Max Lucado Daily: It’s Not Too Late
“Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” Luke 5:10, NASB
Christ . . . doesn’t abandon self-confessed schlemiels. Quite the contrary, he enlists them . . .
Contrary to what you may have been told, Jesus doesn’t limit his recruiting to the stout-hearted. The beat-up and worn-out are prime prospects in his book, and he’s been known to climb into boats, bars, and brothels to tell them, “It’s not too late to start over.”
1 Samuel 15
The LORD Rejects Saul as King
1 Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6 Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves[b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
16 “Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
17 Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19 Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?”
20 “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
22 But Samuel replied:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the LORD?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the LORD’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD.”
26 But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!”
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”
30 Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.” 31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”
Agag came to him in chains.[c] And he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33 But Samuel said,
“As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women.”
And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 6:6-11
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
No Authority?
October 4, 2011 — by Dave Branon
Consider [the ant’s] ways and be wise, which, having no . . . ruler, provides her supplies . . . and gathers her food. —Proverbs 6:6-8
When the deck behind our house began caving in, I knew its repair would exceed my abilities. So I made some calls, got some bids, and picked a builder to construct a new deck.
Once the contractor was done, I took a close look at his work and noticed some problems. Seeking a second opinion, I called the local building inspector and got a surprise. The deck guy had not obtained a building permit. Working without official oversight, he had violated many points of the building code.
This incident reminded me of an important truth (other than asking to see the building permit): We often do less than our best if we don’t have any accountability to the authority over us.
In Scripture, we see this principle explained in two of Jesus’ parables (Matt. 24:45-51; 25:14-30). In both cases, at least one unsupervised worker failed when the master was gone. But then we see a different approach in Proverbs 6. We see the example of the ant, which does good work without a visible supervisor. It intrinsically does its work without being monitored.
What about us? Do we do good work only when someone is watching? Or do we recognize that all our service is for God, and so do our best at all times—even when no human authority is watching?
God sees and knows the work we do:
Our faithfulness He will reward;
With His authority in view,
Let’s do our best for Christ the Lord. —Hess
No matter who your boss is, you are really working for God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 4th, 2011
The Vision and The Reality
. . . to those who are . . . called to be saints . . . —1 Corinthians 1:2
Thank God for being able to see all that you have not yet been. You have had the vision, but you are not yet to the reality of it by any means. It is when we are in the valley, where we prove whether we will be the choice ones, that most of us turn back. We are not quite prepared for the bumps and bruises that must come if we are going to be turned into the shape of the vision. We have seen what we are not, and what God wants us to be, but are we willing to be battered into the shape of the vision to be used by God? The beatings will always come in the most common, everyday ways and through common, everyday people.
There are times when we do know what God’s purpose is; whether we will let the vision be turned into actual character depends on us, not on God. If we prefer to relax on the mountaintop and live in the memory of the vision, then we will be of no real use in the ordinary things of which human life is made. We have to learn to live in reliance upon what we saw in the vision, not simply live in ecstatic delight and conscious reflection upon God. This means living the realities of our lives in the light of the vision until the truth of the vision is actually realized in us. Every bit of our training is in that direction. Learn to thank God for making His demands known.
Our little “I am” always sulks and pouts when God says do. Let your little “I am” be shriveled up in God’s wrath and indignation–”I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). He must dominate. Isn’t it piercing to realize that God not only knows where we live, but also knows the gutters into which we crawl! He will hunt us down as fast as a flash of lightning. No human being knows human beings as God does.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tired But Still Ticking - #6452
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Now, if you're a night person, there is nothing more aggravating than a bright-eyed morning person who's trying to get you to be a morning person along with them! And one of the great, interesting, fun things about God is He tends to kind of put those kind of people together in a marriage. Maybe so there's a night shift and a day shift. I don't know. Maybe you have the other kind of metabolism; maybe you're a morning person. Well, then there's nothing more aggravating than a raring-to-go night person who's trying to get you moving when you're ready to put it away.
In fact somehow, yeah, these people marry each other, and that makes for some very interesting chemistry. It does seem that most of us have a time of day when our metabolism isn't doing much. It varies for each of us, but we all have our kind of our slow-down, blah, down time. And that down time of the day when we're just tired and depleted...it often brings out our worst doesn't it? Just ask the people who have to live with us when we're exhausted--depleted. I know that most of what I wished I had not said or done happened when I was, as my kids would say, "blitzed"...really tired. But it doesn't have to be that way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Tired But Still Ticking."
Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 5:3-5. Now, we have got a tired man on our hands here. Yeah, Simon Peter has returned from fishing all night. Okay, it's hard, physical work; he's done it all night long; he's ready to go to bed. Fishermen find the best pickings all night long, so now it's morning and he's back and he's cleaning his nets. And it says, "Jesus got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore."
Now look. I can't read into what the Bible says, but I've got to imagine that he's like, "I am so tired!" Well, then it says, "Jesus sat down and taught the people from the boat." Now, I can imagine Simon going, "Can I go home and get some sleep now?" "And when he had finished speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.'" "Let's go fishing again." "Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.'"
Well, as I said, we're dealing with a man who had to be exhausted. He's just done an "all-nighter." I would guess he is in no mood to sailing on a floating pulpit. Jesus wants to have a pulpit out there in the water so He can deal with a larger crowd. And I would guess that Simon Peter wants to go to bed; not to go out again. And then Jesus says, "Let's go out and try to catch fish again." But Peter knew what it was to be tired and yet still be obedient. He could still listen to, he could still respond to the prompting of Jesus, even when he was exhausted.
Now during the good hours of the day, I find myself pretty consciously trying to be like Jesus, to be in touch with Him, to care for other people, to consecrate things to Him. But exhaustion often makes me, well, a self-centered, self-conscious, self-serving person. You probably notice the key word--self.
I don't know about you, but when we're tired we tend to become impatient, sarcastic, and negative, and touchy, which opens up a whole new beachhead for us to bring unto the Lordship of Christ. "Lord, here's the tired me. I want to hear Your voice through my weariness. I want to obey You and be like You, and do what You want me to do even when I'm too tired to feel like doing it." And He may say to you, "Well, then, help someone who needs it. Pitch in at home. Take time to listen, to hug, to confront a problem." You say, "Well, I'm so tired, I don't feel like it." But when you obey Christ in your tired moments, you break the cycle. That is the more tired I become, the more self-centered I become. Well, if you see your vulnerability and you consciously, daily consecrate your down time to Jesus, you can have a whole new spiritual breakthrough.
When a weary fisherman listened to Jesus in his weariest moments, he enjoyed a wonderful catch. He saw a miracle! Obey the Lord. Give, in those moments when you feel like giving out, and you will receive a surprise in return. Christ can enable you each day to be tired but still ticking.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Luke 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: What Love Doesn’t
“Love . . . does not boast, it is not proud.” I Corinthians 13:4 NIV
Jesus blasts the top birds of the church, those who roost at the top of the spiritual ladder and spread their plumes of robes, titles, jewelry, and choice seats. Jesus won’t stand for it. It’s easy to see why. How can I love others if my eyes are only on me? How can I point to God if I’m pointing at me? And, worse still, how can someone see God if I keep fanning my own tail feathers?
Jesus has no room for pecking orders.
Luke 19:28-48
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[a]
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Jesus at the Temple
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[b]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[c]”
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 1:1-10
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise to the God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
Healing From Heaven
October 3, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
Blessed be . . . the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. —2 Corinthians 1:3
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) was an Irish songwriter, singer, and poet. His talents brought joy to many who saw him perform or who sang his music. Yet, tragically, his personal life was troubled by repeated heartaches, including the death of all five of his children during his lifetime. Moore’s personal wounds make these words of his all the more meaningful: “Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.” This moving statement reminds us that meeting with God in prayer can bring healing to the troubled soul.
The apostle Paul also saw how our heavenly Father can provide solace to the hurting heart. To the believers at Corinth he wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Sometimes, though, we can be so preoccupied with an inner sorrow that we isolate ourselves from the One who can offer consolation. We need to be reminded that God’s comfort and healing come through prayer.
As we confide in our Father, we can experience peace and the beginning of healing for our wounded hearts. For truly “earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.”
Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed. —Cushing
Prayer is the soil in which hope and healing grow best.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 3rd, 2011
The Place of Ministry
He said to them, ’This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’ —Mark 9:29
His disciples asked Him privately, ’Why could we not cast it out?’ ” (Mark 9:28). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “This kind can come out by nothing but” concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him.
When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face.
