the stranger.
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims from their teeth.
18 "I thought, 'I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
19 My roots will reach to the water,
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
20 My glory will remain fresh in me,
the bow ever new in my hand.'
21 "Men listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
my words fell gently on their ears.
23 They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face was precious to them. [d]
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;
I dwelt as a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Judges 16:4-17
4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."
6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."
7 Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man."
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.
9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."
11 He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."
12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
13 Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied." He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric
14 and tightened it with the pin. Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
15 Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength."
16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.
17 So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."
A Lock Of Hair
October 27, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
The Lord . . . [shows] Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. —2 Chronicles 16:9
After his return from the moon, Neil Armstrong was often plagued by the media. Seeking greater privacy, he moved his family into a small town. But notoriety was a nuisance even there. Armstrong’s barber found out that people would pay good money to get a lock of his hair. So after giving the space hero several haircuts, he sold the clippings to a buyer for $3,000! Armstrong was shocked at the barber’s opportunism.
The Scriptures tell of another story of disloyalty and a haircut. As a symbol of God’s calling of Samson as a Nazirite, he was never to cut his hair (Judg. 13:5). When the Spirit of God came upon him, he was given super-human strength over his enemies (15:14). Wanting to overpower him, the Philistines hired Delilah, a woman who had a relationship with him, to find out the secret of that strength. He foolishly told her that his power would be gone if his hair were cut. She lulled him to sleep and had him shorn (16:5,19).
Greed can drive us to be disloyal to others and to God, causing us to make sinful choices. Our desire should be to exhibit a heart that is fully committed to love the Lord and others. He shows “Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).
O Lord, may my heart be loyal to You
In all that I say and all that I do;
When a trusted person is not a true friend,
I know that on You I can always depend. —Hess
Loyalty is the test of true love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 27th, 2010
The Method of Missions
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . —Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go . . . make disciples of all the nations . . . .” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me . . . . Gotherefore. . .” (Matthew 28:18-19).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The High Price of Saving Your Life - #6208
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Just another day on the subways of New York. That's what Wesley Autrey thought it was going to be as he waited for the next train with his two young daughters. There it was - the light of the approaching subway. Suddenly, a young man near him stumbled off the platform and fell onto the tracks below. Later, that 19-year-old's family said it was because of a recurring medical problem he had. With the subway approaching, Wesley Autrey made his choice. He dove on top of the fallen man and rolled him into the drainage trough between the tracks. Then he threw his body on top of the young man, forcing him to stay down. It was too late for the subway to stop. The train ran right over the spot where one man was literally laying his life on the line for another man. The subway missed them by two inches.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The High Price of Saving Your Life."
Every national newscast used the same word to describe Wesley Autrey that night: hero. He really was. The young man's parents believe he's alive today because of one man who put himself between their son and what would have killed him. Clearly, the rescuer was willing to give his life so someone else could live.
I'm alive today because of a hero who did that for me; except it cost Him His life for me to live. That Rescuer is, of course, Jesus. In all the meetings and creeds and denominations and beliefs, it's easy to miss what Jesus is really all about. When the blockbuster movie, The Passion of the Christ, came out, it took millions of people back to before there was a Christianity - to when it was just Christ being beaten and butchered and crucified on a bloody cross. He could have called thousands of angels to rescue Him, but He refused to be rescued because He was rescuing me. He was rescuing you. He was rescuing a world of us who have broken God's laws and deserve the hell that's the penalty for it.
That's the Jesus that comes knocking on the door of your heart this very day. He's giving you an opportunity to open your life to the only One who can rescue you from the death penalty for your sin. He died so you don't have to. You need to hear what He Himself says about His love for you and the price He paid for you because He does.
He talked about it in John 10 , beginning with verse 11, our word for today from the Word of God. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep...I lay down My life...No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord." Jesus wasn't a victim of religious leaders or Roman executioners. He created those people. He created the tree they nailed Him to. They didn't take His life; He gave His life. And here's the part you must not miss. He gave it for you. He put Himself between you and the judgment of Almighty God, and He took it for you. The Bible sums it up in eight powerful words: "Jesus Christ laid down His life for us." You might as well put your in that verse. "Jesus Christ laid down His life for (and there's your name)." Or, "Jesus Christ laid down His life for me."
It doesn't make sense to ignore this Rescuer or to push Him away. On His behalf, I beg you, let Jesus rescue you! He did all He could do so you could live, but it's your move now. He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead, and He's knocking on the door of your heart this very day. Tell Him, "Jesus, I have no hope but You. I can't just sit here when You gave Your life for me. I'm turning from my sin to embrace You as my Rescuer from my sin."
If that's what you want, I want to offer you whatever encouragement we can give you at this crossroads moment in your life. We've actually set up our website to be a place where you can go and check out a simple explanation of how to get started with Jesus. I want to invite you to go there today. It's yoursforlife.net.
See no one has ever loved you like Jesus has. This is the day you can have that love; the day that you belong to the One who loves you the most.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Job 28, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: A Holy Gift
A Holy Gift
Posted: 25 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. I Peter 2:24
In an act that broke the heart of the Father, yet honored the holiness of heaven, sin-purging judgment flowed over the sinless Son of the ages.
And heaven gave earth her finest gift. The Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.
“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” Why did Christ scream those words?
So you’ll never have to.
Job 28
1 "There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness;
he searches the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.
4 Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft,
in places forgotten by the foot of man;
far from men he dangles and sways.
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;
6 sapphires [a] come from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon's eye has seen it.
8 Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.
9 Man's hand assaults the flinty rock
and lays bare the roots of the mountains.
10 He tunnels through the rock;
his eyes see all its treasures.
11 He searches [b] the sources of the rivers
and brings hidden things to light.
12 "But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
13 Man does not comprehend its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, 'It is not in me';
the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.
20 "Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.
22 Destruction [c] and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
28 And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.' "
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 15:1-8
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Declaration Of Dependence
October 26, 2010 — by Philip Yancey
Without Me you can do nothing. —John 15:5
Adults celebrate when children learn to do something on their own: get dressed, brush their teeth, tie shoelaces, ride a bike, walk to school.
As adults, we like to pay our own way, live in our own houses, make our own decisions, rely on no outside help. Faced with an unexpected challenge, we seek out “self-help” books. All the while we are systematically sealing off the heart attitude most desirable to God and most descriptive of our true state in the universe. It’s what Jesus told His disciples: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
The truth is that we live in a web of dependence, at the center of which is God, in whom all things hold together. Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby settled on the single word helplessness as the best summary of the heart attitude that God accepts as prayer. He said, “Only he who is helpless can truly pray.”
