Max Lucado Daily: Resentment
“This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:17
Resentment is when you let your hurt become hate. Resentment is when you allow what is eating you to eat you up. Resentment is when you poke, stoke, feed, and fan the fire, stirring the flames and reliving the pain . . .
Revenge is the raging fire . . . Bitterness is the trap that snares . . . And mercy is the choice that can set them all free.
Ruth 3
Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor
1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home[h] for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
7 When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!
9 “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer[i] of our family.”
10 “The LORD bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the LORD lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”
14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.”
15 He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he[j] went back to town.
16 When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”
Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her 17 and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Awaiting the New Body
1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Blessed Assurance
September 12, 2011 — by Joe Stowell
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. —2 Corinthians 5:8
As I was talking with a gentleman whose wife had died, he shared with me that a friend said to him, “I’m sorry you lost your wife.” His reply? “Oh, I haven’t lost her; I know exactly where she is!”
To some this may seem like a rather bold or even flippant assertion. With so many after-death theories, one might wonder how we can be really sure where our loved ones go after death, let alone where we ourselves will end up.
Yet, confidence is appropriate for followers of Jesus Christ. We have the assurance from God’s Word that when we die we will immediately be with our Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Thankfully, this is more than just wishful thinking. It is grounded in the historic reality of Jesus, who came and died to cancel our penalty for sin so that we could receive eternal life (Rom. 6:23). He then proved that there was life after death by exiting His grave and ascending into heaven where, as He promised, He is preparing a place for us (John 14:2).
So, rejoice! Since the benefits of this reality are out of this world, we can boldly say with Paul that “we are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).
Lord, when I take my final breath
And see You face to face in death,
Then shall my heart forever sing
The heavenly praises of my King. —Raniville
For the follower of Jesus, death means heaven,
happiness, and Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 12th, 2011
Going Through Spiritual Confusion
Jesus answered and said, ’You do not know what you ask’ —Matthew 20:22
There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.
The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember?He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?
The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father?as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Luke 11:10). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.
The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8). “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Oven, The Wheel, and the Masterpiece - #6436
Monday, September 12, 2011
Well, we've visited a few Colonial restorations in our day as a family. My kids would always go, "No, not a tour!" But it's interesting if you get involved with some of the craftsmen. You can pretty much judge what it will be like before you get there.
Oh, yeah, you'll see some men in tricorn hats. There'll be ladies in lace caps (because the men really don't look too good in them). And there's a potter there usually. And he's pretty intriguing to watch. There he is doing his skilled work with this blob of clay. Did you ever stop to think what it's like to be the clay? I don't know why you would; only I would do this. You say, "Come on, Ron." Well look, you haven't got anything better to do for the next five minutes probably. So, let's think what it's like to be that blob of clay.
First, you get pushed, and squeezed, and poked, and then the potter takes you for a spin and you are endlessly going around in circles on his wheel. And then just about the time you say, "Oh, man, I'm glad that's over," he pops you into an oven at 2,200 degrees and you think you're going to die. Then he takes you out at last only to put you back in that oven at another 2,200 degrees. I can imagine that you would say to the potter, "Why are you doing this to me?" You know, the longer I think like the clay, the more familiar these feelings seem--maybe for you, too. Why is God spinning you around, squeezing you, putting you through this heat right now?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Oven, The Wheel, and the Masterpiece."
Our word for today from the Word of God gives us a little insight into the potter and that blob of clay that we feel like sometimes - Romans 8:28. You know the verse, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Did you ever notice people always quote those things after the crisis is over. "Yes, all things work together for good." No, the trick is to quote "All things work together for good" in the middle of the crisis when you can't see the good. But how can all things work together for good?
Well, you can't understand that until you get to verse 29, "For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son." The purpose for these "all things that are working together" for the good in your life, the purpose is for you to be like Jesus. God says, "I will work all these things together to help you be in some way more like My Son; having more of His traits."
Now, after we saw the potter, we went to the gift shop. And I saw what he could make of that blob of clay. Every squeeze, every poke, every spin, every cooking was to turn that clay into a masterpiece. Well, you're God's clay and the mold is Jesus.
One of life's most frequently asked questions, and you might be asking it right now is, "Why, God? Why is this happening?" Well, there's one answer that fits all those situations. You can listen to the Lord saying, "Because this can make you more like My Son. That's the good I'm working it together for."
Now, there are some hard things in your life that God sends, there are others that He allows, but He will only send or allow what can make you more valuable. You can't learn to love like Jesus unless there's someone in your life who's hard to love. You can't learn the kind of sensitivity Christ had without going through a hurting time. You can't learn to have Jesus' patience without having to wait for something or to put up with somebody difficult. You can't learn Jesus' joy without circumstances that you have to rise above. You can't learn Jesus' peace without some pressure on you. You can't learn faith without needs that are bigger than you have the ability to meet.
Unlike the clay, though, you choose whether the potter's beautiful intentions are realized; whether you'll let it make you like Jesus or not. If you forget the goal, you can become desperate, and bitter, and hard, and self-absorbed. Or you can let Christ use it for the ultimate goal. You may not enjoy the process, but at least you can understand it's going to a great result. If you're going to get the pain, get the point.
If the question is, "Why, God?" He's saying, "To make you more like Jesus." And the oven, and the wheel are how He turns blobs of clay into masterpieces.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Ruth 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Decorating
“Do good to me, your servant, so I can live, so I can obey your word.” Psalm 119:17
God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let Him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tear untouched.
Ruth 2
Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field
1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you!”
“The LORD bless you!” they answered.
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[f] 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”
Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
20 “The LORD bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[g]”
21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”
23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Psalm 31:9-15
9 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,[a]
and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
The Mercy Of God
September 11, 2011
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body! —Psalm 31:9
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001. It’s hard to think about that date without mental images of the destruction, grief, and loss that swept over America and the world following those tragic events. The loss of thousands of lives was compounded by the depth of loss felt corporately—a lost sense of security as a country. The sorrow of loss, personal and corporate, will always accompany the memory of the events of that day.
Those horrific events are not the only painful memories of September 11. It also marks the anniversary of my father-in-law’s death. Jim’s loss is felt deeply within our family and his circle of friends.
No matter what kind of sorrow we experience, there is only one real comfort—the mercy of God. David, in his own heartache, cried to his heavenly Father, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body!” (Ps. 31:9). Only in the mercy of God can we find comfort for our pain and peace for our troubled hearts.
In all losses, we can turn to the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who alone can heal our brokenness and grief. —Bill Crowder
We have a Friend who’ll never leave,
Who’s closer than a brother;
He’s there to meet our deepest needs,
To comfort like no other. —Sper
When God permits suffering, He also provides comfort.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 11th, 2011
Missionary Weapons (2)
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield–you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.” But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
“Do good to me, your servant, so I can live, so I can obey your word.” Psalm 119:17
God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let Him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tear untouched.
Ruth 2
Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field
1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you!”
“The LORD bless you!” they answered.