We must be able to “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), but we must also know how to come down. The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and what he was referring to were mostly humiliating things. And yet it is in our power to refuse to be humiliated and to say, “No, thank you, I much prefer to be on the mountaintop with God.” Can I face things as they actually are in the light of the reality of Jesus Christ, or do things as they really are destroy my faith in Him, and put me into a panic?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Hole in the Dam, Trouble Downstream - #6451
Monday, October 3, 2011
Now, listen. When it's man versus lots of water, you know the water is often going to win. Oh, we've built dams and levees and water management systems. But sometimes, like this past spring, and then along the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, oh man, just too much water!
Of course, it's hard to see them having to dynamite holes in a dam, which they did. Now, they knew they were saving a town, but they also knew they had to inundate thousands of acres of farmland. So, there goes a crop. There goes a harvest. There goes some family's income. And then downriver, oh man, they had to open the gates on a dam, knowing that the resulting flood again might save a city but drown a town.
But there is some good news. In a lot of places, the dams and the levees managed to hold back the flood. If it weren't for those walls, well, the flood would wash away everything in its path.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Hole in the Dam, Trouble Downstream."
Now, I watched the news about all that high-water drama that took place during spring floods, and as it unfolded it actually gave new meaning to a personal testimony that I have shared with some people who are close to me. I've actually put it this way: I have told them that my time with Jesus is literally the dam that holds back the dark side of me; the sinful dark side that we all have.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 119:11, it says, "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." God's Word--that's what stands between me and the flood. I honestly cannot afford to miss a day where I spend time with Jesus in His Book. Not because it's my Christian duty to read my Bible, or because I'm afraid I'll get a flat tire or a sprained ankle, or some kind of curse will come on me if I don't, but because I really, really love Him. And I really, really need Him.
Hey, we all know about the war. It's talked about in the book of Galatians, "The sinful nature wants to do evil...the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires." You know that battle. "These two forces are constantly fighting each other" (Galatians 5:17 - NLB). Now, the difference is the sin-disarming power of the Word of God. Jesus put it this way: "Now you are clean through the Word I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).
I heard a story about a concert violinist once who said, "If I miss a day of practice, I notice. If I miss two days, my friends notice. If I miss three days, the whole world notices." Well, I tell you what, I can tell the days when I've been too "busy" to start my day in His Word, because the dam starts to leak. And the parts of me that God hates, and I hate, and the people who love me hate, those parts start to slowly take over again. I have found the power of daily being in God's Word to be, yes, that wonderful wall that holds back the worst of "old Ron."
So, I can't afford to miss many days, and I don't think you can either, because we've all got a dark side that will leak without the dam there. My time with Jesus in His Word? It can't be optional. No, it's got to be non-negotiable, because a hole in the dam can do so much damage downstream.
“Love . . . does not boast, it is not proud.” I Corinthians 13:4 NIV
Jesus blasts the top birds of the church, those who roost at the top of the spiritual ladder and spread their plumes of robes, titles, jewelry, and choice seats. Jesus won’t stand for it. It’s easy to see why. How can I love others if my eyes are only on me? How can I point to God if I’m pointing at me? And, worse still, how can someone see God if I keep fanning my own tail feathers?
Jesus has no room for pecking orders.
Luke 19:28-48
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[a]
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Jesus at the Temple
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[b]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[c]”
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 1:1-10
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise to the God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
Healing From Heaven
October 3, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
Blessed be . . . the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. —2 Corinthians 1:3
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) was an Irish songwriter, singer, and poet. His talents brought joy to many who saw him perform or who sang his music. Yet, tragically, his personal life was troubled by repeated heartaches, including the death of all five of his children during his lifetime. Moore’s personal wounds make these words of his all the more meaningful: “Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.” This moving statement reminds us that meeting with God in prayer can bring healing to the troubled soul.
The apostle Paul also saw how our heavenly Father can provide solace to the hurting heart. To the believers at Corinth he wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Sometimes, though, we can be so preoccupied with an inner sorrow that we isolate ourselves from the One who can offer consolation. We need to be reminded that God’s comfort and healing come through prayer.
As we confide in our Father, we can experience peace and the beginning of healing for our wounded hearts. For truly “earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.”
Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed. —Cushing
Prayer is the soil in which hope and healing grow best.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 3rd, 2011
The Place of Ministry
He said to them, ’This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’ —Mark 9:29
His disciples asked Him privately, ’Why could we not cast it out?’ ” (Mark 9:28). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “This kind can come out by nothing but” concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him.
When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face.
We must be able to “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), but we must also know how to come down. The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and what he was referring to were mostly humiliating things. And yet it is in our power to refuse to be humiliated and to say, “No, thank you, I much prefer to be on the mountaintop with God.” Can I face things as they actually are in the light of the reality of Jesus Christ, or do things as they really are destroy my faith in Him, and put me into a panic?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Hole in the Dam, Trouble Downstream - #6451
Monday, October 3, 2011
Now, listen. When it's man versus lots of water, you know the water is often going to win. Oh, we've built dams and levees and water management systems. But sometimes, like this past spring, and then along the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, oh man, just too much water!
Of course, it's hard to see them having to dynamite holes in a dam, which they did. Now, they knew they were saving a town, but they also knew they had to inundate thousands of acres of farmland. So, there goes a crop. There goes a harvest. There goes some family's income. And then downriver, oh man, they had to open the gates on a dam, knowing that the resulting flood again might save a city but drown a town.
But there is some good news. In a lot of places, the dams and the levees managed to hold back the flood. If it weren't for those walls, well, the flood would wash away everything in its path.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Hole in the Dam, Trouble Downstream."
Now, I watched the news about all that high-water drama that took place during spring floods, and as it unfolded it actually gave new meaning to a personal testimony that I have shared with some people who are close to me. I've actually put it this way: I have told them that my time with Jesus is literally the dam that holds back the dark side of me; the sinful dark side that we all have.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 119:11, it says, "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." God's Word--that's what stands between me and the flood. I honestly cannot afford to miss a day where I spend time with Jesus in His Book. Not because it's my Christian duty to read my Bible, or because I'm afraid I'll get a flat tire or a sprained ankle, or some kind of curse will come on me if I don't, but because I really, really love Him. And I really, really need Him.
Hey, we all know about the war. It's talked about in the book of Galatians, "The sinful nature wants to do evil...the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires." You know that battle. "These two forces are constantly fighting each other" (Galatians 5:17 - NLB). Now, the difference is the sin-disarming power of the Word of God. Jesus put it this way: "Now you are clean through the Word I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).
I heard a story about a concert violinist once who said, "If I miss a day of practice, I notice. If I miss two days, my friends notice. If I miss three days, the whole world notices." Well, I tell you what, I can tell the days when I've been too "busy" to start my day in His Word, because the dam starts to leak. And the parts of me that God hates, and I hate, and the people who love me hate, those parts start to slowly take over again. I have found the power of daily being in God's Word to be, yes, that wonderful wall that holds back the worst of "old Ron."
So, I can't afford to miss many days, and I don't think you can either, because we've all got a dark side that will leak without the dam there. My time with Jesus in His Word? It can't be optional. No, it's got to be non-negotiable, because a hole in the dam can do so much damage downstream.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
1 Samuel 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)\
Max Lucado Daily:
Drops
“Let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do.” Psalm 90:17, The Message
Anger. It’s a peculiar yet predictable emotion. It begins as a drop of water. An irritant. A frustration. Nothing big, just an aggravation. Someone gets your parking place. A waitress is slow and you are in a hurry. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Yet, get enough of these seemingly innocent drops of anger and before long you’ve got a bucket full of rage . . .
Now, is that any way to live?
Anger never did anyone any good.
1 Samuel 14
1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.
6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”
So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.
Israel Routs the Philistines
15 Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.[i]
16 Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. 17 Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.
18 Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)[j] 19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
20 Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. 21 Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. 23 So on that day the LORD saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.
Jonathan Eats Honey
24 Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.
25 The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. 26 When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.[k] 28 Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.”
29 Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”
31 That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Mikmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. 32 They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood. 33 Then someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the LORD by eating meat that has blood in it.”
“You have broken faith,” he said. “Roll a large stone over here at once.” 34 Then he said, “Go out among the men and tell them, ‘Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with blood still in it.’”
So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there. 35 Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had done this.
36 Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.”
“Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied.
But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.”
37 So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.
38 Saul therefore said, “Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. 39 As surely as the LORD who rescues Israel lives, even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he must die.” But not one of them said a word.
40 Saul then said to all the Israelites, “You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here.”
“Do what seems best to you,” they replied.
41 Then Saul prayed to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault,[l] respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. 42 Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.
43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.”
So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!”
44 Saul said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.”
45 But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
46 Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.
47 After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings[m] of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.[n] 48 He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.
Saul’s Family
49 Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. 50 His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul’s army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul’s uncle. 51 Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.
52 All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 1:35-45
Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
40 A man with leprosy[a] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Jesus was indignant.[b] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
In Search Of Silence
October 2, 2011 — by Julie Ackerman Link
I have calmed and quieted my soul. —Psalm 131:2
My next record should be 45 minutes of silence,” said singer Meg Hutchinson, “because that’s what we’re missing most in society.”