Most parents feel a pang when the child outgrows dependence, even while knowing the growth to be healthy and normal. With God, the rules change. We never outgrow dependence, and to the extent we think we do, we delude ourselves. Prayer is our declaration of dependence upon the Lord.
Give Him each perplexing problem,
All your needs to Him make known;
Bring to Him your daily burdens—
Never carry them alone! —Adams
Pray as if your life depended upon it. It does!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 26th, 2010
What is a Missionary?
Jesus said to them again, ’. . . As the Father has sent Me, I also send you’ —John 20:21
A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and to His perspective is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, that every power of the mind falters and fails. We tend to forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary work is not primarily the elevation of the people, their education, nor their needs, but is first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ— “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .” (Matthew 28:19).
When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say, “What wonderfully keen and intelligent wisdom they had, and how perfectly they understood all that God wanted!” But the keen and intelligent mind behind them was the mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the divine guidance of God being exhibited through childlike people who were “foolish” enough to trust God’s wisdom and His supernatural equipment.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Survivors to the Rescue - #6207
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Each season in the U.S. seems to bring its beauty and its unique dangers. In the spring, think tornado, for example. In the summer and fall, some of us know what the word hurricane is all about. In the mountains in winter, it's important to be aware that with that season's snowy beauty may also come the danger of deadly avalanches. Every winter, we hear about some people who lose their lives as massive chunks of snow suddenly break loose and roar down the mountain. But every once in a while, we hear about lives saved. A few years ago, the rescuers were there not long after an avalanche, and they immediately started digging for survivors. In minutes, they pulled out one skier who was not only grateful to be saved, but in remarkably good shape for what he had been through. And the news reported that after that man was rescued, he didn't just head for a warm place to recover. He joined the rescuers, working side by side with them to save other lives. And they did!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Survivors to the Rescue."
A person is saved from a deadly situation and they instinctively go back to help save someone else. That's exactly how lives are saved eternally. The rescued are supposed to turn around and be the rescuers. When they're not, they make it out, but they leave others to perish. It's not supposed to be that way.
If someone rescued you spiritually by telling you about Jesus Christ, then the eight words in our word for today from the Word of God are personal orders from God to you. Jude, verse 23, simply says, "Snatch others from the fire and save them." The implication - you got snatched from the fire, now go back and get someone else.
That was instinctive for Andrew the day he met Christ. The Bible says, "The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah'...and he brought him to Jesus" (John 1:41-42 ). And Simon became the great leader of the apostles. My guess is that when you first discovered the love of Jesus for yourself, you had that Andrew instinct. You knew you had found something you could not keep to yourself. You may not have done the best job of explaining Jesus at that point, but you just knew that people you cared about had to have the same chance that you had. That's how the rescue work of Jesus has gone on for 2,000 years - rescued people becoming rescuers of others.
But as time has gone by, have you become content to just find a warm spot among other people who are already headed for heaven; to believe the beliefs, give the money, be at the meetings, and live as if the reason you were rescued is to enjoy the fellowship of the others who've been rescued? No, you were rescued to rescue.
Oh, we have our excuses for our silence about our Savior. "I'm afraid, I'm inadequate, I'm imperfect, I don't know enough, I might mess it up." Well, look at who Jesus used to bring an entire Samaritan village to Him - a woman with the worst reputation in town, a woman who had just met Jesus, but she knew enough to say, "Come see a Man" (John 4:29 ). Come and check out Jesus. If Christ could use her to be His ambassador to her tribe, He can surely use you to be His ambassador to yours. They'll listen to you because you walk the same trail they do - much more than they might listen to some "professional rescuer" who's from outside their world.
Hundreds of people were rescued from the sinking Titanic by being put in lifeboats. But those same people refused to turn those lifeboats around to rescue the people who were in the lifejackets in the water, even though many lifeboats were half empty. And 328 people died because the people who had been rescued did nothing about the people who were dying. There are too many like them in the lifeboat "Jesus." Please don't be one of them.
A Holy Gift
Posted: 25 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. I Peter 2:24
In an act that broke the heart of the Father, yet honored the holiness of heaven, sin-purging judgment flowed over the sinless Son of the ages.
And heaven gave earth her finest gift. The Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.
“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” Why did Christ scream those words?
So you’ll never have to.
Job 28
1 "There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness;
he searches the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.
4 Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft,
in places forgotten by the foot of man;
far from men he dangles and sways.
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;
6 sapphires [a] come from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon's eye has seen it.
8 Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.
9 Man's hand assaults the flinty rock
and lays bare the roots of the mountains.
10 He tunnels through the rock;
his eyes see all its treasures.
11 He searches [b] the sources of the rivers
and brings hidden things to light.
12 "But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
13 Man does not comprehend its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, 'It is not in me';
the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.
20 "Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.
22 Destruction [c] and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
28 And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.' "
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 15:1-8
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Declaration Of Dependence
October 26, 2010 — by Philip Yancey
Without Me you can do nothing. —John 15:5
Adults celebrate when children learn to do something on their own: get dressed, brush their teeth, tie shoelaces, ride a bike, walk to school.
As adults, we like to pay our own way, live in our own houses, make our own decisions, rely on no outside help. Faced with an unexpected challenge, we seek out “self-help” books. All the while we are systematically sealing off the heart attitude most desirable to God and most descriptive of our true state in the universe. It’s what Jesus told His disciples: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
The truth is that we live in a web of dependence, at the center of which is God, in whom all things hold together. Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby settled on the single word helplessness as the best summary of the heart attitude that God accepts as prayer. He said, “Only he who is helpless can truly pray.”
Most parents feel a pang when the child outgrows dependence, even while knowing the growth to be healthy and normal. With God, the rules change. We never outgrow dependence, and to the extent we think we do, we delude ourselves. Prayer is our declaration of dependence upon the Lord.
Give Him each perplexing problem,
All your needs to Him make known;
Bring to Him your daily burdens—
Never carry them alone! —Adams
Pray as if your life depended upon it. It does!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 26th, 2010
What is a Missionary?
Jesus said to them again, ’. . . As the Father has sent Me, I also send you’ —John 20:21
A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and to His perspective is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, that every power of the mind falters and fails. We tend to forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary work is not primarily the elevation of the people, their education, nor their needs, but is first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ— “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .” (Matthew 28:19).