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[f] 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”
Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
20 “The LORD bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[g]”
21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”
23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Psalm 31:9-15
9 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,[a]
and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
The Mercy Of God
September 11, 2011
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body! —Psalm 31:9
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001. It’s hard to think about that date without mental images of the destruction, grief, and loss that swept over America and the world following those tragic events. The loss of thousands of lives was compounded by the depth of loss felt corporately—a lost sense of security as a country. The sorrow of loss, personal and corporate, will always accompany the memory of the events of that day.
Those horrific events are not the only painful memories of September 11. It also marks the anniversary of my father-in-law’s death. Jim’s loss is felt deeply within our family and his circle of friends.
No matter what kind of sorrow we experience, there is only one real comfort—the mercy of God. David, in his own heartache, cried to his heavenly Father, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body!” (Ps. 31:9). Only in the mercy of God can we find comfort for our pain and peace for our troubled hearts.
In all losses, we can turn to the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who alone can heal our brokenness and grief. —Bill Crowder
We have a Friend who’ll never leave,
Who’s closer than a brother;
He’s there to meet our deepest needs,
To comfort like no other. —Sper
When God permits suffering, He also provides comfort.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 11th, 2011
Missionary Weapons (2)
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield–you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.” But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Ruth 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: When We See Jesus
“His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like flames of fire.” Revelation 1:14
What would a person look like if he had never sinned? If no worry wrinkled his brow and no anger shadowed his eyes? If no bitterness snarled his lips and no selfishness bowed his smile? If a person had never sinned, how would he appear? We’ll know when we see Jesus.
Ruth 1
Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons
1 In the days when the judges ruled,[a] there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has turned against me!”
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,[b]” she told them. “Call me Mara,[c] because the Almighty[d] has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted[e] me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 13:1-6
Concluding Exhortations
1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a]
6 So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”[b
Good Neighbors
September 10, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. —Luke 6:36
When US airspace was closed after the September 11, 2001, attacks, planes had to land at the closest airport available. Nearly 40 planes landed in Gander, Newfoundland. Suddenly this small Canadian community almost doubled in size when thousands of frightened passengers arrived. People opened their homes, and officials converted high schools, lodges, churches, and meeting halls into places to stay. Stranded passengers were overwhelmed with neighborly generosity and kindness.
The people of Gander showed the kind of love described in Hebrews 13: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (v.2). This is probably referring to Abraham when he entertained three men who came to tell him that he would soon have a son (Gen. 18:1-16). Two of the “men” were angels, and one was the Angel of the Lord. Bible commentator F. F. Bruce says about Abraham, “Among the Jews, Abraham was regarded as outstanding for his hospitality as [he was] for his other virtues; a true son of Abraham must be hospitable too.”
God calls believers to show their love and gratefulness for Him in their good works of hospitality and compassion.
How will you answer His call today?
How many lives shall I touch today?
How many neighbors will pass my way?
I can bless so many and help so much,
If I meet each one with a Christlike touch. —Jones
Christlike love is seen in good works.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 10th, 2011
Missionary Weapons (1)
When you were under the fig tree, I saw you —John 1:48
Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, “If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion”? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.
A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private “fig-tree” life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.
Are you saying, “But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready”? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.
God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.
“His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like flames of fire.” Revelation 1:14
What would a person look like if he had never sinned? If no worry wrinkled his brow and no anger shadowed his eyes? If no bitterness snarled his lips and no selfishness bowed his smile? If a person had never sinned, how would he appear? We’ll know when we see Jesus.
Ruth 1
Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons
1 In the days when the judges ruled,[a] there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has turned against me!”
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,[b]” she told them. “Call me Mara,[c] because the Almighty[d] has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted[e] me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 13:1-6
Concluding Exhortations
1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a]
6 So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”[b
Good Neighbors
September 10, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. —Luke 6:36
When US airspace was closed after the September 11, 2001, attacks, planes had to land at the closest airport available. Nearly 40 planes landed in Gander, Newfoundland. Suddenly this small Canadian community almost doubled in size when thousands of frightened passengers arrived. People opened their homes, and officials converted high schools, lodges, churches, and meeting halls into places to stay. Stranded passengers were overwhelmed with neighborly generosity and kindness.
The people of Gander showed the kind of love described in Hebrews 13: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (v.2). This is probably referring to Abraham when he entertained three men who came to tell him that he would soon have a son (Gen. 18:1-16). Two of the “men” were angels, and one was the Angel of the Lord. Bible commentator F. F. Bruce says about Abraham, “Among the Jews, Abraham was regarded as outstanding for his hospitality as [he was] for his other virtues; a true son of Abraham must be hospitable too.”
God calls believers to show their love and gratefulness for Him in their good works of hospitality and compassion.
How will you answer His call today?
How many lives shall I touch today?
How many neighbors will pass my way?
I can bless so many and help so much,
If I meet each one with a Christlike touch. —Jones
Christlike love is seen in good works.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 10th, 2011
Missionary Weapons (1)
When you were under the fig tree, I saw you —John 1:48
Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, “If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion”? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.
A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private “fig-tree” life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.
Are you saying, “But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready”? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.
God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Luke 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: How Can We
“How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Romans 6:2 RSV
How can we who have been made right not live righteous lives? How can we who have been loved not love? How can we who have been blessed not bless? How can we who have been given grace not live graciously? . . .
How could grace result in anything but gracious living? “So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us even more grace? No!” (Romans 6:1 NCV)
Luke 16
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Additional Teachings
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Mark 4:26-32
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
You Never Know
September 9, 2011
Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn
For the earth yields crops by itself. —Mark 4:28
During my seminary years, I directed a summer day camp for boys and girls at the YMCA. Each morning, I began the day with a brief story in which I tried to incorporate an element of the gospel.
To help illustrate that becoming a Christian means to become a new creation in Christ, I told a story about a moose that wanted to be a horse. The moose had seen a herd of wild horses, thought them elegant creatures, and wanted to be like them. So he taught himself to act like a horse. However, he was never accepted as a horse because he was . . . well, a moose. How can a moose become a horse? Only by being born a horse, of course. And then I would explain how we can all be born again by believing in Jesus.
One summer I had a staff counselor named Henry who was very hostile to the faith. I could do nothing but love him and pray for him, but he left at the end of the summer hardened in unbelief. That was more than 50 years ago. A few years ago I received a letter from Henry. The first sentence said: “I write to tell that I have been born again and now, at last, I am a ‘horse.’ ” This confirmed to me that we need to keep praying and planting the seed of the Word (Mark 4:26) so that it may bear fruit one day. —David Roper
You think your word or deed is very small,
That what you say will hardly count at all;
But God can take the seed that you have sown
And nourish it until it’s fully grown. —Hess
We sow the seed—God produces the harvest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 9th, 2011
Do It Yourself (2)
. . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “. . . I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ . . . .” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself . . . ” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.
Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.