Silence is indeed hard to find. Cities are notoriously noisy due to the high concentration of traffic and people. There seems to be no escape from loud music, loud machines, and loud voices. But the kind of noise that endangers our spiritual well-being is not the noise we can’t escape but the noise we invite into our lives. Some of us use noise as a way of shutting out loneliness: voices of TV and radio personalities give us the illusion of companionship. Some of us use it as a way of shutting out our own thoughts: other voices and opinions keep us from having to think for ourselves. Some of us use noise as a way of shutting out the voice of God: constant chatter, even when we’re talking about God, keeps us from hearing what God has to say.
But Jesus, even during His busiest times, made a point of seeking out places of solitude where He could carry on a conversation with God (Mark 1:35). Even if we can’t find a place that is perfectly quiet, we need to find a place to quiet our souls (Ps. 131:2), a place where God has our full attention.
For Further Study
For more on this topic, read the online booklet
Mary & Martha: Balancing Life’s Priorities
at www.discoveryseries.org/hp021
Don’t let the noise of the world
keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 2nd, 2011
The Place of Humiliation
If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us —Mark 9:22
After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him. Peter thought it would be a wonderful thing for them to remain on the mountain, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mountain and into the valley, where the true meaning of the vision was explained (see Mark 9:5-6 , Mark 14-23).
“If you can do anything . . . .” It takes the valley of humiliation to remove the skepticism from us. Look back at your own experience and you will find that until you learned who Jesus really was, you were a skillful skeptic about His power. When you were on the mountaintop you could believe anything, but what about when you were faced with the facts of the valley? You may be able to give a testimony regarding your sanctification, but what about the thing that is a humiliation to you right now? The last time you were on the mountain with God, you saw that all the power in heaven and on earth belonged to Jesus— will you be skeptical now, simply because you are in the valley of humiliation?
Drops
“Let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do.” Psalm 90:17, The Message
Anger. It’s a peculiar yet predictable emotion. It begins as a drop of water. An irritant. A frustration. Nothing big, just an aggravation. Someone gets your parking place. A waitress is slow and you are in a hurry. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Yet, get enough of these seemingly innocent drops of anger and before long you’ve got a bucket full of rage . . .
Now, is that any way to live?
Anger never did anyone any good.
1 Samuel 14
1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.
6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”
So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.
Israel Routs the Philistines
15 Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.[i]
16 Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. 17 Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.
18 Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)[j] 19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
20 Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. 21 Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. 23 So on that day the LORD saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.
Jonathan Eats Honey
24 Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.
25 The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. 26 When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.[k] 28 Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.”
29 Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”
31 That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Mikmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. 32 They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood. 33 Then someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the LORD by eating meat that has blood in it.”
“You have broken faith,” he said. “Roll a large stone over here at once.” 34 Then he said, “Go out among the men and tell them, ‘Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with blood still in it.’”
So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there. 35 Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had done this.
36 Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.”
“Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied.
But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.”
37 So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.
38 Saul therefore said, “Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. 39 As surely as the LORD who rescues Israel lives, even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he must die.” But not one of them said a word.
40 Saul then said to all the Israelites, “You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here.”
“Do what seems best to you,” they replied.
41 Then Saul prayed to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault,[l] respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. 42 Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.
43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.”
So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!”
44 Saul said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.”
45 But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
46 Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.
47 After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings[m] of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.[n] 48 He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.
Saul’s Family
49 Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. 50 His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul’s army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul’s uncle. 51 Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.
52 All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 1:35-45
Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
40 A man with leprosy[a] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Jesus was indignant.[b] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
In Search Of Silence
October 2, 2011 — by Julie Ackerman Link
I have calmed and quieted my soul. —Psalm 131:2
My next record should be 45 minutes of silence,” said singer Meg Hutchinson, “because that’s what we’re missing most in society.”
Silence is indeed hard to find. Cities are notoriously noisy due to the high concentration of traffic and people. There seems to be no escape from loud music, loud machines, and loud voices. But the kind of noise that endangers our spiritual well-being is not the noise we can’t escape but the noise we invite into our lives. Some of us use noise as a way of shutting out loneliness: voices of TV and radio personalities give us the illusion of companionship. Some of us use it as a way of shutting out our own thoughts: other voices and opinions keep us from having to think for ourselves. Some of us use noise as a way of shutting out the voice of God: constant chatter, even when we’re talking about God, keeps us from hearing what God has to say.
But Jesus, even during His busiest times, made a point of seeking out places of solitude where He could carry on a conversation with God (Mark 1:35). Even if we can’t find a place that is perfectly quiet, we need to find a place to quiet our souls (Ps. 131:2), a place where God has our full attention.
For Further Study
For more on this topic, read the online booklet
Mary & Martha: Balancing Life’s Priorities
at www.discoveryseries.org/hp021
Don’t let the noise of the world
keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 2nd, 2011
The Place of Humiliation
If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us —Mark 9:22
After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him. Peter thought it would be a wonderful thing for them to remain on the mountain, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mountain and into the valley, where the true meaning of the vision was explained (see Mark 9:5-6 , Mark 14-23).
“If you can do anything . . . .” It takes the valley of humiliation to remove the skepticism from us. Look back at your own experience and you will find that until you learned who Jesus really was, you were a skillful skeptic about His power. When you were on the mountaintop you could believe anything, but what about when you were faced with the facts of the valley? You may be able to give a testimony regarding your sanctification, but what about the thing that is a humiliation to you right now? The last time you were on the mountain with God, you saw that all the power in heaven and on earth belonged to Jesus— will you be skeptical now, simply because you are in the valley of humiliation?
Saturday, October 1, 2011
1 Samuel 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: He is Near
“He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12 NIV
God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence in a distant galaxy . . . He has not chosen to seclude Himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.
He has drawn near. He has involved Himself in the car pools, heartbreaks, and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as He is on Sunday. As near in the school room as in the sanctuary.
1 Samuel 13
Samuel Rebukes Saul
1 Saul was thirty[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-[b] two years.
2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.
3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand[c] chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”
15 Then Samuel left Gilgal[d] and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.
Israel Without Weapons
16 Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah[e] in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. 17 Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, 18 another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.
19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles[f] sharpened. 21 The price was two-thirds of a shekel[g] for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel[h] for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.
22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
Jonathan Attacks the Philistines
23 Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Colossians 4:2-6
Further Instructions
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Tone Check
October 1, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. —Colossians 4:6
Driving home from work, I heard a radio advertisement that got my attention. It was for a computer program that checks e-mails as they are written. I was familiar with “spell check” and “grammar check” programs, but this was different. This was “tone check.” The software monitors the tone and wording of e-mails to make certain they are not overly aggressive, unkind, or mean-spirited.
As I listened to the announcer describe the features of this software, I wondered what it would be like to have something like that for my mouth. How many times have I reacted harshly instead of listening first—and later regretted the words I had spoken? Certainly a tone check would have protected me from responding so foolishly.
Paul saw the need for us as believers to check our speech—especially when talking to those who are not Christians. He said, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6). His concern was that our speech be graceful, reflecting the beauty of our Savior. And it must be inviting to others. Talking with the right tone to unbelievers is vital to our ability to witness to them. Colossians 4:6 can be our tone check.
Tone of voice can be effective
If our spirit’s calm and meek;
Let us watch our words and actions,
Always careful how we speak. —Hess
Every time we speak, our heart is on parade.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 1st, 2011
The Place of Exaltation
. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
“He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12 NIV
God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence in a distant galaxy . . . He has not chosen to seclude Himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.
He has drawn near. He has involved Himself in the car pools, heartbreaks, and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as He is on Sunday. As near in the school room as in the sanctuary.
1 Samuel 13
Samuel Rebukes Saul
1 Saul was thirty[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-[b] two years.
2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.
3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand[c] chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”
15 Then Samuel left Gilgal[d] and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.
Israel Without Weapons
16 Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah[e] in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. 17 Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, 18 another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.
19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles[f] sharpened. 21 The price was two-thirds of a shekel[g] for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel[h] for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.
22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
Jonathan Attacks the Philistines
23 Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Colossians 4:2-6
Further Instructions
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Tone Check
October 1, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. —Colossians 4:6
Driving home from work, I heard a radio advertisement that got my attention. It was for a computer program that checks e-mails as they are written. I was familiar with “spell check” and “grammar check” programs, but this was different. This was “tone check.” The software monitors the tone and wording of e-mails to make certain they are not overly aggressive, unkind, or mean-spirited.
As I listened to the announcer describe the features of this software, I wondered what it would be like to have something like that for my mouth. How many times have I reacted harshly instead of listening first—and later regretted the words I had spoken? Certainly a tone check would have protected me from responding so foolishly.