When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say, “What wonderfully keen and intelligent wisdom they had, and how perfectly they understood all that God wanted!” But the keen and intelligent mind behind them was the mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the divine guidance of God being exhibited through childlike people who were “foolish” enough to trust God’s wisdom and His supernatural equipment.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Survivors to the Rescue - #6207
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Each season in the U.S. seems to bring its beauty and its unique dangers. In the spring, think tornado, for example. In the summer and fall, some of us know what the word hurricane is all about. In the mountains in winter, it's important to be aware that with that season's snowy beauty may also come the danger of deadly avalanches. Every winter, we hear about some people who lose their lives as massive chunks of snow suddenly break loose and roar down the mountain. But every once in a while, we hear about lives saved. A few years ago, the rescuers were there not long after an avalanche, and they immediately started digging for survivors. In minutes, they pulled out one skier who was not only grateful to be saved, but in remarkably good shape for what he had been through. And the news reported that after that man was rescued, he didn't just head for a warm place to recover. He joined the rescuers, working side by side with them to save other lives. And they did!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Survivors to the Rescue."
A person is saved from a deadly situation and they instinctively go back to help save someone else. That's exactly how lives are saved eternally. The rescued are supposed to turn around and be the rescuers. When they're not, they make it out, but they leave others to perish. It's not supposed to be that way.
If someone rescued you spiritually by telling you about Jesus Christ, then the eight words in our word for today from the Word of God are personal orders from God to you. Jude, verse 23, simply says, "Snatch others from the fire and save them." The implication - you got snatched from the fire, now go back and get someone else.
That was instinctive for Andrew the day he met Christ. The Bible says, "The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah'...and he brought him to Jesus" (John 1:41-42 ). And Simon became the great leader of the apostles. My guess is that when you first discovered the love of Jesus for yourself, you had that Andrew instinct. You knew you had found something you could not keep to yourself. You may not have done the best job of explaining Jesus at that point, but you just knew that people you cared about had to have the same chance that you had. That's how the rescue work of Jesus has gone on for 2,000 years - rescued people becoming rescuers of others.
But as time has gone by, have you become content to just find a warm spot among other people who are already headed for heaven; to believe the beliefs, give the money, be at the meetings, and live as if the reason you were rescued is to enjoy the fellowship of the others who've been rescued? No, you were rescued to rescue.
Oh, we have our excuses for our silence about our Savior. "I'm afraid, I'm inadequate, I'm imperfect, I don't know enough, I might mess it up." Well, look at who Jesus used to bring an entire Samaritan village to Him - a woman with the worst reputation in town, a woman who had just met Jesus, but she knew enough to say, "Come see a Man" (John 4:29 ). Come and check out Jesus. If Christ could use her to be His ambassador to her tribe, He can surely use you to be His ambassador to yours. They'll listen to you because you walk the same trail they do - much more than they might listen to some "professional rescuer" who's from outside their world.
Hundreds of people were rescued from the sinking Titanic by being put in lifeboats. But those same people refused to turn those lifeboats around to rescue the people who were in the lifejackets in the water, even though many lifeboats were half empty. And 328 people died because the people who had been rescued did nothing about the people who were dying. There are too many like them in the lifeboat "Jesus." Please don't be one of them.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Matthew 12, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Saved by Faith
Saved by Faith
Posted: 24 Oct 2010 11:00 PM PDT
Be a worker who is not ashamed and who uses the true teaching in the right way. 2 Timothy 2:15
Timothy never had another teacher like Paul. The world has never had another teacher like Paul. He was convinced of two facts—he was once lost but then saved. He spent a lifetime telling every person who would listen.
In the end it cost him everything. For in the end, all he had was his faith. But in the end, his faith was all he needed.
Matthew 12:24-50 (New International Version)
24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub,[a] the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
The Sign of Jonah
38Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."
39He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one[b] greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
43"When an evil[c] spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."[d]
48He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 8:9-23
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power."
11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money
19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
20 Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."
Toxic Look-Alikes
October 25, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness. —Acts 8:21-22
Our yard makes poison ivy happy. I learned this the hard way. Even though I was being careful, I came in contact with the plant and ended up with a nasty, itchy rash.
Poison ivy looks like many harmless plants, and it keeps company with some beautiful ones. One gardener couldn’t figure out why she got poison ivy whenever she pruned her roses. She later discovered that a poison ivy vine was taking advantage of the tender loving care she gave to her rosebush.
Some people are like toxic plants. They look harmless, and they blend in with people who, like roses, are fragrant and beautiful.
Simon the sorcerer fit this description. He followed Philip and was baptized, but then he asked to buy the ability to lay hands on people so they could receive the Holy Spirit. Peter was appalled at his request and urged him to repent (Acts 8:22).
Sometimes people use the favorable environment of a healthy church as a network for selfish purposes. Like poison ivy among roses, they cause much misery. Like Simon, anyone who does this needs to repent, and everyone else needs to avoid contact with such a person. Spiritual look-alikes appear good but their “fruit” is toxic.
A Prayer:
Help me, Lord, to be discerning and not let others
lead me astray with their falsehood. May the fruit
of my life be an example of a follower of Christ. Amen.
A false life belies a true faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 25th, 2010
Submitting to God’s Purpose
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some —1 Corinthians 9:22
A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “. . . Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
“I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.
Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside . . . to the right or the left . . .” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Tapestry of Your Life - #6206
Monday, October 25, 2010
There are many kinds of artists. My friend, Martha, makes her masterpieces out of thread. She lives in a tiny, sparsely-furnished house in a remote corner of the Navajo reservation. It hasn't been an easy life with eleven children and a husband who blew most of his meager income on alcohol. But she found a way to provide at least enough money for her family to eat. She wove Navajo rugs. We've had the privilege of being there when she was working on one. She had a loom in her living room where she worked for hours on end, pulling thread from one side to the other. In some ways, it doesn't look like it has much promise; there's no pattern anywhere to be seen. It was all in her mind. But there's something beautiful in her mind that only she could see as she patiently wove those threads back and forth. And when she was finished, she'd produced a masterpiece for which a tourist would pay thousands of dollars in a nearby store. Martha will only get a fraction of that, but shame on anyone who ever questioned what she was doing on that loom.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Tapestry of Your Life."
When I watched that Navajo woman weaving something beautiful from those seemingly random threads, I was looking at a picture of the ways of God, because He's the original Artist, and He only does masterpieces. He is, in a sense, the Master Weaver on the loom of your life. You can't see what He's making from the threads in front of you, but He can. And it's something beautiful - something valuable.
His working is powerfully described in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 1:11 . As you listen, take this as a guarantee about your life. Speaking of those who belong to Jesus Christ, it says, "In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."
