Max Lucado Daily: The Rest of the Story
Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. John 11:25, NLT
Mourning is not disbelieving. Flooded eyes don’t represent a faithless heart. A person can enter a cemetery Jesus-certain of life after death and still have a Twin Tower crater in the heart. Christ did. He wept, and he knew he was ten minutes from seeing a living Lazarus!
And his tears give you permission to shed your own…So grieve, but don’t grieve like those who don’t know the rest of this story.
Luke 23:26-56
New International Version (NIV)
The Crucifixion of Jesus
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’[a]
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[b] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[c]”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The Death of Jesus
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[d] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
The Burial of Jesus
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 14:19-27
19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Peace In Crisis
November 5, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
Peace I leave with you. —John 14:27
Ted, one of the elders in our church, used to be a police officer. One day after responding to a report of violence, he said the situation turned life-threatening. A man had stabbed someone and then menacingly turned the blade toward Ted. A fellow officer had taken position and fired his weapon at the assailant as he attacked Ted. The criminal was subdued, but Ted was shot in the crossfire. As he was driven by ambulance to the hospital, he felt deep waves of peace flowing over his soul from the Holy Spirit. Ted felt so tranquil that he was able to offer words of comfort to the law enforcement officer who was emotionally distraught over the crisis.
The Lord Jesus promised us peace in crisis. Just hours before His own crucifixion, Christ comforted His disciples with these words: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
What is your worst fear? If you should have to face it, Christ will be there with you. Trusting Him through prayer makes available “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” and it “will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
O the blessedness to nestle
Like a child upon His breast;
Finding ever, as He promised
Perfect comfort, peace, and rest. —Hennessay
The secret of peace is to give every anxious care to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Partakers of His Suffering
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings . . . —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
1 Samuel 29, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: God’s Thoughts
Lord, you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts! Psalm 92:5
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts—we aren’t even in the same neighborhood.
Psalm 92:5 sets the standard. “Lord, you have done such great things. How deep are your thoughts.”
When we’re thinking, Preserve the body; God’s thinking, Save the soul. We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace. “I’m going to live before I die,” we resolve. “Die, so you can live,” he instructs. We love what rusts. He loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions. We show our children the Nike star with the million-dollar smile and say, “Be like him.” God points to the crucified carpenter with bloody lips and a torn side and says, “Be like Christ.”
Thinking God’s thoughts.
1 Samuel 29
Achish Sends David Back to Ziklag
1 The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel. 2 As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish. 3 The commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?”
Achish replied, “Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.”
4 But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men? 5 Isn’t this the David they sang about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”
6 So Achish called David and said to him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been reliable, and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until today, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don’t approve of you. 7 Now turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers.”
8 “But what have I done?” asked David. “What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
9 Achish answered, “I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go up with us into battle.’ 10 Now get up early, along with your master’s servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light.”
11 So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 3:13-17
13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Lambs May Wade
November 4, 2011 — by David H. Roper
All Scripture . . . is profitable. —2 Timothy 3:16
Author C. S. Lewis says that reli- gious concepts are like soups—some are thick and some are clear. There are indeed “thick” concepts in the Bible: mysteries, subtleties, and complexities that challenge the most accomplished mind. For example, “[God] has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens” (Rom. 9:18). And yet, in the same volume there are thoughts that are crystal “clear”: simple, attainable, and easily grasped. What could ever surpass the simplicity of the clear affirmation in 1 John 4:16, “God is love”?
John Cameron, a 15th-century writer, suggests, “In the same meadow, the ox may lick up grass, . . . the bird may pick up seeds, . . . and a man finds a pearl; so in one and the same Scripture are varieties to be found for all sorts of conditions. In them, the lamb may wade, and the elephant swim, children may be fed with milk, and meat may be had for stronger men.”
All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in God’s Book, the Bible—ocean depths that can stir the most sophisticated mind, and shallow areas that can be negotiated by any simple, honest soul.
Why hesitate? “All Scripture . . . is profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16). Jump in!
Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine,
And jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depths
For every searcher there. —Hodder
God speaks through His Word—take time to listen.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 04, 2011
The Authority of Truth
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8
It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me . . .” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Enemy Tricks - #6475
Friday, November 4, 2011
During two visits to South Africa, I grew to love the people of that troubled country and its history too. It used to be British turf, except for the tribal lands of the great Zulu Warriors. And in 1879 the British army moved in under Lord Chelmsford, invaded Zulu land to claim it as a property for The Crown.
Well, the campaign was expected to be over in about a month or so, but among the Zulu's many military talents was a use of deception. One trick they used was to take what they called an "impy", which was the equivalent of a division, and they condensed it into formations so the enemy could not count how many there were in their regiments. And another technique they used was to have a small diversionary group of soldiers drive herds of cattle around the countryside. Well, that raised a lot of dust and it made the enemy think that that's where the main Zulu force was. See what I mean?
Well, they used those tactics; they misled Lord Chelmsford into splitting his army. He took half of it on a wild goose chase after a herd of cattle, and then the main Zulu force of 20,000 attacked the rest of the English force and massacred them. The surprise was complete. Now, the Zulu's were simply applying a timeless principle of warfare--deception. By the way, that's a major tactic in the war against you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Enemy Tricks."