Paul saw the need for us as believers to check our speech—especially when talking to those who are not Christians. He said, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6). His concern was that our speech be graceful, reflecting the beauty of our Savior. And it must be inviting to others. Talking with the right tone to unbelievers is vital to our ability to witness to them. Colossians 4:6 can be our tone check.
Tone of voice can be effective
If our spirit’s calm and meek;
Let us watch our words and actions,
Always careful how we speak. —Hess
Every time we speak, our heart is on parade.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 1st, 2011
The Place of Exaltation
. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Luke 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: All Things
“How long must I stay with you?” Mark 9:19
How long? “Until the rooster sings and the sweat stings and the mallet rings . . .”
How long? “Long enough for every sin to so soak my sinless soul that heaven will turn in horror until my swollen lips pronounce the final transaction: ‘It is finished.’”
Jesus bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and endured all things. Every single one.
Luke 19
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Parable of the Ten Minas
11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’
22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’
26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Amos 4:7-13
7 “I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
10 “I sent plagues among you
as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
11 “I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”
13 He who forms the mountains,
who creates the wind,
and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the LORD God Almighty is his name.
1,000th Birthday
September 30, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
Prepare to meet your God! —Amos 4:12
In his book Long for This World, Jonathan Weiner writes about science’s promise to radically extend how long we live. At the center of the book is English scientist Aubrey de Grey, who predicts that science will one day offer us 1,000-year lifespans. Aubrey claims that molecular biology has finally placed a cure for aging within our reach.
But what difference does it make if, after living 1,000 years, we will eventually die anyway? De Grey’s prediction only postpones facing the ultimate question of what happens when we die. It does not answer it.
The Scriptures tell us that death is not the end of our existence. Instead, we are assured that everyone will stand before Christ—believers for their works and nonbelievers for their rejection of Him (John 5:25-29; Rev. 20:11-15). All of us are sinners and in need of forgiveness. And only Christ’s death on the cross has provided forgiveness for all who believe (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). The Bible says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
Our appointed face-to-face encounter with God puts everything in perspective. So whether we live 70 years or 1,000, the issue of eternity is the same: “Prepare to meet your God!” (Amos 4:12).
What matters more than length of life
Is where you’ll spend eternity;
If you have placed your faith in Christ,
Then heaven’s glory you will see. —Sper
Only those who have placed their faith in Christ are prepared to meet their Maker.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 30th, 2011
The Assigning of the Call
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church . . . —Colossians 1:24
We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside. Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, “If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn’t object!” But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed—you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.
I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Peace That Stands the Test - #6450
Friday, September 30, 2011
I was on an airplane flight from Chicago to Newark, and suddenly the pilot came on and he said, "You may have noticed that we are not going East any more, we're headed North. We're going to have to make an emergency landing in Detroit."
Well, I want to tell you; those words didn't thrill everybody particularly. Not because there's anything wrong with Detroit. It's fine, but emergency landings aren't real exciting. He went on to say, "We're having a little problem with our hydraulic system." Then the next thing we knew, before the landing, the flight attendants came through and three times they checked to see how tight our seat belts were. Uh, that has never happened to me before, and of course, everybody on the plane is starting to speculate about, "Do we have a problem with our wing flaps, or our landing gear?" That could be pretty serious business.
Now, my immediate neighbor was a very sweet grandma, and she was really anxious. The next guy down said, "You know what? I'll bet our wheels aren't down. This could be really bad." Oh, that helped a lot. Yeah.
Now, we had a very shaky approach to the airport, but I've got to tell you, thank God we had a smooth landing. Then we stopped right on the runway and they wouldn't even let us go the rest of the way; they had to tow us in. And then I saw the welcoming party! All the fire engines and emergency equipment were there.
Now, who knows how close a call it really was? But I'll tell you, the possibility of a crash squeezed out the inner emotional contents from all the passengers. And it was a good test for me. You know, I actually tried to lighten up grandma's anxiety with a little humor. I told her we were getting a trip to Detroit for no extra charge, and I kind of kept on working. I honestly felt pretty much as safe as if I were in my living room.
And that's when grandma asked the question, and I'll tell you what I told her.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace That Stands the Test."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 14:27. It's a good word for a man whose plane may have trouble landing. "Peace I leave with you." Now, can you think of a sweeter word? "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you" Jesus said. "I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid." You know what? I wasn't.
Grandma said to me, "You know, you were so calm. You were totally calm. I was so glad I was sitting next to you. That other man didn't help very much, but I'm glad I was sitting next to you." And I said, "Well, can I tell you why I was calm?" She said, "Yeah, why?" I said, "It's because of Christ in my life. See, the peace doesn't come from what's going on around me. The peace comes from Who is going on inside me."
Jesus said He doesn't give peace like the world gives. World peace--the world's kind, you're okay if the surroundings are pleasant, the situation is stable, and if your life or security isn't in danger. That's external, therefore it's "loseable."
I know a couple and one is facing lymphatic cancer, the other, bypass surgery at the same time. And they're giving a simple testimony. The Lord has virtually said to them almost verbally, "I will never leave you or forsake you." And I said to them, "You are facing death and suffering with God's peace and it has stood the test." See, that's peace that nothing can take from you--a peace that you may desperately need right now.
Well, you know, peace is a person. The person is Jesus. He forgives your sin, He guarantees heaven, He promises His powerful care, He will be the constant no matter what changes, and that is peace. My life isn't in the hands of a pilot, or a surgeon, or a banker, or an adversary. It's in my Savior's hands. When you make your peace with God, you will have God's peace. The worst can happen, but the best remains. What a rock solid calm you can have at the center of your soul if you'll make the Prince of Peace, your Prince.
If you've never opened your heart to this forgiver of sins, giver of peace, guarantee-er of heaven, Jesus Christ, let this be the day you say, "Lord, I stop running my own life. You pilot my life from here on in. I'm giving myself to the One who died for me." I invite you to go to our website and get the information that will help you make sure you belong to Him. It's YoursForLife.net.
Listen; ask anyone who's been to the edge with Christ in their heart. His peace stands the test.
“How long must I stay with you?” Mark 9:19
How long? “Until the rooster sings and the sweat stings and the mallet rings . . .”
How long? “Long enough for every sin to so soak my sinless soul that heaven will turn in horror until my swollen lips pronounce the final transaction: ‘It is finished.’”
Jesus bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and endured all things. Every single one.
Luke 19
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Parable of the Ten Minas
11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’
22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’
26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Amos 4:7-13
7 “I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
10 “I sent plagues among you
as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
11 “I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”
13 He who forms the mountains,
who creates the wind,
and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the LORD God Almighty is his name.
1,000th Birthday
September 30, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
Prepare to meet your God! —Amos 4:12
In his book Long for This World, Jonathan Weiner writes about science’s promise to radically extend how long we live. At the center of the book is English scientist Aubrey de Grey, who predicts that science will one day offer us 1,000-year lifespans. Aubrey claims that molecular biology has finally placed a cure for aging within our reach.
But what difference does it make if, after living 1,000 years, we will eventually die anyway? De Grey’s prediction only postpones facing the ultimate question of what happens when we die. It does not answer it.
The Scriptures tell us that death is not the end of our existence. Instead, we are assured that everyone will stand before Christ—believers for their works and nonbelievers for their rejection of Him (John 5:25-29; Rev. 20:11-15). All of us are sinners and in need of forgiveness. And only Christ’s death on the cross has provided forgiveness for all who believe (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). The Bible says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
Our appointed face-to-face encounter with God puts everything in perspective. So whether we live 70 years or 1,000, the issue of eternity is the same: “Prepare to meet your God!” (Amos 4:12).
What matters more than length of life
Is where you’ll spend eternity;
If you have placed your faith in Christ,
Then heaven’s glory you will see. —Sper
Only those who have placed their faith in Christ are prepared to meet their Maker.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 30th, 2011
The Assigning of the Call
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church . . . —Colossians 1:24
We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside. Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, “If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn’t object!” But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed—you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.
I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Peace That Stands the Test - #6450
Friday, September 30, 2011
I was on an airplane flight from Chicago to Newark, and suddenly the pilot came on and he said, "You may have noticed that we are not going East any more, we're headed North. We're going to have to make an emergency landing in Detroit."
Well, I want to tell you; those words didn't thrill everybody particularly. Not because there's anything wrong with Detroit. It's fine, but emergency landings aren't real exciting. He went on to say, "We're having a little problem with our hydraulic system." Then the next thing we knew, before the landing, the flight attendants came through and three times they checked to see how tight our seat belts were. Uh, that has never happened to me before, and of course, everybody on the plane is starting to speculate about, "Do we have a problem with our wing flaps, or our landing gear?" That could be pretty serious business.