God is telling you that He has had a plan for your life since before there was a you. Like someone watching that Navajo mother weaving her rug, you can't see the plan. It's in the mind of the Artist. But you can be sure that He is weaving the tapestry you were made for. He's weaving it this very day - and every day.
The threads you can see right now may be dark. Some of the threads don't seem to fit. But God is still at the loom, and all this is going somewhere. He's making something in your life.
And no matter how random, even how senseless it all seems, you have this promise: "'I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" And He's bringing into your life those people and experiences that will help accomplish His grand design for you - to be like His Son, Jesus. The Bible says He is working everything together for you who were "predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son" (Romans 8:29 ).
Many times when I couldn't see the plan, and only what seemed tangled threads, I have found myself saying, "Father, I often don't understand You, but I always trust You." After all, would someone who gave His Son to die for you ever do you wrong? The Bible says, "He spared not His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. ill He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32 ) You can trust the weaver who's at that heavenly loom. He knows exactly what He's doing. Trust the plan, even though you can't see it. He is making your life into something very beautiful and very valuable.
Saved by Faith
Posted: 24 Oct 2010 11:00 PM PDT
Be a worker who is not ashamed and who uses the true teaching in the right way. 2 Timothy 2:15
Timothy never had another teacher like Paul. The world has never had another teacher like Paul. He was convinced of two facts—he was once lost but then saved. He spent a lifetime telling every person who would listen.
In the end it cost him everything. For in the end, all he had was his faith. But in the end, his faith was all he needed.
Matthew 12:24-50 (New International Version)
24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub,[a] the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
The Sign of Jonah
38Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."
39He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one[b] greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
43"When an evil[c] spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."[d]
48He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 8:9-23
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power."
11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money
19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
20 Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."
Toxic Look-Alikes
October 25, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness. —Acts 8:21-22
Our yard makes poison ivy happy. I learned this the hard way. Even though I was being careful, I came in contact with the plant and ended up with a nasty, itchy rash.
Poison ivy looks like many harmless plants, and it keeps company with some beautiful ones. One gardener couldn’t figure out why she got poison ivy whenever she pruned her roses. She later discovered that a poison ivy vine was taking advantage of the tender loving care she gave to her rosebush.
Some people are like toxic plants. They look harmless, and they blend in with people who, like roses, are fragrant and beautiful.
Simon the sorcerer fit this description. He followed Philip and was baptized, but then he asked to buy the ability to lay hands on people so they could receive the Holy Spirit. Peter was appalled at his request and urged him to repent (Acts 8:22).
Sometimes people use the favorable environment of a healthy church as a network for selfish purposes. Like poison ivy among roses, they cause much misery. Like Simon, anyone who does this needs to repent, and everyone else needs to avoid contact with such a person. Spiritual look-alikes appear good but their “fruit” is toxic.
A Prayer:
Help me, Lord, to be discerning and not let others
lead me astray with their falsehood. May the fruit
of my life be an example of a follower of Christ. Amen.
A false life belies a true faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 25th, 2010
Submitting to God’s Purpose
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some —1 Corinthians 9:22
A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “. . . Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
“I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.
Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside . . . to the right or the left . . .” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Tapestry of Your Life - #6206
Monday, October 25, 2010
There are many kinds of artists. My friend, Martha, makes her masterpieces out of thread. She lives in a tiny, sparsely-furnished house in a remote corner of the Navajo reservation. It hasn't been an easy life with eleven children and a husband who blew most of his meager income on alcohol. But she found a way to provide at least enough money for her family to eat. She wove Navajo rugs. We've had the privilege of being there when she was working on one. She had a loom in her living room where she worked for hours on end, pulling thread from one side to the other. In some ways, it doesn't look like it has much promise; there's no pattern anywhere to be seen. It was all in her mind. But there's something beautiful in her mind that only she could see as she patiently wove those threads back and forth. And when she was finished, she'd produced a masterpiece for which a tourist would pay thousands of dollars in a nearby store. Martha will only get a fraction of that, but shame on anyone who ever questioned what she was doing on that loom.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Tapestry of Your Life."
When I watched that Navajo woman weaving something beautiful from those seemingly random threads, I was looking at a picture of the ways of God, because He's the original Artist, and He only does masterpieces. He is, in a sense, the Master Weaver on the loom of your life. You can't see what He's making from the threads in front of you, but He can. And it's something beautiful - something valuable.
His working is powerfully described in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 1:11 . As you listen, take this as a guarantee about your life. Speaking of those who belong to Jesus Christ, it says, "In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."
God is telling you that He has had a plan for your life since before there was a you. Like someone watching that Navajo mother weaving her rug, you can't see the plan. It's in the mind of the Artist. But you can be sure that He is weaving the tapestry you were made for. He's weaving it this very day - and every day.
The threads you can see right now may be dark. Some of the threads don't seem to fit. But God is still at the loom, and all this is going somewhere. He's making something in your life.
And no matter how random, even how senseless it all seems, you have this promise: "'I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" And He's bringing into your life those people and experiences that will help accomplish His grand design for you - to be like His Son, Jesus. The Bible says He is working everything together for you who were "predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son" (Romans 8:29 ).
Many times when I couldn't see the plan, and only what seemed tangled threads, I have found myself saying, "Father, I often don't understand You, but I always trust You." After all, would someone who gave His Son to die for you ever do you wrong? The Bible says, "He spared not His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. ill He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32 ) You can trust the weaver who's at that heavenly loom. He knows exactly what He's doing. Trust the plan, even though you can't see it. He is making your life into something very beautiful and very valuable.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Job 27, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Encourage One Another
Encourage One Another
Posted: 23 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. Ephesians 4:29
You have the ability, with your words, to make a person stronger. Your words are to their soul what a vitamin is to their body.
Do not withhold encouragement from the discouraged. Do not keep affirmation from the beaten down! Speak words that make people stronger. Believe in them as God has believed in you.
Job 27
1 And Job continued his discourse:
2 "As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,
3 as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will utter no deceit.
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
7 "May my enemies be like the wicked,
my adversaries like the unjust!
8 For what hope has the godless when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress comes upon him?
10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?
11 "I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?
13 "Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:
14 However many his children, their fate is the sword;
his offspring will never have enough to eat.
15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
and their widows will not weep for them.
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay,
17 what he lays up the righteous will wear,
and the innocent will divide his silver.
18 The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon,
like a hut made by a watchman.
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, all is gone.
20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;
a tempest snatches him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls itself against him without mercy
as he flees headlong from its power.