What's the word struggle mean to you right now? When I say that, what do you think of? Who do you think of? What's the battle for you right now? What would you say is the enemy you're struggling against? Is it discouragement, or depression, or family problems, some impossible people, maybe finances? Well, see, the real enemy disguises his forces; he makes them look like human problems so you'll fight them with human weapons--weapons that he can demolish.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 6:11-13. Here's the real story: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
Now, remember, deception is a time-honored practice in warfare. God says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God." Now, the devil is the expert in that old tactic of warfare called deception. He's the father of lies Jesus said.
Now, Christians tend to forget what's really going on around their school, their family, where they work, their church. We ought to put up a big sign that says three words: This is war! You are I are in the middle of a supernatural battle, and you know there are supernatural weapons available to beat the enemy. Now, the devil's greatest fear is that you'll realize you're in the middle of that kind of battle and that you will use those weapons.
When you realize this struggle is spiritual war, you pray militantly. You stop depending on your plans, and your schemes, and money, and meetings. You turn the power of Jesus on the enemy. You start using scripture more powerfully. You purify yourself.
I once spoke at a conference for young people, and I said, "If we could only see this place through God's glasses, we would see spiritual forces from both sides massed for battle to get these kids." Well, you know what? That's true wherever God is at work. So, don't fall for the enemy's diversion. He wants you to run off fighting what looks like the problem so you won't fight him.
That darkness you're experiencing now, oh that's more than earth darkness. It is from an enemy who cannot stand resistance, but who is rendered powerless by the blood of Jesus Christ.
So, make sure that you're fighting the right enemy and you're using the right weapons.
Lord, you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts! Psalm 92:5
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts—we aren’t even in the same neighborhood.
Psalm 92:5 sets the standard. “Lord, you have done such great things. How deep are your thoughts.”
When we’re thinking, Preserve the body; God’s thinking, Save the soul. We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace. “I’m going to live before I die,” we resolve. “Die, so you can live,” he instructs. We love what rusts. He loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions. We show our children the Nike star with the million-dollar smile and say, “Be like him.” God points to the crucified carpenter with bloody lips and a torn side and says, “Be like Christ.”
Thinking God’s thoughts.
1 Samuel 29
Achish Sends David Back to Ziklag
1 The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel. 2 As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish. 3 The commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?”
Achish replied, “Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.”
4 But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men? 5 Isn’t this the David they sang about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”
6 So Achish called David and said to him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been reliable, and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until today, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don’t approve of you. 7 Now turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers.”
8 “But what have I done?” asked David. “What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
9 Achish answered, “I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go up with us into battle.’ 10 Now get up early, along with your master’s servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light.”
11 So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Timothy 3:13-17
13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Lambs May Wade
November 4, 2011 — by David H. Roper
All Scripture . . . is profitable. —2 Timothy 3:16
Author C. S. Lewis says that reli- gious concepts are like soups—some are thick and some are clear. There are indeed “thick” concepts in the Bible: mysteries, subtleties, and complexities that challenge the most accomplished mind. For example, “[God] has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens” (Rom. 9:18). And yet, in the same volume there are thoughts that are crystal “clear”: simple, attainable, and easily grasped. What could ever surpass the simplicity of the clear affirmation in 1 John 4:16, “God is love”?
John Cameron, a 15th-century writer, suggests, “In the same meadow, the ox may lick up grass, . . . the bird may pick up seeds, . . . and a man finds a pearl; so in one and the same Scripture are varieties to be found for all sorts of conditions. In them, the lamb may wade, and the elephant swim, children may be fed with milk, and meat may be had for stronger men.”
All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in God’s Book, the Bible—ocean depths that can stir the most sophisticated mind, and shallow areas that can be negotiated by any simple, honest soul.
Why hesitate? “All Scripture . . . is profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16). Jump in!
Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine,
And jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depths
For every searcher there. —Hodder
God speaks through His Word—take time to listen.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 04, 2011
The Authority of Truth
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8
It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me . . .” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Enemy Tricks - #6475
Friday, November 4, 2011
During two visits to South Africa, I grew to love the people of that troubled country and its history too. It used to be British turf, except for the tribal lands of the great Zulu Warriors. And in 1879 the British army moved in under Lord Chelmsford, invaded Zulu land to claim it as a property for The Crown.
Well, the campaign was expected to be over in about a month or so, but among the Zulu's many military talents was a use of deception. One trick they used was to take what they called an "impy", which was the equivalent of a division, and they condensed it into formations so the enemy could not count how many there were in their regiments. And another technique they used was to have a small diversionary group of soldiers drive herds of cattle around the countryside. Well, that raised a lot of dust and it made the enemy think that that's where the main Zulu force was. See what I mean?
Well, they used those tactics; they misled Lord Chelmsford into splitting his army. He took half of it on a wild goose chase after a herd of cattle, and then the main Zulu force of 20,000 attacked the rest of the English force and massacred them. The surprise was complete. Now, the Zulu's were simply applying a timeless principle of warfare--deception. By the way, that's a major tactic in the war against you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Enemy Tricks."
What's the word struggle mean to you right now? When I say that, what do you think of? Who do you think of? What's the battle for you right now? What would you say is the enemy you're struggling against? Is it discouragement, or depression, or family problems, some impossible people, maybe finances? Well, see, the real enemy disguises his forces; he makes them look like human problems so you'll fight them with human weapons--weapons that he can demolish.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 6:11-13. Here's the real story: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
Now, remember, deception is a time-honored practice in warfare. God says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God." Now, the devil is the expert in that old tactic of warfare called deception. He's the father of lies Jesus said.