We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind. . . .” (Romans 12:2).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Escaping the Flood, Or Not - #6435
Friday, September 9, 2011
I think I still remember one line of poetry from high school, "Water, water everywhere." Yeah, well, for lots of folks this past spring, that wasn't poetry. It was their town, their neighborhood, their house. The rivers overflowed and they backed up into every creek and stream they were connected to. It was a mess.
When my wife hears the word "flood," she actually feels something inside. Because the defining event for the town she grew up in was the flood that turned a quiet creek into a raging torrent--actually a deadly torrent. Those who lived it, like she did, will never forget it.
The saddest part of the story is the people who died, because well, they didn't have to. As those flash floods cascaded down from the mountains toward their town, rescuers came by a house in a boat to warn the people there and to take them to safety. But they chose to ignore the warning. They just said, "Aw, we've been OK here for years. We're not leaving now." Their bodies were found days later, and miles away.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Escaping the Flood, Or Not."
You know, God grieves over people like that. Actually, I do, too. People who've been warned that there's danger, even death coming. People who have a rescuer at their door and who think they can make it on their own. And they die, when they could have lived...forever.
Our word today from the Word of God is in Deuteronomy 30:19. God pleads with us, "I have set before you life and death...choose life." Now, that "life" is a person--His Son. Here's the Bible again, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). The judgment of God for us hijacking our life from Him is racing our way. The Bible says, "God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). But there's a rescuer at the door. It's Jesus.
He says, "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20). He can take us to safety because He did all the dying for all of our sinning when He hung on that cross.
Now, maybe you have never realized that what Jesus did was for you. Maybe you've never made your way in your heart to that cross and said those two eternity-changing words, "For me. Lord Jesus, what you're doing there was for me." Maybe you've been around this a lot and you've heard His knocking more times than you can count. You've just never opened the door. You've continued to put it off.
See, either way, whether you've never known this before or you've heard it all your life, it's important. It's eternally important that you answer the door and let Jesus save you. The Bible cries out, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart" (Hebrews 4:7).
It could be that there's a tug in your heart today. You are hearing the voice of Jesus. You are hearing the knock of the Rescuer at your door saying, "Judgment is coming. The flood is coming, but you don't have to be taken by it. I took your punishment for you." He took all the flood of all of God's judgment on Himself at the cross. And I'd say to you as you hear this that the more times you have heard His voice and done nothing, the harder your heart becomes. And that is the edge of an abyss that no one should risk.
If you're hearing His voice today, listen to what God said. Obey His command, "Do not harden your heart." Open your heart to hear Jesus today, to the Savior who died for you. What a tragedy if you'd go on and pay for all eternity for what He already paid for on the cross.
Right now you say to Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I want to encourage you to go to our website. I've done all I can there to explain in non-religious words, with God's Word out of the Bible, how you can begin your relationship with Jesus and know you have. Just go to YoursForLife.net.
If you've never gotten into the boat with Jesus, God's Rescuer, I beg you to do that today. The flood is coming, and you won't make it without Him.
“How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Romans 6:2 RSV
How can we who have been made right not live righteous lives? How can we who have been loved not love? How can we who have been blessed not bless? How can we who have been given grace not live graciously? . . .
How could grace result in anything but gracious living? “So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us even more grace? No!” (Romans 6:1 NCV)
Luke 16
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Additional Teachings
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Mark 4:26-32
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
You Never Know
September 9, 2011
Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn
For the earth yields crops by itself. —Mark 4:28
During my seminary years, I directed a summer day camp for boys and girls at the YMCA. Each morning, I began the day with a brief story in which I tried to incorporate an element of the gospel.
To help illustrate that becoming a Christian means to become a new creation in Christ, I told a story about a moose that wanted to be a horse. The moose had seen a herd of wild horses, thought them elegant creatures, and wanted to be like them. So he taught himself to act like a horse. However, he was never accepted as a horse because he was . . . well, a moose. How can a moose become a horse? Only by being born a horse, of course. And then I would explain how we can all be born again by believing in Jesus.
One summer I had a staff counselor named Henry who was very hostile to the faith. I could do nothing but love him and pray for him, but he left at the end of the summer hardened in unbelief. That was more than 50 years ago. A few years ago I received a letter from Henry. The first sentence said: “I write to tell that I have been born again and now, at last, I am a ‘horse.’ ” This confirmed to me that we need to keep praying and planting the seed of the Word (Mark 4:26) so that it may bear fruit one day. —David Roper
You think your word or deed is very small,
That what you say will hardly count at all;
But God can take the seed that you have sown
And nourish it until it’s fully grown. —Hess
We sow the seed—God produces the harvest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 9th, 2011
Do It Yourself (2)
. . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “. . . I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ . . . .” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself . . . ” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.
Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.
We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind. . . .” (Romans 12:2).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Escaping the Flood, Or Not - #6435
Friday, September 9, 2011
I think I still remember one line of poetry from high school, "Water, water everywhere." Yeah, well, for lots of folks this past spring, that wasn't poetry. It was their town, their neighborhood, their house. The rivers overflowed and they backed up into every creek and stream they were connected to. It was a mess.
When my wife hears the word "flood," she actually feels something inside. Because the defining event for the town she grew up in was the flood that turned a quiet creek into a raging torrent--actually a deadly torrent. Those who lived it, like she did, will never forget it.
The saddest part of the story is the people who died, because well, they didn't have to. As those flash floods cascaded down from the mountains toward their town, rescuers came by a house in a boat to warn the people there and to take them to safety. But they chose to ignore the warning. They just said, "Aw, we've been OK here for years. We're not leaving now." Their bodies were found days later, and miles away.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Escaping the Flood, Or Not."
You know, God grieves over people like that. Actually, I do, too. People who've been warned that there's danger, even death coming. People who have a rescuer at their door and who think they can make it on their own. And they die, when they could have lived...forever.
Our word today from the Word of God is in Deuteronomy 30:19. God pleads with us, "I have set before you life and death...choose life." Now, that "life" is a person--His Son. Here's the Bible again, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). The judgment of God for us hijacking our life from Him is racing our way. The Bible says, "God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). But there's a rescuer at the door. It's Jesus.
He says, "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20). He can take us to safety because He did all the dying for all of our sinning when He hung on that cross.
Now, maybe you have never realized that what Jesus did was for you. Maybe you've never made your way in your heart to that cross and said those two eternity-changing words, "For me. Lord Jesus, what you're doing there was for me." Maybe you've been around this a lot and you've heard His knocking more times than you can count. You've just never opened the door. You've continued to put it off.
See, either way, whether you've never known this before or you've heard it all your life, it's important. It's eternally important that you answer the door and let Jesus save you. The Bible cries out, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart" (Hebrews 4:7).
It could be that there's a tug in your heart today. You are hearing the voice of Jesus. You are hearing the knock of the Rescuer at your door saying, "Judgment is coming. The flood is coming, but you don't have to be taken by it. I took your punishment for you." He took all the flood of all of God's judgment on Himself at the cross. And I'd say to you as you hear this that the more times you have heard His voice and done nothing, the harder your heart becomes. And that is the edge of an abyss that no one should risk.