23 It claps its hands in derision
and hisses him out of his place.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 133
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
Getting Along
October 24, 2010 — by Joe Stowell
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! —Psalm 133:1
I can still remember what it was like to take our family on vacation, only to have the kids in the backseat mar the joy of it all by their bickering and complaining. Who doesn’t remember the disruptive effects of “Dad, she touched me!” or “Mom, he won’t give me a turn!”
If you’ve had that kind of experience, you can imagine how God feels when His children quarrel and complain. Getting along is important to God. Jesus prayed that we would “be one” so that the world would believe He came from the Father (John 17:20-21). And to disciples who were prone to quarreling, He commanded that they love and serve one another (13:34-35; Matt. 20:20-28). It should also be noted that among the seven things God hates, He includes “one who sows discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:19).
So I’m not surprised that the psalmist tells us that when brothers dwell in unity, it’s like “the precious oil upon the head, running down on . . . the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments” (Ps. 133:1-2). In ancient times, the oil of anointing was full of fragrant spices that graced the environment wherever the anointed one went. May the unity that comes from our love and service to one another fragrantly grace our families, churches, and friendships!
When love and kindness rule our lives,
And we are seen as one,
The fragrance of our unity
Has no comparison. —Sper
Christians who get along with each other
spread the sweet aroma of Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 24th, 2010
The Proper Perspective
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.
The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him . . .” (Romans 8:37).
“We are to God the fragrance of Christ . . .” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
Encourage One Another
Posted: 23 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. Ephesians 4:29
You have the ability, with your words, to make a person stronger. Your words are to their soul what a vitamin is to their body.
Do not withhold encouragement from the discouraged. Do not keep affirmation from the beaten down! Speak words that make people stronger. Believe in them as God has believed in you.
Job 27
1 And Job continued his discourse:
2 "As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,
3 as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will utter no deceit.
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
7 "May my enemies be like the wicked,
my adversaries like the unjust!
8 For what hope has the godless when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress comes upon him?
10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?
11 "I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?
13 "Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:
14 However many his children, their fate is the sword;
his offspring will never have enough to eat.
15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
and their widows will not weep for them.
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay,
17 what he lays up the righteous will wear,
and the innocent will divide his silver.
18 The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon,
like a hut made by a watchman.
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, all is gone.
20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;
a tempest snatches him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls itself against him without mercy
as he flees headlong from its power.
23 It claps its hands in derision
and hisses him out of his place.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 133
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
Getting Along
October 24, 2010 — by Joe Stowell
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! —Psalm 133:1
I can still remember what it was like to take our family on vacation, only to have the kids in the backseat mar the joy of it all by their bickering and complaining. Who doesn’t remember the disruptive effects of “Dad, she touched me!” or “Mom, he won’t give me a turn!”
If you’ve had that kind of experience, you can imagine how God feels when His children quarrel and complain. Getting along is important to God. Jesus prayed that we would “be one” so that the world would believe He came from the Father (John 17:20-21). And to disciples who were prone to quarreling, He commanded that they love and serve one another (13:34-35; Matt. 20:20-28). It should also be noted that among the seven things God hates, He includes “one who sows discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:19).
So I’m not surprised that the psalmist tells us that when brothers dwell in unity, it’s like “the precious oil upon the head, running down on . . . the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments” (Ps. 133:1-2). In ancient times, the oil of anointing was full of fragrant spices that graced the environment wherever the anointed one went. May the unity that comes from our love and service to one another fragrantly grace our families, churches, and friendships!
When love and kindness rule our lives,
And we are seen as one,
The fragrance of our unity
Has no comparison. —Sper
Christians who get along with each other
spread the sweet aroma of Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 24th, 2010
The Proper Perspective
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.
The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him . . .” (Romans 8:37).
“We are to God the fragrance of Christ . . .” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Job 26, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Live to Please God
Live to Please God
Posted: 22 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Teach me how to live to please you, because you are my God. Psalm 143:8, The Message
If God has called you to be a Martha, then serve! Remind the rest of us that there is evangelism in feeding the poor and there is worship in nursing the sick.
If God has called you to be a Mary, then worship! Remind the rest of us that we don’t have to be busy to be holy. Urge us with your example to put down our clipboards and megaphones and be quiet in worship.
Job 26
Job
1 Then Job replied:
2 "How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insight you have displayed!
4 Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
5 "The dead are in deep anguish,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6 Death [a] is naked before God;
Destruction [b] lies uncovered.
7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.
8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9 He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.
12 By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
13 By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 7:14-24
14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
15 The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"
16 Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
18 He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
20 "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished.
22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath.
23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
First Impressions
October 23, 2010 — by Bill Crowder
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. —John 7:24
A while back, Our Daily Bread published an article I wrote about a young woman who wore a T-shirt that said, “Love Is for Losers.” In it, I commented on what a sad message that was, and I wrote about the hurt this motto represented.
To my surprise, one of our readers gave that message a completely different slant. She sent a note informing me that her daughter and her daughter’s friends—all tennis players—wear shirts with that slogan. In tennis, a “love” score is zero. If your score in a game is “love,” you lose—so in tennis, love really is for losers. That mom’s note gave me a new perspective on that saying.
This incident reminded me how easy it is to make wrong first judgments. Based on incomplete or inaccurate information, we can jump to wrong conclusions and make poor value judgments about people and situations. And that can cause great hurt to others.
Speaking to people who had misjudged Him, Jesus warned, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We need to be careful that our judgments are backed up by the right information (the truth) and the right attitude (the compassion of Christ). Try this motto: “Righteous judgment is for winners.”
Don’t judge too quickly what you see;
Treat lightly first impression;
Misunderstandings multiply
Without right information. —Sper
A snap judgment has a way of becoming unfastened.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 23Rd, 2010
Nothing of the Old Life!
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17
Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind . . . is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God— such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.
Live to Please God
Posted: 22 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Teach me how to live to please you, because you are my God. Psalm 143:8, The Message
If God has called you to be a Martha, then serve! Remind the rest of us that there is evangelism in feeding the poor and there is worship in nursing the sick.
If God has called you to be a Mary, then worship! Remind the rest of us that we don’t have to be busy to be holy. Urge us with your example to put down our clipboards and megaphones and be quiet in worship.
Job 26
Job
1 Then Job replied:
2 "How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insight you have displayed!
4 Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
5 "The dead are in deep anguish,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6 Death [a] is naked before God;
Destruction [b] lies uncovered.
7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.
8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9 He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.
12 By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
13 By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 7:14-24
14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
15 The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"
16 Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
18 He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
20 "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished.