Now, Christians tend to forget what's really going on around their school, their family, where they work, their church. We ought to put up a big sign that says three words: This is war! You are I are in the middle of a supernatural battle, and you know there are supernatural weapons available to beat the enemy. Now, the devil's greatest fear is that you'll realize you're in the middle of that kind of battle and that you will use those weapons.
When you realize this struggle is spiritual war, you pray militantly. You stop depending on your plans, and your schemes, and money, and meetings. You turn the power of Jesus on the enemy. You start using scripture more powerfully. You purify yourself.
I once spoke at a conference for young people, and I said, "If we could only see this place through God's glasses, we would see spiritual forces from both sides massed for battle to get these kids." Well, you know what? That's true wherever God is at work. So, don't fall for the enemy's diversion. He wants you to run off fighting what looks like the problem so you won't fight him.
That darkness you're experiencing now, oh that's more than earth darkness. It is from an enemy who cannot stand resistance, but who is rendered powerless by the blood of Jesus Christ.
So, make sure that you're fighting the right enemy and you're using the right weapons.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
1 Samuel 28, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: Revamped Expectations
The ways of God are without fault. Psalm 18:30
It’s not easy when God doesn’t do what we want, is it? Never has been. Never will be. But faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about this life and He will get us through it.
Remember, disappointment is cured by revamped expectations.
I like the story about the fellow who went to the pet store in search of a singing parakeet. Seems he was a bachelor and his house was too quiet. The store owner had just the bird for him, so the man bought it.
The next day the bachelor came home from work to a house full of music. He went to the cage to feed the bird and noticed for the first time that the parakeet had only one leg.
He felt cheated. So he called and complained.
“What do you want,” the store owner responded, “a bird who can sing or a bird who can dance?”
Good question for times of disappointment.
1 Samuel 28
1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.”
2 David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.”
Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
Saul and the Medium at Endor
3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
4 The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. 6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. 7 Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”
“There is one in Endor,” they said.
8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”
9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?”
10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this.”
11 Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”
“Bring up Samuel,” he said.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”
The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure[a] coming up out of the earth.”
14 “What does he look like?” he asked.
“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
“I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”
16 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has departed from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. 19 The LORD will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”
20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and all that night.
21 When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. 22 Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.”
23 He refused and said, “I will not eat.”
But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch.
24 The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. 25 Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 4:1-15
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Looking For Water
November 3, 2011 — by Dave Branon
Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. —John 4:14
The United States has spent millions of dollars looking for water on Mars. A few years ago, NASA sent twin robots, Opportunity and Spirit, to the red planet to see if water was present or had been present at one time. Why did the US do this? The scientists who are poring over data sent back from those two little Martian rovers are trying to figure out if life ever existed on Mars. And for that to have happened, there had to be water. No water, no life.
Two thousand years ago, a couple of “rovers” set out across the countryside of an Earth-outpost called Samaria looking for water. One was a woman who lived nearby. The other was a man from Galilee. They ended up meeting at a well near the village of Sychar. When they did, Jesus found the water He was looking for, and the woman found the water she didn’t know she needed (John 4:5-15).
Water is essential for both physical and spiritual life. Jesus had a surprise for the woman at the well. He offered her the Water of Life—Himself. He is the refreshing, renewing “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
Do you know anyone looking for water? Someone who is spiritually thirsty? Introduce that person to Jesus, the Living Water. It’s the greatest discovery of all time.
Gracious and Almighty Savior,
Source of all that shall endure,
Quench my thirst with living water,
Living water, clear and pure. —Vinal
Only Jesus, the Living Water, can satisfy the thirsty soul.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 03, 2011
A Bondservant of Jesus
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . —Galatians 2:20
These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, “. . . for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). That is what makes a strong saint.
Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .”
The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
I realize now that I really wasn't ever going to make it as a tennis player. Oh, I played the most with my son. And, I think I had a decent serve for a beginner. But I had trouble returning my son's shots. Now, I think you'll agree that is a basic skill for succeeding in tennis. You do have to get it back to the other guy. Actually, that's important in a lot of sports. For example: volleyball; you lose the point when you can't return the shot; ping-pong; oh, you know, there are a lot of places where that's important. In fact, in most arenas returning the shot--well, that's an important skill to be cultivated. In one arena it's a skill to be eliminated.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hold Your Fire."
Well, Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2:21. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." Now let's stop for just a minute here. Peter is saying that this world needs more of Jesus. Now, There are a lot of people around you who are desperate to have Jesus walk among them, and He can. He can walk into your office. He can be in your school. He can be in your family through you, because He's in you.
Now, the Bible here says that Christ is our example, and the Greek word that's used there is the word that talked about a copy head on a school child's slate. And as they were learning their alphabet--alpha, beta, gamma, delta...the Greek alphabet--they would just simply copy the letter at the top and try to make their letter as much like the letter at the top as they could; an exact copy. Now, this says that Christ is our copy head. He's the one we're trying to make an exact replica of. We're trying to be as much like Him in our life as possible so that when people come in contact with us, they come in contact with Him.
Now, when is it hardest to follow that example? When is it hardest to be like Jesus? Well, when it's most important to be. Verse 23, "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly."