Now, my immediate neighbor was a very sweet grandma, and she was really anxious. The next guy down said, "You know what? I'll bet our wheels aren't down. This could be really bad." Oh, that helped a lot. Yeah.
Now, we had a very shaky approach to the airport, but I've got to tell you, thank God we had a smooth landing. Then we stopped right on the runway and they wouldn't even let us go the rest of the way; they had to tow us in. And then I saw the welcoming party! All the fire engines and emergency equipment were there.
Now, who knows how close a call it really was? But I'll tell you, the possibility of a crash squeezed out the inner emotional contents from all the passengers. And it was a good test for me. You know, I actually tried to lighten up grandma's anxiety with a little humor. I told her we were getting a trip to Detroit for no extra charge, and I kind of kept on working. I honestly felt pretty much as safe as if I were in my living room.
And that's when grandma asked the question, and I'll tell you what I told her.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace That Stands the Test."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 14:27. It's a good word for a man whose plane may have trouble landing. "Peace I leave with you." Now, can you think of a sweeter word? "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you" Jesus said. "I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid." You know what? I wasn't.
Grandma said to me, "You know, you were so calm. You were totally calm. I was so glad I was sitting next to you. That other man didn't help very much, but I'm glad I was sitting next to you." And I said, "Well, can I tell you why I was calm?" She said, "Yeah, why?" I said, "It's because of Christ in my life. See, the peace doesn't come from what's going on around me. The peace comes from Who is going on inside me."
Jesus said He doesn't give peace like the world gives. World peace--the world's kind, you're okay if the surroundings are pleasant, the situation is stable, and if your life or security isn't in danger. That's external, therefore it's "loseable."
I know a couple and one is facing lymphatic cancer, the other, bypass surgery at the same time. And they're giving a simple testimony. The Lord has virtually said to them almost verbally, "I will never leave you or forsake you." And I said to them, "You are facing death and suffering with God's peace and it has stood the test." See, that's peace that nothing can take from you--a peace that you may desperately need right now.
Well, you know, peace is a person. The person is Jesus. He forgives your sin, He guarantees heaven, He promises His powerful care, He will be the constant no matter what changes, and that is peace. My life isn't in the hands of a pilot, or a surgeon, or a banker, or an adversary. It's in my Savior's hands. When you make your peace with God, you will have God's peace. The worst can happen, but the best remains. What a rock solid calm you can have at the center of your soul if you'll make the Prince of Peace, your Prince.
If you've never opened your heart to this forgiver of sins, giver of peace, guarantee-er of heaven, Jesus Christ, let this be the day you say, "Lord, I stop running my own life. You pilot my life from here on in. I'm giving myself to the One who died for me." I invite you to go to our website and get the information that will help you make sure you belong to Him. It's YoursForLife.net.
Listen; ask anyone who's been to the edge with Christ in their heart. His peace stands the test.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
1 Samuel 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Nothing in Between
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6, NKJV
Jesus leaves us with two options. Accept him as God or reject him as a megalomaniac. There is no third alternative . . .
Call him crazy or crown him as king. Dismiss him as a fraud or declare him to be God. Walk away from him or bow before him, but don’t play games with him. Don’t call him a great man. Don’t list him among decent folk . . . He is either God or godless. Heaven sent or hell born. All hope or all hype. But nothing in between.
1 Samuel 12
Samuel’s Farewell Speech
1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”
4 “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”
“He is witness,” they said.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. 7 Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your ancestors.
8 “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 “But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11 Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal,[c] Barak,[d] Jephthah and Samuel,[e] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.
12 “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! 15 But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.
16 “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! 17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”
18 Then Samuel called on the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”
20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 2:11-22
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
The Story Of A Wall
September 29, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. —Ephesians 2:14
While visiting the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England, I reflected on the fact that this may be the most remembered achievement of the Roman emperor who came to power in ad 117. As many as 18,000 Roman soldiers manned this 80-mile-long barrier, built to keep the northern barbarians from invading the south.
Hadrian is remembered for building a physical wall to keep people out. In contrast, Jesus Christ is remembered for tearing down a spiritual wall to let people in.
When the early church experienced tension between believers of Jewish and non-Jewish birth, Paul told them that, through Christ, they stood equally in the family of God. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation . . . so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace . . . . For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:14-15,18).
One of the most beautiful aspects of the Christian faith is the unity among those who follow Jesus. Through His death on the cross, Christ has removed the barriers that so often separate people and has drawn us together in true friendship and love.
God’s people have so much to do
In serving Christ today
That they should use their precious time
To share, to love, to pray. —Branon
Christian unity begins at the cross.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 29th, 2011
The Awareness of the Call
. . . for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! —1 Corinthians 9:16
We are inclined to forget the deeply spiritual and supernatural touch of God. If you are able to tell exactly where you were when you received the call of God and can explain all about it, I question whether you have truly been called. The call of God does not come like that; it is much more supernatural. The realization of the call in a person’s life may come like a clap of thunder or it may dawn gradually. But however quickly or slowly this awareness comes, it is always accompanied with an undercurrent of the supernatural—something that is inexpressible and produces a “glow.” At any moment the sudden awareness of this incalculable, supernatural, surprising call that has taken hold of your life may break through—”I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). The call of God has nothing to do with salvation and sanctification. You are not called to preach the gospel because you are sanctified; the call to preach the gospel is infinitely different. Paul describes it as a compulsion that was placed upon him.
If you have ignored, and thereby removed, the great supernatural call of God in your life, take a review of your circumstances. See where you have put your own ideas of service or your particular abilities ahead of the call of God. Paul said, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” He had become aware of the call of God, and his compulsion to “preach the gospel” was so strong that nothing else was any longer even a competitor for his strength.
If a man or woman is called of God, it doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances may be. God orchestrates every force at work for His purpose in the end. If you will agree with God’s purpose, He will bring not only your conscious level but also all the deeper levels of your life, which you yourself cannot reach, into perfect harmony.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Faucet Fascination - #6449
Thursday, September 29, 2011
I'll bet you turned on the water this morning and never gave it a thought. Well, you probably didn't grow up in the middle of a desert. You know, speaking of deserts, there was a great story years ago about the legendary Lawrence of Arabia. There was a movie made about his life. He had made many friends there in his campaigns and they had grown up in the desert, and they did not take running water for granted.
Well, he actually took a few of those men with him to Paris, and they stayed in a really nice hotel. And since these guys had grown up in the desert, they were amazed by this running water in their hotel room. Wow! What an event! And on the day they were packing to go home, Lawrence found them trying to remove the bathroom faucets and put them in their suitcases to take them home with them. They wanted those things back in the desert with them. At which point Lawrence explained to them that the water doesn't come from the faucet, it comes from a reservoir up in the mountains. See, they thought the water came from what the water came through.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Faucet Fascination."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy 8, and God says in verse 2, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert." Speaking of deserts...and then He says, "He humbled you, causing you to hunger..." That's kind of curious. "...causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
Okay, God is the reservoir. Everything we need originates from Him: the money, the friends, the transportation, the love, the spiritual support. And He sends it through earthly faucets. In this case, where He's talking about satisfying a physical need for food, He's referring to bread. And God is teaching you that bread isn't the only way to meet your need.
Now, we have a lot of earthly faucets that God's supply comes through: pay checks, special people, pastors, systems, people we've always looked to. And God can deliver a thousand different ways. We suffer from faucet fascination. We start to put our faith in the means, and then suddenly our faucet is gone: people move, people die, people let you down, jobs and companies change, things break down, things disappear. No problem! The water never came from the faucet anyway.
God has two means of upgrading our trust from the faucet to our Father. First it says here He causes you to hunger. He allows the systems to fail sometimes. Maybe you're anxious right now because you have a need with no obvious supply to meet it--no bread so to speak, like the ancient Jews. Well, we don't learn that God is our security until our usual supply dries up. Maybe that's where you are right now.
Step two: God feeds you with something like the Bible says here, "...that neither you nor your fathers had known." He comes up with this surprisingly inventive substitute for the system you have been relying on; a new unimagined means of meeting your need. And it comes in a surprising form from a surprising place. And you say, "God, it's you that it all comes from isn't it?" And you step up to a wonderful new security, one that can peacefully accept the loss of any faucet in your life. Because it was only a means that God came through.
God's your reservoir and He never dries up. So, quit trying to put those faucets in your suitcase.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6, NKJV
Jesus leaves us with two options. Accept him as God or reject him as a megalomaniac. There is no third alternative . . .
Call him crazy or crown him as king. Dismiss him as a fraud or declare him to be God. Walk away from him or bow before him, but don’t play games with him. Don’t call him a great man. Don’t list him among decent folk . . . He is either God or godless. Heaven sent or hell born. All hope or all hype. But nothing in between.