22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath.
23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
First Impressions
October 23, 2010 — by Bill Crowder
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. —John 7:24
A while back, Our Daily Bread published an article I wrote about a young woman who wore a T-shirt that said, “Love Is for Losers.” In it, I commented on what a sad message that was, and I wrote about the hurt this motto represented.
To my surprise, one of our readers gave that message a completely different slant. She sent a note informing me that her daughter and her daughter’s friends—all tennis players—wear shirts with that slogan. In tennis, a “love” score is zero. If your score in a game is “love,” you lose—so in tennis, love really is for losers. That mom’s note gave me a new perspective on that saying.
This incident reminded me how easy it is to make wrong first judgments. Based on incomplete or inaccurate information, we can jump to wrong conclusions and make poor value judgments about people and situations. And that can cause great hurt to others.
Speaking to people who had misjudged Him, Jesus warned, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We need to be careful that our judgments are backed up by the right information (the truth) and the right attitude (the compassion of Christ). Try this motto: “Righteous judgment is for winners.”
Don’t judge too quickly what you see;
Treat lightly first impression;
Misunderstandings multiply
Without right information. —Sper
A snap judgment has a way of becoming unfastened.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 23Rd, 2010
Nothing of the Old Life!
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17
Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind . . . is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God— such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Job 25, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: The Big Choice
The Big Choice
Posted: 21 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. Psalm 119:30, NIV
Think about it. There are many things in life we can’t choose. We can’t, for example, choose the weather. We can’t control the economy. We can’t choose whether or not we are born with a big nose or blue eyes or a lot of hair ... but we can choose where we spend eternity.
The big choice, God leaves to us.
Job 25
Bildad
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 "Dominion and awe belong to God;
he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
3 Can his forces be numbered?
Upon whom does his light not rise?
4 How then can a man be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?
5 If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
6 how much less man, who is but a maggot—
a son of man, who is only a worm!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 65:17–66:2
17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.
20 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.
23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.
Learning From The Redwoods
October 22, 2010 — by Mart De Haan
As the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people. —Isaiah 65:22
North America’s Pacific Coast Redwoods are some of the biggest trees in the world. The tallest on record, Hyperion, soars 379 feet into the air.
During a visit to California’s Muir Woods National Park, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the enormity of those redwoods. Trees as tall as a 30- story building seemed to press me into the forest floor while drawing my thoughts upward.
The memory of what I felt at the base of some of the tallest and oldest trees in the world has left me with lingering thoughts about their origin. Those redwoods, like the family tree of our own humanity, are rooted in a Creator who is infinitely and eternally greater than His creation.
The prophet Isaiah caught a glimpse of this God. In a vision that mingled the wonders of a Messianic kingdom with the promise of a new heaven and earth, he describes One who makes the skies His throne and the earth His footstool (Isa. 66:1).
Yet Isaiah saw something even more overwhelming. He saw a great God who wants His people to “be glad and rejoice forever in what I create” (65:18). In response, let’s bow before Him in humble adoration (66:2).
How glorious to think ahead
Of blessings yet to be,
Of help from God while life shall last—
Then joys eternally! —Branon
God’s work of creating is done;
our work of praising has only begun.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 22nd, 2010
The Witness of the Spirit
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit . . . —Romans 8:16
We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.
Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28 , “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden . . . .” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9-13).
The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Permanent in a World of Temporary - #6205
Friday, October 22, 2010
October is beautiful in many parts of the U.S. It's fall; it's the time, as I told my kids, that the angels come out at night and paint the leaves red and yellow and orange. Pray for my kids. Forget the angel part. The trees really do put on a fantastic show of color in the fall, and spring isn't bad either. After the gray and brown, or even barren of winter, I love that fresh green of spring's new life. But in between fall and spring, there's this long stretch where the trees are basically colored "dead." Well, not all the trees. There's life all year long; there's green all year long. They don't lose their color, however dead and barren the rest of the world around them may be. They're evergreens!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Permanent in a World of Temporary."
It's not just trees that turn color in our lives - it happens to relationships, too. A relationship that was once blooming beautifully, giving color to our life, starts to turn, to lose its color, to wither, even to die. Sooner or later, every "I love you" seems to include a "goodbye." Some relationships die with a whimper; some with a bang; some slowly, some suddenly; some, not by choice, but by death.
My first realization of that was a night my parents left me alone in our Chicago apartment to go to a funeral. They were gone longer than they had predicted, and that's when I heard the wail of sirens nearby. Well, I have to tell you, a young boy's fears kicked in at that point and I thought, "My parents are late. There's a siren. Maybe they were killed in an accident." They weren't, but that was when I first realized that what you love you can lose. And ultimately, I have buried both my mom and my dad and plenty of other people (some old, some very young) who would never have chosen to leave. Often what hurts even more is the loves that do choose to leave us. Like winter's leaves; they wither and blow away.
What we need is an evergreen relationship - one that cannot be touched by desertion, by divorce, by distance, by death. There is such a relationship, but only one. In order to be our evergreen, it's going to have to be a love that will never turn on us and never die on us. That love is celebrated in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:38-39 . These words literally have the power to lead you to the one anchor relationship your heart has always yearned for.
Here's what it says. "Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." There it is - evergreen love. It's God's love, found in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Here's why God's love is the love you can't lose. Even though we were made for that love, we're missing that love because we've chosen to take our life into our own hands instead of putting it in God's hands. We've chosen "my way" over God's way in thousands of situations throughout our life. And the Bible says, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2 ). That separation could only be bridged one way; a way that seems unthinkable. That God's Son, the only One without any sin of His own, would come to earth and do what only He could do - do the dying for our sinning against Him. Pay the penalty so the sin could be erased so we could experience the love that our sin has cost us.
And today, the Man who loved you enough to die for you has come looking for you to offer you a life, and an eternity, filled with His evergreen love. But it can't be a one-way love affair. You have to respond to His love by placing your life in His hands and turning your back on the sin that cost Him His life. Your love response might be just three words, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If you want to pursue that love relationship with Him, I want to invite you to check out our website today. It's yoursforlife.net. Or you can call 866-473-2829.
God Himself has said that once you open up to His love, "nothing in all creation will be able to separate" you.
The Big Choice
Posted: 21 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. Psalm 119:30, NIV
Think about it. There are many things in life we can’t choose. We can’t, for example, choose the weather. We can’t control the economy. We can’t choose whether or not we are born with a big nose or blue eyes or a lot of hair ... but we can choose where we spend eternity.
The big choice, God leaves to us.