If you're hearing His voice today, listen to what God said. Obey His command, "Do not harden your heart." Open your heart to hear Jesus today, to the Savior who died for you. What a tragedy if you'd go on and pay for all eternity for what He already paid for on the cross.
Right now you say to Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I want to encourage you to go to our website. I've done all I can there to explain in non-religious words, with God's Word out of the Bible, how you can begin your relationship with Jesus and know you have. Just go to YoursForLife.net.
If you've never gotten into the boat with Jesus, God's Rescuer, I beg you to do that today. The flood is coming, and you won't make it without Him.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Judges 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: The Choice is Ours
“You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23 NIV
We are free either to love God or not. He invites us to love Him. He urges us to love Him. He came that we might love Him. But, in the end, the choice is yours and mine. To take that choice from each of us, for Him to force us to love Him, would be less than love . . .
He leaves the choice to us.
Judges 21
Wives for the Benjamites
1 The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
2 The people went to Bethel,[g] where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3 “LORD, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”
4 Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
5 Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah was to be put to death.
6 Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. 7 “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” 8 Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. 9 For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.
10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 11 “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin.” 12 They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. 14 So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
15 The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.’ 19 But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh, which lies north of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.’”
23 So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.
24 At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 90:1-12
BOOK IV
Psalms 90–106
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Grandfather’s Clock
September 8, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. —Psalm 90:12
In 1876, Henry Clay Work wrote the song “My Grandfather’s Clock.” The song describes a grandfather’s clock that faithfully ticks its way through its owner’s life. Childhood, adulthood, and old age are all viewed in relationship to his beloved timepiece. The refrain says:
Ninety years without slumbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
His life’s seconds numbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
But it stopped, short,
Never to go again,
When the old man died.
The relentless ticking of the clock reminds us that our time on earth is limited. Despite the joys and pains of life, time always marches on. For the believer, our time on earth is an opportunity for gaining wisdom. The psalmist writes, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12).
One way of numbering our days is to ask ourselves these kinds of questions: How can I become more like Christ? Am I reading the Word regularly? Am I devoting time to prayer? Am I meeting together with other believers? The way we answer these questions is an indicator of the progress we’re making in gaining wisdom and becoming more like Christ.
No matter the phase of life—childhood, youth, middle age, or our senior years—life always affords us opportunities to grow in faith and wisdom. Numbering our days is the wise response to life’s inevitable progress.
How are you progressing on your journey?
Don’t spend your time—invest it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 8th, 2011
. . . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . .” (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier “against the knowledge of God” is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers “against the knowledge of God.” We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Illusion of Winning - #6434
Thursday, September 8, 2011
I met a fellow the other day, and he said, "Ron, my name is Bill." I guess it was the mood I was in. I said, "Oh no! I already have enough bills in my life." What's wrong with me? Well, maybe you've felt that way. I mean, what I said was probably true for both of us.
Did you ever find out that you had more bills than you thought? You know, you've written all the bills you thought you had, and yet you still have a little left in your checkbook. You say, "Hey, I think I'm finally winning this financial battle" and then suddenly discover some unopened envelope with, of course, bills, or a stack in a drawer that you forgot to pull out; or maybe just a financial surprise in today's mail.
Suddenly you don't feel as comfortable--as well off--as you did. You thought you were paid up, but your obligations were greater than you realized. Well, you had no business feeling well off, not with how much you still owed. You know, you and I have other obligations, more important obligations, and we might be feeling a whole lot better off than we really are.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Illusion of Winning."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the book of Amos, which you were probably just discussing over breakfast today. But in those Minor Prophets in the Old Testament are some very challenging words.
Amos 6:1 - "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion." Okay, first of all, what's this Zion business? Well, let's get that settled. Zion is God's mountain in the Old Testament. It's that mountain upon which the temple was built. And if you were on Mt. Zion, you would have felt very spiritually safe, surrounded by priests who were passing you on every side, a lot of sacred music you could hear, sacred places to visit, lots of believers all around you. And right on Zion it's easy to feel like the whole world is going with God. But He reminds them in the book of Amos that they're surrounded by enemies.
Now, today's Zion is the Christian world that you and I are so involved in: Christian TV, and websites, and seminars, and music, and conferences. We've got our own music, we've got a lot of heroes of our own, we're in the headlines, we sit in our church and we feel like we're winning. You know, I attend sometimes the National Religious Broadcaster's Convention--there's 5,000 people there. Man, when you're there you feel like you're winning the world. But we're not.
The Wall Street Journal once pointed out that if you're in the evangelical sub-culture you know all its heroes, all its radio programs, all the books. If you're not in the evangelical world, you don't even know that it exists. Could it be that we're complacent in Zion? That we're talking mostly to ourselves? The lost people around us are I guess you could say "loster" and farther from Christ and the church than they've ever been. And there are more of them than there have ever been. It is the illusion of winning because we feel so strong when we're in our Zion spots.
We've still got a massive job to do; an obligation--a bill unpaid to the world for which Christ gave His life. Paul said in Romans 1, he was "obligated to the lost; to not be ashamed of the Gospel--to get it to them." This isn't a time for feeling well off. It's a time for us to take risks, to launch out in new ways to reach our neighbors, to evaluate our church and our ministry in terms of its impact on the lost people for whom Jesus died and for whom He weeps. We shouldn't be looking at our crowds or how many of ourselves we're talking to, but how many lost people we're talking to. What percentage are they? Not how many found people we're talking to.
And it's a personal issue. Am I, as one follower of Christ, sitting back and enjoying all of Zion's goodies and feeling like I'm doing something? Or am I daily entering into the battle for the lives of the people around me?
Listen, we will celebrate when we get to heaven. That will be enough time. Right now it's time to reach the lost through every possible means while there's still time.
“You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23 NIV
We are free either to love God or not. He invites us to love Him. He urges us to love Him. He came that we might love Him. But, in the end, the choice is yours and mine. To take that choice from each of us, for Him to force us to love Him, would be less than love . . .
He leaves the choice to us.
Judges 21
Wives for the Benjamites
1 The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
2 The people went to Bethel,[g] where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3 “LORD, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”
4 Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
5 Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah was to be put to death.
6 Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. 7 “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” 8 Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. 9 For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.
10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 11 “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin.” 12 They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. 14 So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
15 The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.’ 19 But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh, which lies north of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.’”
23 So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.
24 At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 90:1-12
BOOK IV
Psalms 90–106
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Grandfather’s Clock
September 8, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. —Psalm 90:12
In 1876, Henry Clay Work wrote the song “My Grandfather’s Clock.” The song describes a grandfather’s clock that faithfully ticks its way through its owner’s life. Childhood, adulthood, and old age are all viewed in relationship to his beloved timepiece. The refrain says:
Ninety years without slumbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
His life’s seconds numbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
But it stopped, short,
Never to go again,
When the old man died.
The relentless ticking of the clock reminds us that our time on earth is limited. Despite the joys and pains of life, time always marches on. For the believer, our time on earth is an opportunity for gaining wisdom. The psalmist writes, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12).