1 Samuel 12
Samuel’s Farewell Speech
1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”
4 “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”
“He is witness,” they said.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. 7 Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your ancestors.
8 “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 “But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11 Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal,[c] Barak,[d] Jephthah and Samuel,[e] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.
12 “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! 15 But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.
16 “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! 17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”
18 Then Samuel called on the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”
20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 2:11-22
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
The Story Of A Wall
September 29, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. —Ephesians 2:14
While visiting the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England, I reflected on the fact that this may be the most remembered achievement of the Roman emperor who came to power in ad 117. As many as 18,000 Roman soldiers manned this 80-mile-long barrier, built to keep the northern barbarians from invading the south.
Hadrian is remembered for building a physical wall to keep people out. In contrast, Jesus Christ is remembered for tearing down a spiritual wall to let people in.
When the early church experienced tension between believers of Jewish and non-Jewish birth, Paul told them that, through Christ, they stood equally in the family of God. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation . . . so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace . . . . For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:14-15,18).
One of the most beautiful aspects of the Christian faith is the unity among those who follow Jesus. Through His death on the cross, Christ has removed the barriers that so often separate people and has drawn us together in true friendship and love.
God’s people have so much to do
In serving Christ today
That they should use their precious time
To share, to love, to pray. —Branon
Christian unity begins at the cross.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 29th, 2011
The Awareness of the Call
. . . for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! —1 Corinthians 9:16
We are inclined to forget the deeply spiritual and supernatural touch of God. If you are able to tell exactly where you were when you received the call of God and can explain all about it, I question whether you have truly been called. The call of God does not come like that; it is much more supernatural. The realization of the call in a person’s life may come like a clap of thunder or it may dawn gradually. But however quickly or slowly this awareness comes, it is always accompanied with an undercurrent of the supernatural—something that is inexpressible and produces a “glow.” At any moment the sudden awareness of this incalculable, supernatural, surprising call that has taken hold of your life may break through—”I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). The call of God has nothing to do with salvation and sanctification. You are not called to preach the gospel because you are sanctified; the call to preach the gospel is infinitely different. Paul describes it as a compulsion that was placed upon him.
If you have ignored, and thereby removed, the great supernatural call of God in your life, take a review of your circumstances. See where you have put your own ideas of service or your particular abilities ahead of the call of God. Paul said, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” He had become aware of the call of God, and his compulsion to “preach the gospel” was so strong that nothing else was any longer even a competitor for his strength.
If a man or woman is called of God, it doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances may be. God orchestrates every force at work for His purpose in the end. If you will agree with God’s purpose, He will bring not only your conscious level but also all the deeper levels of your life, which you yourself cannot reach, into perfect harmony.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Faucet Fascination - #6449
Thursday, September 29, 2011
I'll bet you turned on the water this morning and never gave it a thought. Well, you probably didn't grow up in the middle of a desert. You know, speaking of deserts, there was a great story years ago about the legendary Lawrence of Arabia. There was a movie made about his life. He had made many friends there in his campaigns and they had grown up in the desert, and they did not take running water for granted.
Well, he actually took a few of those men with him to Paris, and they stayed in a really nice hotel. And since these guys had grown up in the desert, they were amazed by this running water in their hotel room. Wow! What an event! And on the day they were packing to go home, Lawrence found them trying to remove the bathroom faucets and put them in their suitcases to take them home with them. They wanted those things back in the desert with them. At which point Lawrence explained to them that the water doesn't come from the faucet, it comes from a reservoir up in the mountains. See, they thought the water came from what the water came through.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Faucet Fascination."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy 8, and God says in verse 2, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert." Speaking of deserts...and then He says, "He humbled you, causing you to hunger..." That's kind of curious. "...causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
Okay, God is the reservoir. Everything we need originates from Him: the money, the friends, the transportation, the love, the spiritual support. And He sends it through earthly faucets. In this case, where He's talking about satisfying a physical need for food, He's referring to bread. And God is teaching you that bread isn't the only way to meet your need.
Now, we have a lot of earthly faucets that God's supply comes through: pay checks, special people, pastors, systems, people we've always looked to. And God can deliver a thousand different ways. We suffer from faucet fascination. We start to put our faith in the means, and then suddenly our faucet is gone: people move, people die, people let you down, jobs and companies change, things break down, things disappear. No problem! The water never came from the faucet anyway.
God has two means of upgrading our trust from the faucet to our Father. First it says here He causes you to hunger. He allows the systems to fail sometimes. Maybe you're anxious right now because you have a need with no obvious supply to meet it--no bread so to speak, like the ancient Jews. Well, we don't learn that God is our security until our usual supply dries up. Maybe that's where you are right now.
Step two: God feeds you with something like the Bible says here, "...that neither you nor your fathers had known." He comes up with this surprisingly inventive substitute for the system you have been relying on; a new unimagined means of meeting your need. And it comes in a surprising form from a surprising place. And you say, "God, it's you that it all comes from isn't it?" And you step up to a wonderful new security, one that can peacefully accept the loss of any faucet in your life. Because it was only a means that God came through.
God's your reservoir and He never dries up. So, quit trying to put those faucets in your suitcase.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
1 Samuel 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Rely on Him
“Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst.” Luke 6:35, The Message
God has proven himself as a faithful father. Now it falls to us to be trusting children. Let God give you what your family doesn’t. Let him fill the void others have left. Rely upon him for your affirmation and encouragement.
1 Samuel 11
Saul Rescues the City of Jabesh
1 Nahash[b] the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”
2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. 5 Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.
6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. 7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out together as one. 8 When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.
9 They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.’” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. 10 They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”
11 The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
Saul Confirmed as King
12 The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”
13 But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 11:33–12:2
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”[b]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”[c]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 12
A Living Sacrifice
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Not At This Time
September 28, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. —Romans 12:2
It can be quite discouraging for wanna-be writers to get their work rejected time after time. When they send in a manuscript to a publisher, they’ll often hear back in a letter with these words: “Thank you. But your submission does not meet our needs at this time.” Sometimes this really means “not at this time—or ever.” So they try the next publisher and the next.
I’ve found that the phrase This does not meet our needs at this time—or ever can be a helpful saying in my Christian walk to renew my mind and refocus my thoughts on the Lord.
Here’s what I mean. When starting to worry, we can remind ourselves: “Worry does not meet my needs at this time—or ever. My heart’s need is to trust God. I will ‘be anxious for nothing’ ” (Phil. 4:6).
When we envy what another person has or does, we can reinforce the truth: “Envy does not meet my needs at this time—or ever. My need is to give thanks to God. His Word says, ‘Envy is rottenness to the bones’ (Prov. 14:30), and ‘In everything give thanks’ ” (1 Thess. 5:18).
We can’t renew our minds by ourselves (Rom. 12:2); it’s the transforming work of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Yet speaking the truth in our thoughts can help us to submit to the Spirit’s work within.
For Further Thought
What are some areas you struggle with in your heart?
Ask God to renew your mind that it might think like His.
Then keep reminding yourself of the truth.
The Spirit of God renews our minds
when we review the Word of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 28th, 2011
The "Go" of Unconditional Identification
Jesus . . . said to him, ’One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor . . . and come, take up the cross, and follow Me’ —Mark 10:21
The rich young ruler had the controlling passion to be perfect. When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like Him. Our Lord never places anyone’s personal holiness above everything else when He calls a disciple. Jesus’ primary consideration is my absolute annihilation of my right to myself and my identification with Him, which means having a relationship with Him in which there are no other relationships. Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but deals solely with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ. Very few of us truly know what is meant by the absolute “go” of unconditional identification with, and abandonment and surrender to, Jesus.
“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him . . .” (Mark 10:21). This look of Jesus will require breaking your heart away forever from allegiance to any other person or thing. Has Jesus ever looked in this way at you? This look of Jesus transforms, penetrates, and captivates. Where you are soft and pliable with God is where the Lord has looked at you. If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on having your own way, and always certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, then there are whole areas of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze.
“One thing you lack . . . .” From Jesus Christ’s perspective, oneness with Him, with nothing between, is the only good thing.
“. . . sell whatever you have . . . .” I must humble myself until I am merely a living person. I must essentially renounce possessions of all kinds, not for salvation (for only one thing saves a person and that is absolute reliance in faith upon Jesus Christ), but to follow Jesus. “. . . come. . . and follow Me.” And the road is the way He went.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Follow That Voice - #6448
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Now, I've spent a fair amount of my life on airplanes, and so the thought of a fire on a plane is pretty unsettling. So I wasn't too excited about what I heard happened on an Air Canada flight several years ago. The fire actually started in the lavatory and the fire wasn't so big, but the smoke started to billow through the plane and it very quickly reached the cockpit. You can imagine how fearful that was going to be.