Job 25
Bildad
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 "Dominion and awe belong to God;
he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
3 Can his forces be numbered?
Upon whom does his light not rise?
4 How then can a man be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?
5 If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
6 how much less man, who is but a maggot—
a son of man, who is only a worm!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 65:17–66:2
17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.
20 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.
23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.
Learning From The Redwoods
October 22, 2010 — by Mart De Haan
As the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people. —Isaiah 65:22
North America’s Pacific Coast Redwoods are some of the biggest trees in the world. The tallest on record, Hyperion, soars 379 feet into the air.
During a visit to California’s Muir Woods National Park, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the enormity of those redwoods. Trees as tall as a 30- story building seemed to press me into the forest floor while drawing my thoughts upward.
The memory of what I felt at the base of some of the tallest and oldest trees in the world has left me with lingering thoughts about their origin. Those redwoods, like the family tree of our own humanity, are rooted in a Creator who is infinitely and eternally greater than His creation.
The prophet Isaiah caught a glimpse of this God. In a vision that mingled the wonders of a Messianic kingdom with the promise of a new heaven and earth, he describes One who makes the skies His throne and the earth His footstool (Isa. 66:1).
Yet Isaiah saw something even more overwhelming. He saw a great God who wants His people to “be glad and rejoice forever in what I create” (65:18). In response, let’s bow before Him in humble adoration (66:2).
How glorious to think ahead
Of blessings yet to be,
Of help from God while life shall last—
Then joys eternally! —Branon
God’s work of creating is done;
our work of praising has only begun.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 22nd, 2010
The Witness of the Spirit
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit . . . —Romans 8:16
We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.
Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28 , “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden . . . .” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9-13).
The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Permanent in a World of Temporary - #6205
Friday, October 22, 2010
October is beautiful in many parts of the U.S. It's fall; it's the time, as I told my kids, that the angels come out at night and paint the leaves red and yellow and orange. Pray for my kids. Forget the angel part. The trees really do put on a fantastic show of color in the fall, and spring isn't bad either. After the gray and brown, or even barren of winter, I love that fresh green of spring's new life. But in between fall and spring, there's this long stretch where the trees are basically colored "dead." Well, not all the trees. There's life all year long; there's green all year long. They don't lose their color, however dead and barren the rest of the world around them may be. They're evergreens!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Permanent in a World of Temporary."
It's not just trees that turn color in our lives - it happens to relationships, too. A relationship that was once blooming beautifully, giving color to our life, starts to turn, to lose its color, to wither, even to die. Sooner or later, every "I love you" seems to include a "goodbye." Some relationships die with a whimper; some with a bang; some slowly, some suddenly; some, not by choice, but by death.
My first realization of that was a night my parents left me alone in our Chicago apartment to go to a funeral. They were gone longer than they had predicted, and that's when I heard the wail of sirens nearby. Well, I have to tell you, a young boy's fears kicked in at that point and I thought, "My parents are late. There's a siren. Maybe they were killed in an accident." They weren't, but that was when I first realized that what you love you can lose. And ultimately, I have buried both my mom and my dad and plenty of other people (some old, some very young) who would never have chosen to leave. Often what hurts even more is the loves that do choose to leave us. Like winter's leaves; they wither and blow away.
What we need is an evergreen relationship - one that cannot be touched by desertion, by divorce, by distance, by death. There is such a relationship, but only one. In order to be our evergreen, it's going to have to be a love that will never turn on us and never die on us. That love is celebrated in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:38-39 . These words literally have the power to lead you to the one anchor relationship your heart has always yearned for.
Here's what it says. "Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." There it is - evergreen love. It's God's love, found in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Here's why God's love is the love you can't lose. Even though we were made for that love, we're missing that love because we've chosen to take our life into our own hands instead of putting it in God's hands. We've chosen "my way" over God's way in thousands of situations throughout our life. And the Bible says, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2 ). That separation could only be bridged one way; a way that seems unthinkable. That God's Son, the only One without any sin of His own, would come to earth and do what only He could do - do the dying for our sinning against Him. Pay the penalty so the sin could be erased so we could experience the love that our sin has cost us.
And today, the Man who loved you enough to die for you has come looking for you to offer you a life, and an eternity, filled with His evergreen love. But it can't be a one-way love affair. You have to respond to His love by placing your life in His hands and turning your back on the sin that cost Him His life. Your love response might be just three words, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If you want to pursue that love relationship with Him, I want to invite you to check out our website today. It's yoursforlife.net. Or you can call 866-473-2829.
God Himself has said that once you open up to His love, "nothing in all creation will be able to separate" you.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Matthew 12, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: You are Unique
You are Unique
Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:26, The Message
There are certain things you can do that no one else can. Perhaps it is parenting, or constructing houses, or encouraging the discouraged. There are things that only you can do, and you are alive to do them.
In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to God to play them both sublimely.
Matthew 12
Lord of the Sabbath
1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
3He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that one[a] greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'[b] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
9Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
11He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
God's Chosen Servant
15Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, 16warning them not to tell who he was. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18"Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
21In his name the nations will put their hope."[c]
Jesus and Beelzebub
22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 18:9-12
9 One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.
12 Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
Safe Room
October 21, 2010 — by Marvin Williams
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. —Proverbs 18:10
In some homes, owners have built safe rooms—special places where they can go for protection should someone break into the house.
In Proverbs 18:10, Solomon reminded God’s people that God is their “safe room” and that they could find total security in Him.
In verses 10 and 11, he described two types of security to which some people run: the name of the Lord and wealth. The name or character of God is described as a “strong tower.” As a captured city might take refuge in a fortified tower, so the righteous could run to the Lord and find complete safety.
On the other hand, the wealthy imagined their riches as a high point of safety. Solomon sought to tell his readers that money might give a sense of security but it would be a false security that could lead to laziness, pride, and destruction. Yet people who are humble and find their complete security in the unchanging and holy character of God will find true safety.
Wealth may not be your particular “safe room.” You might tend to run instead to something or someone else when adversity comes. But we all need to learn to depend daily on the Lord and find a high point of safety in the safe room of His name.
It’s often easier to trust
In what our eyes can see,
But God asks us to look to Him
For our security. —Sper
The name of the Lord is our safe room.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 21st, 2010
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
All The Good Stuff You're Missing - #6204
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Many years ago, one of the 20th Century's great Christian leaders, Peter Deyneka, was immigrating to America on a long Atlantic voyage with only a few coins in his pocket. When he got hungry, he reached into this little bag he'd brought with him to eat the same thing every meal - a few dry crusts of bread and some water. He was pretty hungry when his ship finally docked in New York; not to mention pretty sick of bread crusts. That's when he realized something that he'd wished he had understood at the beginning of the voyage - three full meals a day had been included in his fare. They were all included in his ticket!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "All The Good Stuff You're Missing."