One way of numbering our days is to ask ourselves these kinds of questions: How can I become more like Christ? Am I reading the Word regularly? Am I devoting time to prayer? Am I meeting together with other believers? The way we answer these questions is an indicator of the progress we’re making in gaining wisdom and becoming more like Christ.
No matter the phase of life—childhood, youth, middle age, or our senior years—life always affords us opportunities to grow in faith and wisdom. Numbering our days is the wise response to life’s inevitable progress.
How are you progressing on your journey?
Don’t spend your time—invest it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 8th, 2011
. . . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . .” (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier “against the knowledge of God” is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers “against the knowledge of God.” We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Illusion of Winning - #6434
Thursday, September 8, 2011
I met a fellow the other day, and he said, "Ron, my name is Bill." I guess it was the mood I was in. I said, "Oh no! I already have enough bills in my life." What's wrong with me? Well, maybe you've felt that way. I mean, what I said was probably true for both of us.
Did you ever find out that you had more bills than you thought? You know, you've written all the bills you thought you had, and yet you still have a little left in your checkbook. You say, "Hey, I think I'm finally winning this financial battle" and then suddenly discover some unopened envelope with, of course, bills, or a stack in a drawer that you forgot to pull out; or maybe just a financial surprise in today's mail.
Suddenly you don't feel as comfortable--as well off--as you did. You thought you were paid up, but your obligations were greater than you realized. Well, you had no business feeling well off, not with how much you still owed. You know, you and I have other obligations, more important obligations, and we might be feeling a whole lot better off than we really are.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Illusion of Winning."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the book of Amos, which you were probably just discussing over breakfast today. But in those Minor Prophets in the Old Testament are some very challenging words.
Amos 6:1 - "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion." Okay, first of all, what's this Zion business? Well, let's get that settled. Zion is God's mountain in the Old Testament. It's that mountain upon which the temple was built. And if you were on Mt. Zion, you would have felt very spiritually safe, surrounded by priests who were passing you on every side, a lot of sacred music you could hear, sacred places to visit, lots of believers all around you. And right on Zion it's easy to feel like the whole world is going with God. But He reminds them in the book of Amos that they're surrounded by enemies.
Now, today's Zion is the Christian world that you and I are so involved in: Christian TV, and websites, and seminars, and music, and conferences. We've got our own music, we've got a lot of heroes of our own, we're in the headlines, we sit in our church and we feel like we're winning. You know, I attend sometimes the National Religious Broadcaster's Convention--there's 5,000 people there. Man, when you're there you feel like you're winning the world. But we're not.
The Wall Street Journal once pointed out that if you're in the evangelical sub-culture you know all its heroes, all its radio programs, all the books. If you're not in the evangelical world, you don't even know that it exists. Could it be that we're complacent in Zion? That we're talking mostly to ourselves? The lost people around us are I guess you could say "loster" and farther from Christ and the church than they've ever been. And there are more of them than there have ever been. It is the illusion of winning because we feel so strong when we're in our Zion spots.
We've still got a massive job to do; an obligation--a bill unpaid to the world for which Christ gave His life. Paul said in Romans 1, he was "obligated to the lost; to not be ashamed of the Gospel--to get it to them." This isn't a time for feeling well off. It's a time for us to take risks, to launch out in new ways to reach our neighbors, to evaluate our church and our ministry in terms of its impact on the lost people for whom Jesus died and for whom He weeps. We shouldn't be looking at our crowds or how many of ourselves we're talking to, but how many lost people we're talking to. What percentage are they? Not how many found people we're talking to.
And it's a personal issue. Am I, as one follower of Christ, sitting back and enjoying all of Zion's goodies and feeling like I'm doing something? Or am I daily entering into the battle for the lives of the people around me?
Listen, we will celebrate when we get to heaven. That will be enough time. Right now it's time to reach the lost through every possible means while there's still time.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Judges 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Overflowing
“My cup overflows with blessings.” Psalm 23:5 NLT
Is an overflowing cup full? Absolutely. The wine reaches the rim and then tumbles over the edge. The goblet is not large enough to contain the quantity. According to David, our hearts are not large enough to contain the blessings that God wants to give. He pours and pours until they literally flow over the edge and down on the table . . .
The last thing we need to worry about is not having enough. Our cup overflows with blessings.
Judges 20
The Israelites Punish the Benjamites
1 Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. 3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel. 7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.”
8 All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. 9 But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots. 10 We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah[b] in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” 11 So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.
12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13 Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.”
But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14 From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. 15 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. 16 Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel[c] and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”
The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”
19 The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. 22 But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”
The LORD answered, “Go up against them.”
24 Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25 This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. 27 And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”
The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”
29 Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. 30 They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32 While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”
33 All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west[d] of Gibeah.[e] 34 Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.
Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. 37 Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. 38 The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39 and then the Israelites would counterattack.
The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.” 40 But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke. 41 Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them. 42 So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily[f] overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. 45 As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.
46 On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47 But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48 The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 1:1-9
Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.
Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
A Focus On Fairness
September 7, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. —Amos 5:15
During the past 135 years of Major League Baseball, only 20 pitchers have thrown a perfect game. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers would have been number 21 but an umpire’s mistake denied him what every pitcher dreams of. The video replay showed the truth. Even though the umpire later acknowledged his error and apologized to Galarraga, the call made on the field could not be changed.
Through it all, Galarraga remained calm, expressed sympathy for the umpire, and never criticized him. Armando’s refusal to retaliate amazed fans, players, and sportswriters alike.
If we insist on fair treatment for ourselves, we can become angry and frustrated. But when we embrace the Bible’s wisdom, we will seek the welfare of others. Proverbs calls us “to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity” (1:2-3). Oswald Chambers said of our personal dealings with others, “Never look for justice, but never cease to give it; and never allow anything you meet with to sour your relationship to men through Jesus Christ.”
When we experience unfairness, it is our privilege and responsibility as followers of Christ to respond with honesty and integrity, doing what is right, just, and fair.
How others handle justice
May not be up to me;
But when I react to others,
I must show integrity. —Branon
Life is not fair, but God is always faithful.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7th, 2011
Fountains of Blessings
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Recycling Garbage - #6433
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The first time I ever flew into New York City, the man who picked me up said, "Well, you just landed on the garbage of New York." I said, "What do you mean by that?" He said, "Well, you see, LaGuardia Airport is built on a landfill. Years ago all these garbage trucks hauled all this garbage from New York out here and built a place where there's now an airport. I was impressed. I thought, "You know, it's amazing what engineers can do. I mean, they made something very useful out of garbage." You know, there is a cosmic engineer who put the galaxies together, and He is a genius at making something useful out of garbage.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Recycling Garbage."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Psalm 51. It's a very, very touching psalm because of the point at which David is writing it. He has sinned the great sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal soldiers. He's then arranged for the murder at the battle front of his friend--her husband. And we now find him groping his way back to the Lord, repenting and seeking forgiveness.
I guess if I were to title this psalm it might be called David at the Dump, because he's really facing a garbage situation--the garbage of his life. Listen to some excerpts from this psalm. "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You."