Well, it reached the point where the pilot was literally blinded by the smoke; he couldn't see outside of the plane, he couldn't see the instrument panel, and he literally didn't know where he was going to land; he didn't know how he was going to get down. And suddenly in the middle of all that chaos, there comes this calm, measured voice into the cockpit, "Just do what I say, and I'll bring you in." Well, of course, it was that flight controller in the tower at the nearby airport. And he literally talked the pilot in and miraculously after all that, there was a safe landing.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Follow That Voice."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 4:42-44 - "At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place." This, by the way, comes after a day filled with healing people and casting out demons. It says, "The people were looking for Him. And when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them."
"But He said, 'I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.' And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea." Well, here is Jesus surrounded by voices, needy voices...people saying, "Jesus, stay here. Wait! We need you over here." And they're vying for His time; they're vying for His attention. And every one of them was asking Him to do a good thing. Does that sound familiar at all--people vying for your attention, for your time? And all your choices are basically good ones.
Well, you notice that Jesus has a very clear "I must. No, I know what I must do. I must preach the good news in the other towns." And this "I must" helps Him stay on course as He's making His daily choices. Now, your life is the sum of hundreds of little choices you make each day isn't it? If you're like me, you have a lot of needs, a lot of possibilities tugging at you daily. And they're mostly good choices, but God has put you on earth for some special missions and you have to be true to those no matter how noble the detours are that are pulling on you.
Now, often we end up running around all stressed out, trying to satisfy everybody. And we often end up satisfying no one. And we lead these fragmented, frustrated lives, because well, we forget our "musts." Those have to come from God. If you ask Him, God will lay on your heart your assignments. He is the calm voice from the tower. He will lay on your heart your mission, your reason for being here. Some of those are going to be needs that only you can meet. There are some things only you could be for your family; that only you could be for lost friends that you're close to. You're the best one to help them get to heaven.
"I must," Jesus said, "That is why I was sent. I know what I have to do, and this doesn't fit even though it's really noble and really good." Now, how do you keep your course in a world that's full of "musts?" It says, "Jesus went to a solitary place at daybreak." And we know that there's where He got in touch with His Father. He got in touch with the tower to sort out His priorities for the day. That's where you have to go daily. You have to go there early, and you have to go there alone and let God lay on your heart His "musts."
You'll always land where you're supposed to if you begin with the voice in the control tower. So let God guide your course. Listen for your Father's instructions, and then follow that voice.
“Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst.” Luke 6:35, The Message
God has proven himself as a faithful father. Now it falls to us to be trusting children. Let God give you what your family doesn’t. Let him fill the void others have left. Rely upon him for your affirmation and encouragement.
1 Samuel 11
Saul Rescues the City of Jabesh
1 Nahash[b] the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”
2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. 5 Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.
6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. 7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out together as one. 8 When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.
9 They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.’” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. 10 They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”
11 The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
Saul Confirmed as King
12 The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”
13 But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the LORD has rescued Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 11:33–12:2
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”[b]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”[c]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 12
A Living Sacrifice
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Not At This Time
September 28, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. —Romans 12:2
It can be quite discouraging for wanna-be writers to get their work rejected time after time. When they send in a manuscript to a publisher, they’ll often hear back in a letter with these words: “Thank you. But your submission does not meet our needs at this time.” Sometimes this really means “not at this time—or ever.” So they try the next publisher and the next.
I’ve found that the phrase This does not meet our needs at this time—or ever can be a helpful saying in my Christian walk to renew my mind and refocus my thoughts on the Lord.
Here’s what I mean. When starting to worry, we can remind ourselves: “Worry does not meet my needs at this time—or ever. My heart’s need is to trust God. I will ‘be anxious for nothing’ ” (Phil. 4:6).
When we envy what another person has or does, we can reinforce the truth: “Envy does not meet my needs at this time—or ever. My need is to give thanks to God. His Word says, ‘Envy is rottenness to the bones’ (Prov. 14:30), and ‘In everything give thanks’ ” (1 Thess. 5:18).
We can’t renew our minds by ourselves (Rom. 12:2); it’s the transforming work of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Yet speaking the truth in our thoughts can help us to submit to the Spirit’s work within.
For Further Thought
What are some areas you struggle with in your heart?
Ask God to renew your mind that it might think like His.
Then keep reminding yourself of the truth.
The Spirit of God renews our minds
when we review the Word of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 28th, 2011
The "Go" of Unconditional Identification
Jesus . . . said to him, ’One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor . . . and come, take up the cross, and follow Me’ —Mark 10:21
The rich young ruler had the controlling passion to be perfect. When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like Him. Our Lord never places anyone’s personal holiness above everything else when He calls a disciple. Jesus’ primary consideration is my absolute annihilation of my right to myself and my identification with Him, which means having a relationship with Him in which there are no other relationships. Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but deals solely with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ. Very few of us truly know what is meant by the absolute “go” of unconditional identification with, and abandonment and surrender to, Jesus.
“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him . . .” (Mark 10:21). This look of Jesus will require breaking your heart away forever from allegiance to any other person or thing. Has Jesus ever looked in this way at you? This look of Jesus transforms, penetrates, and captivates. Where you are soft and pliable with God is where the Lord has looked at you. If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on having your own way, and always certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, then there are whole areas of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze.
“One thing you lack . . . .” From Jesus Christ’s perspective, oneness with Him, with nothing between, is the only good thing.
“. . . sell whatever you have . . . .” I must humble myself until I am merely a living person. I must essentially renounce possessions of all kinds, not for salvation (for only one thing saves a person and that is absolute reliance in faith upon Jesus Christ), but to follow Jesus. “. . . come. . . and follow Me.” And the road is the way He went.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Follow That Voice - #6448
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Now, I've spent a fair amount of my life on airplanes, and so the thought of a fire on a plane is pretty unsettling. So I wasn't too excited about what I heard happened on an Air Canada flight several years ago. The fire actually started in the lavatory and the fire wasn't so big, but the smoke started to billow through the plane and it very quickly reached the cockpit. You can imagine how fearful that was going to be.
Well, it reached the point where the pilot was literally blinded by the smoke; he couldn't see outside of the plane, he couldn't see the instrument panel, and he literally didn't know where he was going to land; he didn't know how he was going to get down. And suddenly in the middle of all that chaos, there comes this calm, measured voice into the cockpit, "Just do what I say, and I'll bring you in." Well, of course, it was that flight controller in the tower at the nearby airport. And he literally talked the pilot in and miraculously after all that, there was a safe landing.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Follow That Voice."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 4:42-44 - "At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place." This, by the way, comes after a day filled with healing people and casting out demons. It says, "The people were looking for Him. And when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them."
"But He said, 'I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.' And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea." Well, here is Jesus surrounded by voices, needy voices...people saying, "Jesus, stay here. Wait! We need you over here." And they're vying for His time; they're vying for His attention. And every one of them was asking Him to do a good thing. Does that sound familiar at all--people vying for your attention, for your time? And all your choices are basically good ones.
Well, you notice that Jesus has a very clear "I must. No, I know what I must do. I must preach the good news in the other towns." And this "I must" helps Him stay on course as He's making His daily choices. Now, your life is the sum of hundreds of little choices you make each day isn't it? If you're like me, you have a lot of needs, a lot of possibilities tugging at you daily. And they're mostly good choices, but God has put you on earth for some special missions and you have to be true to those no matter how noble the detours are that are pulling on you.
Now, often we end up running around all stressed out, trying to satisfy everybody. And we often end up satisfying no one. And we lead these fragmented, frustrated lives, because well, we forget our "musts." Those have to come from God. If you ask Him, God will lay on your heart your assignments. He is the calm voice from the tower. He will lay on your heart your mission, your reason for being here. Some of those are going to be needs that only you can meet. There are some things only you could be for your family; that only you could be for lost friends that you're close to. You're the best one to help them get to heaven.
"I must," Jesus said, "That is why I was sent. I know what I have to do, and this doesn't fit even though it's really noble and really good." Now, how do you keep your course in a world that's full of "musts?" It says, "Jesus went to a solitary place at daybreak." And we know that there's where He got in touch with His Father. He got in touch with the tower to sort out His priorities for the day. That's where you have to go daily. You have to go there early, and you have to go there alone and let God lay on your heart His "musts."
You'll always land where you're supposed to if you begin with the voice in the control tower. So let God guide your course. Listen for your Father's instructions, and then follow that voice.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
1 Samuel 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: God Rescued Us
“Happy are they whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.” Romans 4:7
To qualify for bankruptcy, you have to admit you are broke . . .
And to go to heaven, you have to admit you are hellbound.
That’s a tough one . . . Not easy for a decent guy to admit he’s a sinner. Hard for a pretty good girl to confess spiritual destitution . . . If we are saved it is because God rescued us and not because we learned to swim.