The real proof that shows a person's real character is what he does when he's being shot at. Now, you notice what happened to Jesus here? He was insulted, but there was no retaliation.
They hurt Him and yet there were no threats coming back. Our Master was abusively, horribly treated; He was deeply hurt. And boy did He have the power to hurt back like you and I never will, and He chose not to!
Now, when are you most likely to sin? Well, probably when someone is really attacking you, criticizing you, coming after you, when they're firing something at you. Maybe you've been betrayed recently, or you've been deeply wounded verbally, or maybe you've even been hurt physically. Everything in you cries out, "I'll fix him!" "I'll fix her!" Your mind starts racing through ways that you can retaliate; ways you can even the score. And now here comes the Jesus test. Does knowing Christ make any difference when it really counts?
In Romans 12 the Apostle Paul says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil; do not take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath." Let God even the score; He's much better at it than you are. Jesus turned to His Father for justice. An eye for an eye is not the way of Jesus. Even from His cross He says of those who have nailed Him to that cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." That's the example for us. When you refuse to return the shot, you refuse to shrink to the level of your attackers; you refuse to let them control you. And more importantly, you rise to the level of your Lord, who gives you the grace not to hurt back.
Life isn't tennis. In Christ you win if you don't return the shot. So, hold your fire!
The ways of God are without fault. Psalm 18:30
It’s not easy when God doesn’t do what we want, is it? Never has been. Never will be. But faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about this life and He will get us through it.
Remember, disappointment is cured by revamped expectations.
I like the story about the fellow who went to the pet store in search of a singing parakeet. Seems he was a bachelor and his house was too quiet. The store owner had just the bird for him, so the man bought it.
The next day the bachelor came home from work to a house full of music. He went to the cage to feed the bird and noticed for the first time that the parakeet had only one leg.
He felt cheated. So he called and complained.
“What do you want,” the store owner responded, “a bird who can sing or a bird who can dance?”
Good question for times of disappointment.
1 Samuel 28
1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.”
2 David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.”
Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
Saul and the Medium at Endor
3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
4 The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. 6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. 7 Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”
“There is one in Endor,” they said.
8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”
9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?”
10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this.”
11 Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”
“Bring up Samuel,” he said.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”
The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure[a] coming up out of the earth.”
14 “What does he look like?” he asked.
“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
“I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”
16 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has departed from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. 19 The LORD will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”
20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and all that night.
21 When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. 22 Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.”
23 He refused and said, “I will not eat.”
But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch.
24 The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. 25 Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 4:1-15
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Looking For Water
November 3, 2011 — by Dave Branon
Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. —John 4:14
The United States has spent millions of dollars looking for water on Mars. A few years ago, NASA sent twin robots, Opportunity and Spirit, to the red planet to see if water was present or had been present at one time. Why did the US do this? The scientists who are poring over data sent back from those two little Martian rovers are trying to figure out if life ever existed on Mars. And for that to have happened, there had to be water. No water, no life.
Two thousand years ago, a couple of “rovers” set out across the countryside of an Earth-outpost called Samaria looking for water. One was a woman who lived nearby. The other was a man from Galilee. They ended up meeting at a well near the village of Sychar. When they did, Jesus found the water He was looking for, and the woman found the water she didn’t know she needed (John 4:5-15).
Water is essential for both physical and spiritual life. Jesus had a surprise for the woman at the well. He offered her the Water of Life—Himself. He is the refreshing, renewing “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
Do you know anyone looking for water? Someone who is spiritually thirsty? Introduce that person to Jesus, the Living Water. It’s the greatest discovery of all time.
Gracious and Almighty Savior,
Source of all that shall endure,
Quench my thirst with living water,
Living water, clear and pure. —Vinal
Only Jesus, the Living Water, can satisfy the thirsty soul.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 03, 2011
A Bondservant of Jesus
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . —Galatians 2:20
These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, “. . . for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). That is what makes a strong saint.
Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .”
The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
I realize now that I really wasn't ever going to make it as a tennis player. Oh, I played the most with my son. And, I think I had a decent serve for a beginner. But I had trouble returning my son's shots. Now, I think you'll agree that is a basic skill for succeeding in tennis. You do have to get it back to the other guy. Actually, that's important in a lot of sports. For example: volleyball; you lose the point when you can't return the shot; ping-pong; oh, you know, there are a lot of places where that's important. In fact, in most arenas returning the shot--well, that's an important skill to be cultivated. In one arena it's a skill to be eliminated.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hold Your Fire."
Well, Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2:21. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." Now let's stop for just a minute here. Peter is saying that this world needs more of Jesus. Now, There are a lot of people around you who are desperate to have Jesus walk among them, and He can. He can walk into your office. He can be in your school. He can be in your family through you, because He's in you.
Now, the Bible here says that Christ is our example, and the Greek word that's used there is the word that talked about a copy head on a school child's slate. And as they were learning their alphabet--alpha, beta, gamma, delta...the Greek alphabet--they would just simply copy the letter at the top and try to make their letter as much like the letter at the top as they could; an exact copy. Now, this says that Christ is our copy head. He's the one we're trying to make an exact replica of. We're trying to be as much like Him in our life as possible so that when people come in contact with us, they come in contact with Him.
Now, when is it hardest to follow that example? When is it hardest to be like Jesus? Well, when it's most important to be. Verse 23, "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly."
The real proof that shows a person's real character is what he does when he's being shot at. Now, you notice what happened to Jesus here? He was insulted, but there was no retaliation.