See, David knows where to begin in cleaning up the garbage of our lives. You've got to acknowledge its ugliness, and he has. And he says, "Now, Lord, I'm counting on You. Please clean it up; give me a new kind of purity. And then give me a determined, steadfast spirit. I've learned from this, God. I'm not going to make these mistakes again. And give me back my joy better than ever."
But notice the result. He said, "As a result of that, God is going to make the garbage of my life into a ministry. Because "I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You." That's a pretty exciting concept to recognize that God can take the garbage of a sin-scarred life and convert it into credentials of His grace.
It happened to the Apostle Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, he murdered Christians, he imprisoned them. His violent past later, though, opened many doors when he came to people and they said, "Woah! You mean you are a follower of Christ?" God turned that garbage into something very useful. It opened doors; it opened hearts. How many times I've heard people say, "You know, after what I've been through, I wouldn't want to go through it again, and I wouldn't want anyone else to. But I can have a ministry to people who are where I was."
Look, maybe you've been a victim of sin. I think of Joan who was abused by her father. But she has resolved that relationship; she's learned to forgive and love him, and this lady is having an amazing ministry to people who were sinned against in the same way. Now, that's not an excuse to play in the garbage. It's far better never to have been there. Just ask anyone who's been there. But if there's garbage in your past, bring it to the Lord Jesus--to the cross where He paid for it all. Let Him forgive you. Let Him clean you up. And most miraculously, then use the junk of your past for His glory and the good of many others.
See, only Jesus could do this. It took His death on the cross to so beat the power and the penalty of our sin that He can now offer us forgiveness and meaning, and turn our past into an incredible future. This could be the day that you could leave all the sin, and all the junk, and all the garbage of a lifetime at His cross. You say, "Jesus, forgive me. I believe You died for me. I'm Yours."
We'd love to help you do that. You can check out our website. You'll find a lot of stuff there from the Bible that will help you. It's YoursForLife.net.
The power of Christ is so great that it reaches even to the garbage dumps of our lives and turns trash into treasure. Like the song writer said, "All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life."
“My cup overflows with blessings.” Psalm 23:5 NLT
Is an overflowing cup full? Absolutely. The wine reaches the rim and then tumbles over the edge. The goblet is not large enough to contain the quantity. According to David, our hearts are not large enough to contain the blessings that God wants to give. He pours and pours until they literally flow over the edge and down on the table . . .
The last thing we need to worry about is not having enough. Our cup overflows with blessings.
Judges 20
The Israelites Punish the Benjamites
1 Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. 3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel. 7 Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.”
8 All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. 9 But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots. 10 We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah[b] in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” 11 So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.
12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13 Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.”
But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14 From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. 15 At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. 16 Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.
18 The Israelites went up to Bethel[c] and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”
The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”
19 The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20 The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21 The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. 22 But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”
The LORD answered, “Go up against them.”
24 Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25 This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. 27 And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”
The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”
29 Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. 30 They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32 While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”
33 All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west[d] of Gibeah.[e] 34 Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.
Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. 37 Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. 38 The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39 and then the Israelites would counterattack.
The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.” 40 But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke. 41 Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them. 42 So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily[f] overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. 45 As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.
46 On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47 But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48 The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 1:1-9
Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.
Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
A Focus On Fairness
September 7, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. —Amos 5:15
During the past 135 years of Major League Baseball, only 20 pitchers have thrown a perfect game. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers would have been number 21 but an umpire’s mistake denied him what every pitcher dreams of. The video replay showed the truth. Even though the umpire later acknowledged his error and apologized to Galarraga, the call made on the field could not be changed.
Through it all, Galarraga remained calm, expressed sympathy for the umpire, and never criticized him. Armando’s refusal to retaliate amazed fans, players, and sportswriters alike.
If we insist on fair treatment for ourselves, we can become angry and frustrated. But when we embrace the Bible’s wisdom, we will seek the welfare of others. Proverbs calls us “to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity” (1:2-3). Oswald Chambers said of our personal dealings with others, “Never look for justice, but never cease to give it; and never allow anything you meet with to sour your relationship to men through Jesus Christ.”
When we experience unfairness, it is our privilege and responsibility as followers of Christ to respond with honesty and integrity, doing what is right, just, and fair.
How others handle justice
May not be up to me;
But when I react to others,
I must show integrity. —Branon
Life is not fair, but God is always faithful.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7th, 2011
Fountains of Blessings
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Recycling Garbage - #6433
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The first time I ever flew into New York City, the man who picked me up said, "Well, you just landed on the garbage of New York." I said, "What do you mean by that?" He said, "Well, you see, LaGuardia Airport is built on a landfill. Years ago all these garbage trucks hauled all this garbage from New York out here and built a place where there's now an airport. I was impressed. I thought, "You know, it's amazing what engineers can do. I mean, they made something very useful out of garbage." You know, there is a cosmic engineer who put the galaxies together, and He is a genius at making something useful out of garbage.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Recycling Garbage."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Psalm 51. It's a very, very touching psalm because of the point at which David is writing it. He has sinned the great sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal soldiers. He's then arranged for the murder at the battle front of his friend--her husband. And we now find him groping his way back to the Lord, repenting and seeking forgiveness.
I guess if I were to title this psalm it might be called David at the Dump, because he's really facing a garbage situation--the garbage of his life. Listen to some excerpts from this psalm. "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You."
See, David knows where to begin in cleaning up the garbage of our lives. You've got to acknowledge its ugliness, and he has. And he says, "Now, Lord, I'm counting on You. Please clean it up; give me a new kind of purity. And then give me a determined, steadfast spirit. I've learned from this, God. I'm not going to make these mistakes again. And give me back my joy better than ever."
But notice the result. He said, "As a result of that, God is going to make the garbage of my life into a ministry. Because "I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You." That's a pretty exciting concept to recognize that God can take the garbage of a sin-scarred life and convert it into credentials of His grace.
It happened to the Apostle Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, he murdered Christians, he imprisoned them. His violent past later, though, opened many doors when he came to people and they said, "Woah! You mean you are a follower of Christ?" God turned that garbage into something very useful. It opened doors; it opened hearts. How many times I've heard people say, "You know, after what I've been through, I wouldn't want to go through it again, and I wouldn't want anyone else to. But I can have a ministry to people who are where I was."
Look, maybe you've been a victim of sin. I think of Joan who was abused by her father. But she has resolved that relationship; she's learned to forgive and love him, and this lady is having an amazing ministry to people who were sinned against in the same way. Now, that's not an excuse to play in the garbage. It's far better never to have been there. Just ask anyone who's been there. But if there's garbage in your past, bring it to the Lord Jesus--to the cross where He paid for it all. Let Him forgive you. Let Him clean you up. And most miraculously, then use the junk of your past for His glory and the good of many others.
See, only Jesus could do this. It took His death on the cross to so beat the power and the penalty of our sin that He can now offer us forgiveness and meaning, and turn our past into an incredible future. This could be the day that you could leave all the sin, and all the junk, and all the garbage of a lifetime at His cross. You say, "Jesus, forgive me. I believe You died for me. I'm Yours."