1 Samuel 10
1 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance?[a] 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”’
3 “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
5 “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8 “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”
Saul Made King
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12 A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”
“Looking for the donkeys,” he said. “But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16 Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah 18 and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ 19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”
20 When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”
23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Exodus 4:1-9,17
Signs for Moses
1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6 Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[a]—it had become as white as snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
The Tales Of Two Sticks
September 27, 2011 — by Albert Lee
You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs. —Exodus 4:17
Conventional wisdom questions how much can be accomplished with little. We tend to believe that a lot more can be done if we have large financial resources, talented manpower, and innovative ideas. But these things don’t matter to God. Consider just a couple of examples:
In Judges 3:31, a relatively unknown man named Shamgar delivered Israel from the Philistines single-handedly. How? He won a great victory by killing 600 Philistines with nothing more than an oxgoad (a stick sharpened on one end to drive slow-moving animals).
In Exodus, when God asked Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses was afraid the people wouldn’t listen to him or follow him. So God said, “What is that in your hand?” (4:2). Moses replied, “A rod.” God went on to use that rod in Moses’ hand to convince the people to follow him, to turn the Nile River into blood, to bring great plagues on Egypt, to part the Red Sea, and to perform miracles in the wilderness.
Moses’ rod and Shamgar’s oxgoad, when dedicated to God, became mighty tools. This helps us see that God can use what little we have, when surrendered to Him, to do great things. God is not looking for people with great abilities, but for those who are dedicated to following and obeying Him.
If you use what little you may have
To serve the Lord with all your heart
You will find that He can do great things
When you begin to do your part. —Sper
Little is much when God is in it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 27th, 2011
The "Go" of Renunciation
. . . someone said to Him, ’Lord, I will follow You wherever You go’ —Luke 9:57
Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, “for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). We would have said, “I can’t imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!” Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of “what was in man.” If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.
Luke 9:58 . These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, “. . . the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Luke 9:59 . This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost.
Luke 9:61 . The person who says, “Lord, I will follow You, but . . .,” is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes. This man had reservations about going. The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Better Way to Make Matches - #6447
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
If you're in the manufacturing business and you plan to stay in it, there is an important function you must not neglect. They call it quality control. You know that someone needs to be checking what's coming up that assembly line to see what kind of finished product you're getting, not just how many you're getting. Imagine if there was a machine that turned out four broken items out of every ten that it produced. Would you say that machine needs some work, or maybe you need a whole new machine? Well, actually there is such a machine, and we just keep it cranking and it keeps losing four out of ten.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Better Way to Make Matches."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 5:2-3. It gives us the standard for a Christian's relationships. "Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. But among you..." Okay, now there's a flip side here; something that could ruin all that. "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."
Well, the standard for a Christian's relationship obviously is Christ's love; love that's unselfish; that seeks your best, not mine. It's willing to sacrifice, and it's certainly pure. Then what messes up that kind of relationship between men and women? A sexual agenda.
Now, consider the machine called the American dating machine. It's actually a match-making machine. It basically trains men and women to think of each other as romantic catches or physical conquests. And four out of ten matches made by that machine break, they end in divorce.
Something's wrong with the machine. Something's wrong with what we're looking for in our relationship with the opposite sex. There must be a better way to make matches, and there is. It puts friendship before romance. Christian love, unselfish and pure grows best when a man and woman start with a friendship, not a romance. I'll tell you what, it's hard to make a romance into a friendship. That's why many people end up married to a stranger and then unmarried to that stranger.
But it's a beautiful thing when a friendship grows naturally into a romance. And I think Christian men and women can model a better way to make matches. We don't have to go for the lies and the broken things in our culture. Christian parents can teach Christian kids a better way. Groups where men and women don't have to pair up so quickly, where there can be mixed combinations where three men and two women, or any kind of mixture can go out. It doesn't have to be this couple thing all the time.
Relationships with no physical agenda where both men and women can relax and not have to play that physical cat and mouse game, "How far are we going to go?" Where they can be natural with each other--be real, to help each other be more like Jesus.
Couldn't we work toward a better goal than everybody pairing up; a kingdom of men and women who want to be friends, not lovers? Out of that can come some really strong marriages, because, you know what? Marriage isn't the ultimate sexual conquest, it's the ultimate friendship. So, start practicing now.
“Happy are they whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.” Romans 4:7
To qualify for bankruptcy, you have to admit you are broke . . .
And to go to heaven, you have to admit you are hellbound.
That’s a tough one . . . Not easy for a decent guy to admit he’s a sinner. Hard for a pretty good girl to confess spiritual destitution . . . If we are saved it is because God rescued us and not because we learned to swim.
1 Samuel 10
1 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance?[a] 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”’
3 “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
5 “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8 “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”
Saul Made King
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12 A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”
“Looking for the donkeys,” he said. “But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”
16 Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah 18 and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ 19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”
20 When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”
23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Exodus 4:1-9,17
Signs for Moses
1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6 Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[a]—it had become as white as snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
The Tales Of Two Sticks
September 27, 2011 — by Albert Lee
You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs. —Exodus 4:17
Conventional wisdom questions how much can be accomplished with little. We tend to believe that a lot more can be done if we have large financial resources, talented manpower, and innovative ideas. But these things don’t matter to God. Consider just a couple of examples:
In Judges 3:31, a relatively unknown man named Shamgar delivered Israel from the Philistines single-handedly. How? He won a great victory by killing 600 Philistines with nothing more than an oxgoad (a stick sharpened on one end to drive slow-moving animals).
In Exodus, when God asked Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses was afraid the people wouldn’t listen to him or follow him. So God said, “What is that in your hand?” (4:2). Moses replied, “A rod.” God went on to use that rod in Moses’ hand to convince the people to follow him, to turn the Nile River into blood, to bring great plagues on Egypt, to part the Red Sea, and to perform miracles in the wilderness.
Moses’ rod and Shamgar’s oxgoad, when dedicated to God, became mighty tools. This helps us see that God can use what little we have, when surrendered to Him, to do great things. God is not looking for people with great abilities, but for those who are dedicated to following and obeying Him.
If you use what little you may have
To serve the Lord with all your heart
You will find that He can do great things
When you begin to do your part. —Sper
Little is much when God is in it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 27th, 2011
The "Go" of Renunciation
. . . someone said to Him, ’Lord, I will follow You wherever You go’ —Luke 9:57
Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, “for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). We would have said, “I can’t imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!” Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of “what was in man.” If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.
Luke 9:58 . These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, “. . . the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Luke 9:59 . This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost.
Luke 9:61 . The person who says, “Lord, I will follow You, but . . .,” is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes. This man had reservations about going. The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Better Way to Make Matches - #6447
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
If you're in the manufacturing business and you plan to stay in it, there is an important function you must not neglect. They call it quality control. You know that someone needs to be checking what's coming up that assembly line to see what kind of finished product you're getting, not just how many you're getting. Imagine if there was a machine that turned out four broken items out of every ten that it produced. Would you say that machine needs some work, or maybe you need a whole new machine? Well, actually there is such a machine, and we just keep it cranking and it keeps losing four out of ten.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Better Way to Make Matches."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 5:2-3. It gives us the standard for a Christian's relationships. "Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. But among you..." Okay, now there's a flip side here; something that could ruin all that. "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."
Well, the standard for a Christian's relationship obviously is Christ's love; love that's unselfish; that seeks your best, not mine. It's willing to sacrifice, and it's certainly pure. Then what messes up that kind of relationship between men and women? A sexual agenda.
Now, consider the machine called the American dating machine. It's actually a match-making machine. It basically trains men and women to think of each other as romantic catches or physical conquests. And four out of ten matches made by that machine break, they end in divorce.
Something's wrong with the machine. Something's wrong with what we're looking for in our relationship with the opposite sex. There must be a better way to make matches, and there is. It puts friendship before romance. Christian love, unselfish and pure grows best when a man and woman start with a friendship, not a romance. I'll tell you what, it's hard to make a romance into a friendship. That's why many people end up married to a stranger and then unmarried to that stranger.
But it's a beautiful thing when a friendship grows naturally into a romance. And I think Christian men and women can model a better way to make matches. We don't have to go for the lies and the broken things in our culture. Christian parents can teach Christian kids a better way. Groups where men and women don't have to pair up so quickly, where there can be mixed combinations where three men and two women, or any kind of mixture can go out. It doesn't have to be this couple thing all the time.
Relationships with no physical agenda where both men and women can relax and not have to play that physical cat and mouse game, "How far are we going to go?" Where they can be natural with each other--be real, to help each other be more like Jesus.
Couldn't we work toward a better goal than everybody pairing up; a kingdom of men and women who want to be friends, not lovers? Out of that can come some really strong marriages, because, you know what? Marriage isn't the ultimate sexual conquest, it's the ultimate friendship. So, start practicing now.
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