They hurt Him and yet there were no threats coming back. Our Master was abusively, horribly treated; He was deeply hurt. And boy did He have the power to hurt back like you and I never will, and He chose not to!
Now, when are you most likely to sin? Well, probably when someone is really attacking you, criticizing you, coming after you, when they're firing something at you. Maybe you've been betrayed recently, or you've been deeply wounded verbally, or maybe you've even been hurt physically. Everything in you cries out, "I'll fix him!" "I'll fix her!" Your mind starts racing through ways that you can retaliate; ways you can even the score. And now here comes the Jesus test. Does knowing Christ make any difference when it really counts?
In Romans 12 the Apostle Paul says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil; do not take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath." Let God even the score; He's much better at it than you are. Jesus turned to His Father for justice. An eye for an eye is not the way of Jesus. Even from His cross He says of those who have nailed Him to that cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." That's the example for us. When you refuse to return the shot, you refuse to shrink to the level of your attackers; you refuse to let them control you. And more importantly, you rise to the level of your Lord, who gives you the grace not to hurt back.
Life isn't tennis. In Christ you win if you don't return the shot. So, hold your fire!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Luke 23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: Divine Jesus
Divine Jesus
I came to give life—life in all its fullness. John 10:10
Jesus is no run-of-the-mill messiah.
His story was extraordinary. He called himself divine, yet allowed a minimum-wage Roman soldier to drive a nail into his wrist. He demanded purity, yet stood for the rights of a repentant whore. He called men to march, yet refused to allow them to call him King. He sent men into all the world, yet equipped them with only bended knees and memories of a resurrected carpenter
Luke 23
1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” [17] [a]
18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 15:1-7
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
5 A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.
6 The house of the righteous contains great treasure,
but the income of the wicked brings ruin.
7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
but the hearts of fools are not upright.
Mouth Guard
November 2, 2011 — by David C. Egner
The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness. —Proverbs 15:2
I was walking in a subway in Minsk, Belarus, with my friend Yuliya and her daughter Anastasia when I suddenly fell face first onto the dirty concrete floor. I don’t remember the fall, but I do remember suddenly having a mouth filled with sand, gravel, and grit. Ugh! I couldn’t get that stuff out of my mouth quickly enough!
I didn’t enjoy what went into my mouth on that embarrassing occasion. But Scripture teaches that it’s more important to guard what comes out of our mouths. When the writer of Proverbs 15 said that “the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness” (v.2), the word translated pours forth literally means “explodes out.” Rash accusations, angry words, and verbal abuse can do immeasurable and lifelong harm. The apostle Paul spoke bluntly about this: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29)—no dirty talk. He also said to “[put] away lying” and to “speak truth” (v.25)—no lies. And later, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you” (v.31)—no character assassination. What comes out of our mouths should be wholesome and uplifting.
We guard carefully what goes into our mouths—and rightly so. To honor God, let’s also keep tight control on the words that come out of our mouths.
Lord, help us to control our tongues,
To clean up what we say,
To use words that will edify,
To honor You today. —Sper
Be careful of your thoughts—they may become words at any time.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Obedience or Independence?
If you love Me, keep My commandments —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Roller Coaster World - #6473
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
My children love roller coasters. They did not get it from me. When my dad took me on the big "thrills and chills" coaster at our city amusement park, I needed counseling for years to come!
Of course, you don't have to buy a ticket these days to get a wild ride. Just invest in the stock market. Talk about ups and downs! And Wall Street's wild rides these past few months are only a mirror of a world that seems to be off-the-charts financially. You know, questions about America's credit rating that have come up, well, they aren't helping, and then other country's credit ratings. And, you know, they're saying that our future rating may depend on how well Washington budget negotiations go. Well, in that case, hang on tight.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Roller Coaster World."
Now, even without all the mayhem in the economy, life still gets crazy. Sudden drops can come from a change in your family, your job, your health. We're always one email, one text, one call, one doctor visit, one conversation away from the bottom dropping out. I've been there when the "Code Blue" was someone close to me, when the baby with "problems" was one of ours, when the income suddenly went away, when the phone call came that changed everything.
But when the roller coaster was twisting and dropping violently, one fact kept me safe. The coaster was attached to the track. And the track wasn't moving.
Years ago, I chose to go out of the business of running my own life, which the Bible calls in a simple word "sin." See, I've been trying to let Jesus drive ever since. After all, the Bible says I was "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). So why would I not let Him run the life that He gave me to live for Him? See, He is the "track" that my crazy roller-coaster car is attached to.
Or, in the reassuring words of God's Book, the Bible, and our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 6:19, we have in Jesus "...an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" See, I know that my "daily bread" comes from a God whose stock never drops and whose resources arealways infinite. I live in total security...hand-to-mouth--His hand to my mouth. I know that in the words of the Bible, "my times are in His hands" (Psalm 31:15) - not in the hands of a doctor or a disease. I don't need to fear for the people I love because, again the Bible, "I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what (or who) I have committed to Him..." (2 Timothy 1:12).
See, you can survive the ride if your soul is anchored. And Jesus is that anchor, because He is, in the Bible's words, "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). He loves you today as much as He did the day He bled for your sins on a cross. He's as powerful today as He was the day He blew away death at His now-empty tomb. And "nothing," the Bible says, "will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).