We'd love to help you do that. You can check out our website. You'll find a lot of stuff there from the Bible that will help you. It's YoursForLife.net.
The power of Christ is so great that it reaches even to the garbage dumps of our lives and turns trash into treasure. Like the song writer said, "All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life."
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Judges 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: No Condemnation
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus . . . who walk according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 NKJV
Does the Word of God say There is limited condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? No. Does it say There is some condemnation . . .? No. It says There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Think of it—regardless of our sin, we are not guilty!
Judges 19
A Levite and His Concubine
1 In those days Israel had no king.
Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3 her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4 His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.
5 On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go.” 6 So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.” 7 And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8 On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.
9 Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.” 10 But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night.”
12 His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 13 He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.” 14 So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 15 There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them in for the night.
16 That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD.[a] No one has taken me in for the night. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 4:1-16
Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”[b]
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Measuring Growth
September 6, 2011 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Till we all come to the unity of the faith and . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. —Ephesians 4:13
When a high school student tried using a thermometer to measure a table, his teacher was dumbfounded. In 15 years of teaching, Dave had seen many sad and shocking situations. But even he was amazed that a student could make it to high school without knowing the difference between a ruler and a thermometer.
When a friend told me this story, my heart broke for that student and others like him who have fallen so far behind in their education. They can’t move forward because they haven’t yet learned basic lessons of everyday life.
But then a sobering thought came to me: Don’t we sometimes do the same thing when we use wrong spiritual measuring devices? For example, do we assume that churches with the most resources are the most blessed by God? And do we ever think that popular preachers are more godly than those with few followers?
The proper measure of our spiritual condition is the quality of our lives, which is measured by such attributes as lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering (Eph. 4:2). “Bearing with one another in love” (v.2) is a good indication that we are moving toward God’s goal for us: “the measure of . . . the fullness of Christ” (v.13).
Our spiritual maturity
Is measured by the quality
Of attributes that others see
Produced in us by Christ. —Sper
Our love for God can be measured by our love for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 6th, 2011
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe. . .” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Rest of The Story - #6432
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A long time ago my friend, Art, got stopped for speeding, although he was a little baffled when the police officer didn't get out of his car for a couple of moments. So, he thought, "Well, I'll be obliging." Art got out of his car. Oh boy! Immediately he heard the policeman yelling at him, "Get in that car and stay there, and don't move!" as the policeman reached for his gun. Poor Art! I mean, the poor guy was only doing 37 in the 30. That's not really that bad an offense most of the time.
Well, the policeman finally came up to his window. And as Art reached in his back pocket for his license, the policeman said, "Freeze where you are! Eyes straight ahead! Put your hands on the steering wheel! Don't move!" Well, of course, Art's first reaction was, "Am I going to die?" And then his second reaction was, "What is this guy's problem?" Well, if you'd stopped right there you'd have said, "Boy, this officer's really got an attitude, man. What's going on here?"
Well, you see, the officer went on to explain why he was so jumpy that day. He had just had a friend, a fellow officer, gunned down by a man that had been stopped for a minor traffic violation. All of a sudden, it's kind of understandable, isn't it? You see, when someone is over-reacting or just acting strangely, there's usually more to it than meets the eye.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Rest of The Story."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in John 4, and you may recognize this as an incident where Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well. She's an obnoxious woman, and she comes across in this passage as being hard and prejudiced. Jesus is trying to offer her living water to satisfy the deepest needs of her heart, and she throws up racial barriers, and religious differences. She's sarcastic toward Jesus. And if I were Jesus, I would have found it tempting just to say, "What's your problem, Lady? I don't need this." But Jesus looks for the "why" behind her actions; the need behind the deed.
And so, in John 4:16, He says, "'Go call your husband and come back.' 'Oh, I have no husband,' she replied. Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.' 'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet.'"
As the conversation moves on, Jesus obviously has touched the real need in her life, her restless search for love, for lasting love, as expressed in the men that she's gone through. She finally knows He's a prophet, and she eventually trusts Him as Savior.
Jesus is basically saying to her, "I understand why you're acting like you're acting. Now let's deal with the real issue." Now, look, we all know people who are hard to take, or maybe people who just suddenly explode over you for no reason. You've got two choices. You can attack them or you can treat their wound.
Like that police officer I told you about at the beginning, there is often--if you'll just try to understand--something about that person that tells you how hurt they are and why they're acting as they are. Christ-like people try to understand the well the bitterness is coming from: someone in your family, or at work, someone who has been hurt, maybe they've been rejected, maybe they've been hurt by their family. Try to understand that. See the "need behind the deed." Then your response is love and compassion, instead of giving an eye for an eye or returning evil for evil.
Think about that person you care about, or that person who's hard to care about. You can focus on what they're putting you through, or what they're going through. And if you'll get the rest of the story, you'll be just like Jesus.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus . . . who walk according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 NKJV
Does the Word of God say There is limited condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? No. Does it say There is some condemnation . . .? No. It says There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Think of it—regardless of our sin, we are not guilty!
Judges 19
A Levite and His Concubine
1 In those days Israel had no king.
Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3 her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4 His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.
5 On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go.” 6 So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.” 7 And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8 On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.
9 Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.” 10 But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night.”
12 His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 13 He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.” 14 So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 15 There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them in for the night.
16 That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD.[a] No one has taken me in for the night. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 4:1-16
Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”[b]
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Measuring Growth
September 6, 2011 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Till we all come to the unity of the faith and . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. —Ephesians 4:13
When a high school student tried using a thermometer to measure a table, his teacher was dumbfounded. In 15 years of teaching, Dave had seen many sad and shocking situations. But even he was amazed that a student could make it to high school without knowing the difference between a ruler and a thermometer.
When a friend told me this story, my heart broke for that student and others like him who have fallen so far behind in their education. They can’t move forward because they haven’t yet learned basic lessons of everyday life.
But then a sobering thought came to me: Don’t we sometimes do the same thing when we use wrong spiritual measuring devices? For example, do we assume that churches with the most resources are the most blessed by God? And do we ever think that popular preachers are more godly than those with few followers?
The proper measure of our spiritual condition is the quality of our lives, which is measured by such attributes as lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering (Eph. 4:2). “Bearing with one another in love” (v.2) is a good indication that we are moving toward God’s goal for us: “the measure of . . . the fullness of Christ” (v.13).
Our spiritual maturity
Is measured by the quality
Of attributes that others see
Produced in us by Christ. —Sper
Our love for God can be measured by our love for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 6th, 2011
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe. . .” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Rest of The Story - #6432
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A long time ago my friend, Art, got stopped for speeding, although he was a little baffled when the police officer didn't get out of his car for a couple of moments. So, he thought, "Well, I'll be obliging." Art got out of his car. Oh boy! Immediately he heard the policeman yelling at him, "Get in that car and stay there, and don't move!" as the policeman reached for his gun. Poor Art! I mean, the poor guy was only doing 37 in the 30. That's not really that bad an offense most of the time.