That young traveler had been living at a much lower level than he needed to live! He had no idea all the good things he had gotten when he got his ticket. When God looks at His children, sailing through life, He sees a lot of us living the same way - under-living. Not realizing how we could be living and all the good stuff we got when we opened our lives to Jesus Christ.
Biblical passages like Ephesians 3 , beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God, spell out what's included in your ticket. Paul writes: "In Him (that's in Jesus) and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence...I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being (okay, so there's supernatural inner strength that comes when Jesus comes in)...I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power...to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (you got this indescribable love and security when you got Jesus). He goes on to say, "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Imagine all the resources of God Himself downloadable by you - His wisdom for your questions, His power for your difficulties, His love for your lonely times, His peace for your troubled times. We don't have to live like these stressed out, strung out, weighed down people we often are! Dry bread crusts when we've got all the resources of God at our disposal!
Those resources are accessed through serious prayer. And we under-live because we under-pray. We over-worry and overwork and get overwhelmed because we under-pray. I mean really pray. One model of prayer that moves heaven to your need is found in Acts 4 , where the apostles have been threatened by the same Jewish leaders who engineered the death of Jesus. The apostle's response? They gather the believers together and raise "their voices together in prayer to God. 'Sovereign Lord,' they said, 'You made the heaven and the earth and the sea.'"
They go on to celebrate the fact that all that's happening is under God's sovereign power and will. Finally, after focusing only on the greatness of their God, they ask Him for boldness and supernatural power. The place where they prayed was shaken, the Holy Spirit showed up big-time, and they told everybody about Jesus.
And there's the pattern for aiming all of God's power at your situation; at your need. First, focus on your big, big God, not your big, big problem. Then, trust Him for the big, big things you need. But always put your praise before your please, your worship before your request. When you take a little time to celebrate the awesomeness of the God you belong to, the God you're trusting in, you start to access all those great resources that came with your ticket. You don't have to live the way you have been living! You've got so much to draw on since the day you let Jesus in! Don't wait until you reach your heavenly destination to realize how you could have been living all along!
You are Unique
Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:01 PM PDT
Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:26, The Message
There are certain things you can do that no one else can. Perhaps it is parenting, or constructing houses, or encouraging the discouraged. There are things that only you can do, and you are alive to do them.
In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to God to play them both sublimely.
Matthew 12
Lord of the Sabbath
1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
3He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that one[a] greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'[b] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
9Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
11He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
God's Chosen Servant
15Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, 16warning them not to tell who he was. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18"Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
21In his name the nations will put their hope."[c]
Jesus and Beelzebub
22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 18:9-12
9 One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.
12 Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
Safe Room
October 21, 2010 — by Marvin Williams
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. —Proverbs 18:10
In some homes, owners have built safe rooms—special places where they can go for protection should someone break into the house.
In Proverbs 18:10, Solomon reminded God’s people that God is their “safe room” and that they could find total security in Him.
In verses 10 and 11, he described two types of security to which some people run: the name of the Lord and wealth. The name or character of God is described as a “strong tower.” As a captured city might take refuge in a fortified tower, so the righteous could run to the Lord and find complete safety.
On the other hand, the wealthy imagined their riches as a high point of safety. Solomon sought to tell his readers that money might give a sense of security but it would be a false security that could lead to laziness, pride, and destruction. Yet people who are humble and find their complete security in the unchanging and holy character of God will find true safety.
Wealth may not be your particular “safe room.” You might tend to run instead to something or someone else when adversity comes. But we all need to learn to depend daily on the Lord and find a high point of safety in the safe room of His name.
It’s often easier to trust
In what our eyes can see,
But God asks us to look to Him
For our security. —Sper
The name of the Lord is our safe room.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 21st, 2010
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
All The Good Stuff You're Missing - #6204
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Many years ago, one of the 20th Century's great Christian leaders, Peter Deyneka, was immigrating to America on a long Atlantic voyage with only a few coins in his pocket. When he got hungry, he reached into this little bag he'd brought with him to eat the same thing every meal - a few dry crusts of bread and some water. He was pretty hungry when his ship finally docked in New York; not to mention pretty sick of bread crusts. That's when he realized something that he'd wished he had understood at the beginning of the voyage - three full meals a day had been included in his fare. They were all included in his ticket!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "All The Good Stuff You're Missing."
That young traveler had been living at a much lower level than he needed to live! He had no idea all the good things he had gotten when he got his ticket. When God looks at His children, sailing through life, He sees a lot of us living the same way - under-living. Not realizing how we could be living and all the good stuff we got when we opened our lives to Jesus Christ.
Biblical passages like Ephesians 3 , beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God, spell out what's included in your ticket. Paul writes: "In Him (that's in Jesus) and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence...I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being (okay, so there's supernatural inner strength that comes when Jesus comes in)...I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power...to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (you got this indescribable love and security when you got Jesus). He goes on to say, "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Imagine all the resources of God Himself downloadable by you - His wisdom for your questions, His power for your difficulties, His love for your lonely times, His peace for your troubled times. We don't have to live like these stressed out, strung out, weighed down people we often are! Dry bread crusts when we've got all the resources of God at our disposal!
Those resources are accessed through serious prayer. And we under-live because we under-pray. We over-worry and overwork and get overwhelmed because we under-pray. I mean really pray. One model of prayer that moves heaven to your need is found in Acts 4 , where the apostles have been threatened by the same Jewish leaders who engineered the death of Jesus. The apostle's response? They gather the believers together and raise "their voices together in prayer to God. 'Sovereign Lord,' they said, 'You made the heaven and the earth and the sea.'"
They go on to celebrate the fact that all that's happening is under God's sovereign power and will. Finally, after focusing only on the greatness of their God, they ask Him for boldness and supernatural power. The place where they prayed was shaken, the Holy Spirit showed up big-time, and they told everybody about Jesus.
And there's the pattern for aiming all of God's power at your situation; at your need. First, focus on your big, big God, not your big, big problem. Then, trust Him for the big, big things you need. But always put your praise before your please, your worship before your request. When you take a little time to celebrate the awesomeness of the God you belong to, the God you're trusting in, you start to access all those great resources that came with your ticket. You don't have to live the way you have been living! You've got so much to draw on since the day you let Jesus in! Don't wait until you reach your heavenly destination to realize how you could have been living all along!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)