Listen, if life for you has been a lot of drops and a lot of crazy, twists and turns, and you're ready for the anchor you were made for, let this be the day that you open up to Jesus and take your life out of your hands and put it into His. You'll notice there's nail prints in those hands. That's how much He loves you, to die for every wrong thing you've ever done against Him.
Because He's alive and walked out of His grave, He can walk into your life right now. "Jesus, I'm Yours." Tell Him that, "Jesus, I'm Yours beginning today." Go to our website; get some more information on how this relationship works. It's YoursForLife.net.
See, you can't slow down a roller coaster, but you can make sure that you're attached to the track.
Divine Jesus
I came to give life—life in all its fullness. John 10:10
Jesus is no run-of-the-mill messiah.
His story was extraordinary. He called himself divine, yet allowed a minimum-wage Roman soldier to drive a nail into his wrist. He demanded purity, yet stood for the rights of a repentant whore. He called men to march, yet refused to allow them to call him King. He sent men into all the world, yet equipped them with only bended knees and memories of a resurrected carpenter
Luke 23
1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” [17] [a]
18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 15:1-7
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
5 A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.
6 The house of the righteous contains great treasure,
but the income of the wicked brings ruin.
7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
but the hearts of fools are not upright.
Mouth Guard
November 2, 2011 — by David C. Egner
The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness. —Proverbs 15:2
I was walking in a subway in Minsk, Belarus, with my friend Yuliya and her daughter Anastasia when I suddenly fell face first onto the dirty concrete floor. I don’t remember the fall, but I do remember suddenly having a mouth filled with sand, gravel, and grit. Ugh! I couldn’t get that stuff out of my mouth quickly enough!
I didn’t enjoy what went into my mouth on that embarrassing occasion. But Scripture teaches that it’s more important to guard what comes out of our mouths. When the writer of Proverbs 15 said that “the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness” (v.2), the word translated pours forth literally means “explodes out.” Rash accusations, angry words, and verbal abuse can do immeasurable and lifelong harm. The apostle Paul spoke bluntly about this: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29)—no dirty talk. He also said to “[put] away lying” and to “speak truth” (v.25)—no lies. And later, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you” (v.31)—no character assassination. What comes out of our mouths should be wholesome and uplifting.
We guard carefully what goes into our mouths—and rightly so. To honor God, let’s also keep tight control on the words that come out of our mouths.
Lord, help us to control our tongues,
To clean up what we say,
To use words that will edify,
To honor You today. —Sper
Be careful of your thoughts—they may become words at any time.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Obedience or Independence?
If you love Me, keep My commandments —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Roller Coaster World - #6473
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
My children love roller coasters. They did not get it from me. When my dad took me on the big "thrills and chills" coaster at our city amusement park, I needed counseling for years to come!
Of course, you don't have to buy a ticket these days to get a wild ride. Just invest in the stock market. Talk about ups and downs! And Wall Street's wild rides these past few months are only a mirror of a world that seems to be off-the-charts financially. You know, questions about America's credit rating that have come up, well, they aren't helping, and then other country's credit ratings. And, you know, they're saying that our future rating may depend on how well Washington budget negotiations go. Well, in that case, hang on tight.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Roller Coaster World."
Now, even without all the mayhem in the economy, life still gets crazy. Sudden drops can come from a change in your family, your job, your health. We're always one email, one text, one call, one doctor visit, one conversation away from the bottom dropping out. I've been there when the "Code Blue" was someone close to me, when the baby with "problems" was one of ours, when the income suddenly went away, when the phone call came that changed everything.
But when the roller coaster was twisting and dropping violently, one fact kept me safe. The coaster was attached to the track. And the track wasn't moving.
Years ago, I chose to go out of the business of running my own life, which the Bible calls in a simple word "sin." See, I've been trying to let Jesus drive ever since. After all, the Bible says I was "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). So why would I not let Him run the life that He gave me to live for Him? See, He is the "track" that my crazy roller-coaster car is attached to.
Or, in the reassuring words of God's Book, the Bible, and our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 6:19, we have in Jesus "...an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" See, I know that my "daily bread" comes from a God whose stock never drops and whose resources arealways infinite. I live in total security...hand-to-mouth--His hand to my mouth. I know that in the words of the Bible, "my times are in His hands" (Psalm 31:15) - not in the hands of a doctor or a disease. I don't need to fear for the people I love because, again the Bible, "I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what (or who) I have committed to Him..." (2 Timothy 1:12).
See, you can survive the ride if your soul is anchored. And Jesus is that anchor, because He is, in the Bible's words, "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). He loves you today as much as He did the day He bled for your sins on a cross. He's as powerful today as He was the day He blew away death at His now-empty tomb. And "nothing," the Bible says, "will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).
Listen, if life for you has been a lot of drops and a lot of crazy, twists and turns, and you're ready for the anchor you were made for, let this be the day that you open up to Jesus and take your life out of your hands and put it into His. You'll notice there's nail prints in those hands. That's how much He loves you, to die for every wrong thing you've ever done against Him.
Because He's alive and walked out of His grave, He can walk into your life right now. "Jesus, I'm Yours." Tell Him that, "Jesus, I'm Yours beginning today." Go to our website; get some more information on how this relationship works. It's YoursForLife.net.
See, you can't slow down a roller coaster, but you can make sure that you're attached to the track.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
1 Samuel 27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: The Father’s Love
The Father’s Love
The Lord said, “I have loved you.” Malachi 1:2
Father, your love never ceases. Never.