Well, the policeman finally came up to his window. And as Art reached in his back pocket for his license, the policeman said, "Freeze where you are! Eyes straight ahead! Put your hands on the steering wheel! Don't move!" Well, of course, Art's first reaction was, "Am I going to die?" And then his second reaction was, "What is this guy's problem?" Well, if you'd stopped right there you'd have said, "Boy, this officer's really got an attitude, man. What's going on here?"
Well, you see, the officer went on to explain why he was so jumpy that day. He had just had a friend, a fellow officer, gunned down by a man that had been stopped for a minor traffic violation. All of a sudden, it's kind of understandable, isn't it? You see, when someone is over-reacting or just acting strangely, there's usually more to it than meets the eye.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Rest of The Story."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in John 4, and you may recognize this as an incident where Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well. She's an obnoxious woman, and she comes across in this passage as being hard and prejudiced. Jesus is trying to offer her living water to satisfy the deepest needs of her heart, and she throws up racial barriers, and religious differences. She's sarcastic toward Jesus. And if I were Jesus, I would have found it tempting just to say, "What's your problem, Lady? I don't need this." But Jesus looks for the "why" behind her actions; the need behind the deed.
And so, in John 4:16, He says, "'Go call your husband and come back.' 'Oh, I have no husband,' she replied. Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.' 'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet.'"
As the conversation moves on, Jesus obviously has touched the real need in her life, her restless search for love, for lasting love, as expressed in the men that she's gone through. She finally knows He's a prophet, and she eventually trusts Him as Savior.
Jesus is basically saying to her, "I understand why you're acting like you're acting. Now let's deal with the real issue." Now, look, we all know people who are hard to take, or maybe people who just suddenly explode over you for no reason. You've got two choices. You can attack them or you can treat their wound.
Like that police officer I told you about at the beginning, there is often--if you'll just try to understand--something about that person that tells you how hurt they are and why they're acting as they are. Christ-like people try to understand the well the bitterness is coming from: someone in your family, or at work, someone who has been hurt, maybe they've been rejected, maybe they've been hurt by their family. Try to understand that. See the "need behind the deed." Then your response is love and compassion, instead of giving an eye for an eye or returning evil for evil.
Think about that person you care about, or that person who's hard to care about. You can focus on what they're putting you through, or what they're going through. And if you'll get the rest of the story, you'll be just like Jesus.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Luke 15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Jesus the Lord
“When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.” Luke 5:6 NRSV
Peter’s arm is yanked into the water. It’s all he can do to hang on until the other guys can help. Within moments the four fishermen and the carpenter are up to their knees in flopping silver.
Peter lifts his eyes off the catch and onto the face of Christ. In that moment, for the first time, he sees Jesus. Not the Jesus the Fish Finder . . . Not Jesus the Rabbi. Peter sees Jesus the Lord.
Luke 15:11-32
New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Genesis 1:26-31
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
The Goodness Of Work
September 5, 2011 — by Randy Kilgore
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” —Genesis 1:26
Some Christians grow up believing work is bad—that it’s a curse brought about by Adam and Eve’s sin. Left uncorrected, this mistaken belief can cause people to feel that what they do in their jobs every day isn’t important to God—or at the very least, isn’t as important as the work of missionaries and pastors. This is not true, as Genesis 1:26-31 teaches us.
First, we learn that God Himself works, as evidenced by the labor involved in creation and by the fact that He rested on the seventh day. Then we discover that we were made in His image (v.26) and that we were granted dominion over creation. This implies that we are to work to tend creation. Clearly, the tending of God’s creation is work—noble work, for God looked upon His labors and declared them “very good” (v.31).
It mustn’t escape our notice either that work was declared good before sin entered the picture. In other words, work didn’t result from the fall and therefore is not a curse. We see this idea again in Genesis 2, when God “took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (v.15).
Let’s approach each day’s labor—whether at a job or doing another activity to help our family—with an awareness of the dignity and nobility God granted it in creation.
Our daily work is used by God
To help us care for daily needs;
And work that’s done as to the Lord
Gives witness to our words and deeds. —D. De Haan
God, give me work till my life shall end—
and life till my work is done.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 5th, 2011
Watching With Jesus
Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38
Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they “all . . . forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . .” (Acts 2:4). “They” refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our Lord had said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Seeing What Your Opponent Sees - #6431
Monday, September 5, 2011
Monday was not a favorite day for our local high school football players during the season. See, that was the day they watched the film of last Saturday's game. Oh, now, it's nice to see what you did right, but of course, coaches don't spend much time on that. Most of the coach's attention is focused on what you did wrong or what you could improve on. And so, on Monday you may get yelled at, critiqued, pushed to improve.
I happened to know our head coach pretty well, and I knew that he spent many, many late hours reviewing those films so he'd be ready by Monday. Why? Well, is it because he liked to yell at 16-year-old guys? No. You see, he was looking for weaknesses that an opponent can use to hurt you, to beat you. And you know, that's not a bad idea.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Seeing What Your Opponent Sees."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 4:1-4. Basically, you should know as we enter this passage that someone has been watching your films of how you've been playing your game. And they have been sizing up what could bring you down. That opponent is identified for us in Luke 4.
"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordon and was led by the Spirit in the desert where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them He was hungry. The devil said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written, man does not live by bread alone.'"
Now, this passage really exposes for us the two areas that the devil tries to exploit. First, he'll exploit an area where God has been specifically speaking to you. Yeah. He will, because well look, just before this incident, Jesus was baptized, a voice came from heaven saying, "You are My Son." So what does the devil say? "If you are God's Son..."
Think of areas where God has been speaking to you over the last few months; things He's really affirmed to you, challenged you with, changed you with. Well, the devil's going to try to discourage you in that area, before you're too strong to be stopped.
Secondly, he'll try to attack us in an area where we have a weakness. And where would Jesus be weak after 40 days of not eating? Of course, He's going to be tempted to leave God's will to get some food, and the devil tries that temptation on Him. He appeals to his appetite. Now, maybe you have an appetite that keeps showing up in the films as a weak spot of yours; an appetite for attention that you'll almost do anything to get, or for acceptance, or an appetite for power, to be in control, a sexual appetite, an appetite for money, for the spotlight maybe, or to get even.
See, the devil will go after a sin in that area, a sin score. And it's all downhill from there. It's important for you to look at the films and see what your opponent is seeing. Be honest about your vulnerable areas. Imagine the devil having a map of you with red pins in that map wherever he can get you. Now, where would those would be for you?
Now, the point here is not to focus on the enemy. He doesn't need any more credit. It's to make your weak spots the centerpiece of your growing relationship with Christ; daily bringing specifically those areas of weakness under His lordship for that day.
Find the scriptures that deal with that weakness as Jesus did, and be ready to quote the Word of God. Treat your weak areas with generous applications of the memorized Word of God.
And when your weak spots drive you to depend on Jesus as you never have before, well then you can say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong."
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