Though we spurn you, ignore you, disobey you, you will not change. Our evil cannot diminish your love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it anymore than our stupidity jeopardizes it. You don’t love us less if we fail. You don’t love us more if we succeed.
Your love never ceases.
1 Samuel 27
David Among the Philistines
1 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6 So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) 9 Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.
10 When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” 11 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 119:9-16
Beth
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
Staying Clean
November 1, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11
During a business trip to Philadelphia, I walked down Broad Street toward City Hall each morning to catch the subway. Each day I passed a long line of people waiting for something. They were a cross-section of humanity in age, ethnic origin, and appearance. After wondering about it for 3 days, I asked a man on the sidewalk why all those people were standing in line. He told me that they were on probation or parole after breaking the law and had to take a daily drug test to show that they were staying clean.
This struck me as a vivid illustration of my need to stay spiritually clean before God. When the psalmist pondered how he could live a pure life, he concluded that the key was to consider and obey God’s teaching. “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. . . . I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word” (Ps. 119:11-12,16).
In the light of God’s Word, we see our sin, but we also see God’s love in Christ. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
By His grace . . . staying clean.
Lord, grant that we may hear You speak
As truth within Your Word we seek;
And may it show us all our sin
And make us clean without, within. —D. De Haan
Read the Bible to be wise, believe it to be safe,
practice it to be holy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
"You Are Not Your Own"
Do you not know that . . . you are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19
There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.
The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Strong Sense of Season - #6472
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
On the first warm day of spring I can remember my son saying, "Ready for a little baseball, Dad?" Well, 'twas the season, although that early in the season we usually ended up stuck in the mud somewhere between home plate and first base. Now, he didn't ask about playing baseball if it was fall or winter. Now, he always had a like a strong sense of season. By the same token, the first cool day of late summer, of course, that brought a predictable question, "Ready for a little football, Dad?" This is the same son, of course, that got upset when he saw Christmas items up before Thanksgiving, or phone calls when he was studying or homework that you had to do on weekends. See, this kid had and actually still does have for that matter, a strong sense of what season it is, and there's actually a lot of sanity in living that way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Strong Sense of Season."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ecclesiastes 3, and let me read some excerpts to you: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." It goes on with a list of life's times, and then concludes in verse 11, "God has made everything beautiful in its time."
Well, the message of Ecclesiastes 3 to me is this: know what time it is. Know what season it is at this point in your life, or your month, or your week. And then really do what it's time to do and don't mix up your seasons. When it's time to work, well, really work; when it's time to fellowship, really fellowship. Just don't mix everything up.
Now, I know some people who talk half of their work day. Well, when it's fellowship time, do that, but don't mix that with your work and vice-versa. When it's time to play, well, really play. When it's time to be home, don't bring your work home with you; be home. When it's time to be at work, don't keep doing personal stuff. When it's time to pray, block out everything else.
Maybe that's why Jesus told us to go in a closet to do it. When it's time to listen, drop everything else and focus on that person. If it's time to finish something else before you listen, get that done and schedule a time when you really can listen. When it's time to study, don't talk. When it's time to unwind, don't study. Get the idea?
I have a friend whose employees' wives are on the warpath because their husbands are coming home forever late from work. Guess who they blame? The boss and the company for over-working their men. Well, the fact is what the wives don't know is that these men are taking extended lunch hours for gym time and shooting the breeze much of the day. They waste as much time as they work, and then they have to work like crazy at the other end of the day. And then, guess what? They can't be the fathers they need to be.
I like what the Bible says in Colossians 3, "Whatever you do, do it with all your heart." And I really like what Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr said, "Wherever you are, be all there." See, things don't work as well when you do them "out of season." Each day, each week has seasons in your life. Well, do with all your heart what it's time to do at that moment and then God makes everything beautiful in its time.
I'll tell you, life is a lot more peaceful when you live with that strong sense of season.
The Father’s Love
The Lord said, “I have loved you.” Malachi 1:2
Father, your love never ceases. Never.
Though we spurn you, ignore you, disobey you, you will not change. Our evil cannot diminish your love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it anymore than our stupidity jeopardizes it. You don’t love us less if we fail. You don’t love us more if we succeed.
Your love never ceases.
1 Samuel 27
David Among the Philistines
1 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6 So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) 9 Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.
10 When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” 11 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 119:9-16
Beth
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
Staying Clean
November 1, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11
During a business trip to Philadelphia, I walked down Broad Street toward City Hall each morning to catch the subway. Each day I passed a long line of people waiting for something. They were a cross-section of humanity in age, ethnic origin, and appearance. After wondering about it for 3 days, I asked a man on the sidewalk why all those people were standing in line. He told me that they were on probation or parole after breaking the law and had to take a daily drug test to show that they were staying clean.
This struck me as a vivid illustration of my need to stay spiritually clean before God. When the psalmist pondered how he could live a pure life, he concluded that the key was to consider and obey God’s teaching. “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. . . . I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word” (Ps. 119:11-12,16).
In the light of God’s Word, we see our sin, but we also see God’s love in Christ. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
By His grace . . . staying clean.
Lord, grant that we may hear You speak
As truth within Your Word we seek;
And may it show us all our sin
And make us clean without, within. —D. De Haan
Read the Bible to be wise, believe it to be safe,
practice it to be holy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
"You Are Not Your Own"
Do you not know that . . . you are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19
There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.
The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Strong Sense of Season - #6472
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
On the first warm day of spring I can remember my son saying, "Ready for a little baseball, Dad?" Well, 'twas the season, although that early in the season we usually ended up stuck in the mud somewhere between home plate and first base. Now, he didn't ask about playing baseball if it was fall or winter. Now, he always had a like a strong sense of season. By the same token, the first cool day of late summer, of course, that brought a predictable question, "Ready for a little football, Dad?" This is the same son, of course, that got upset when he saw Christmas items up before Thanksgiving, or phone calls when he was studying or homework that you had to do on weekends. See, this kid had and actually still does have for that matter, a strong sense of what season it is, and there's actually a lot of sanity in living that way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Strong Sense of Season."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ecclesiastes 3, and let me read some excerpts to you: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." It goes on with a list of life's times, and then concludes in verse 11, "God has made everything beautiful in its time."
Well, the message of Ecclesiastes 3 to me is this: know what time it is. Know what season it is at this point in your life, or your month, or your week. And then really do what it's time to do and don't mix up your seasons. When it's time to work, well, really work; when it's time to fellowship, really fellowship. Just don't mix everything up.
Now, I know some people who talk half of their work day. Well, when it's fellowship time, do that, but don't mix that with your work and vice-versa. When it's time to play, well, really play. When it's time to be home, don't bring your work home with you; be home. When it's time to be at work, don't keep doing personal stuff. When it's time to pray, block out everything else.
Maybe that's why Jesus told us to go in a closet to do it. When it's time to listen, drop everything else and focus on that person. If it's time to finish something else before you listen, get that done and schedule a time when you really can listen. When it's time to study, don't talk. When it's time to unwind, don't study. Get the idea?
I have a friend whose employees' wives are on the warpath because their husbands are coming home forever late from work. Guess who they blame? The boss and the company for over-working their men. Well, the fact is what the wives don't know is that these men are taking extended lunch hours for gym time and shooting the breeze much of the day. They waste as much time as they work, and then they have to work like crazy at the other end of the day. And then, guess what? They can't be the fathers they need to be.
I like what the Bible says in Colossians 3, "Whatever you do, do it with all your heart." And I really like what Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr said, "Wherever you are, be all there." See, things don't work as well when you do them "out of season." Each day, each week has seasons in your life. Well, do with all your heart what it's time to do at that moment and then God makes everything beautiful in its time.
I'll tell you, life is a lot more peaceful when you live with that strong sense of season.
Monday, October 31, 2011
1 Samuel 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: Hope
I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. Genesis 26:24, NKJV
Hope is not what you expect; it’s what you would never dream… It’s Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see not his grandson, but his son…
Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no, it’s far greater than that. It’s a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks and be there in the flesh to see our reaction.
1 Samuel 26
David Again Spares Saul’s Life
1 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”
2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David. 3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, 4 he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.
5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.
6 David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”
“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.
7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the LORD lives,” he said, “the LORD himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”
12 So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the LORD had put them into a deep sleep.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them. 14 He called out to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Aren’t you going to answer me, Abner?”
Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?”
15 David said, “You’re a man, aren’t you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn’t you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. 16 What you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, you and your men must die, because you did not guard your master, the LORD’s anointed. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”
17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice, David my son?”
David replied, “Yes it is, my lord the king.” 18 And he added, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong am I guilty of? 19 Now let my lord the king listen to his servant’s words. If the LORD has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. If, however, people have done it, may they be cursed before the LORD! They have driven me today from my share in the LORD’s inheritance and have said, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea—as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong.”
22 “Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The LORD rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness. The LORD delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. 24 As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble.”
25 Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, David my son; you will do great things and surely triumph.”
So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 1:6-13
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Surprise!
October 31, 2011 — by C. P. Hia
Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! —John 1:29
A writer for The Washington Post conducted an experiment to test people’s perception. He asked a famous violinist to perform incognito at a train station in the nation’s capital one January morning. Thousands of people walked by as he played, but only a few stopped to listen. After 45 minutes, just $32 had been dropped into the virtuoso’s open violin case. Two days earlier, this man—Joshua Bell—had used the same $3.5 million Stradivarius for a sold-out concert where people paid $100 a seat to hear him perform.
The idea of a person not being recognized for his greatness isn’t new. It happened to Jesus. “He was in the world,” John said, “. . . and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10). Why did people who had been expecting the Messiah give Jesus such a cold reception? One reason is that they were surprised. Just as people today don’t expect famous musicians to play in railway stations, the people in Jesus’ day didn’t expect Messiah to be born in a stable. They also expected Him to be a political king—not the head of a spiritual kingdom.
The people in the first century were blinded to God’s purpose in sending Jesus to this world. He came to save people from their sins (John 1:29). Receive God’s surprising gift of salvation that He offers freely to you today.
Amazing thought! that God in flesh
Would take my place and bear my sin;
That I, a guilty, death-doomed soul,
Eternal life might win! —Anon.
God broke into human history to offer us the gift of eternal life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 31, 2011
The Trial of Faith
If you have faith as a mustard seed . . . nothing will be impossible for you —Matthew 17:20
We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Undelivered Messages - #6471
Undelivered Messages - #6471
Monday, October 31, 2011
When I walk in the door at our house, I'm often greeted by a lot of phone messages. And sometimes I don't get the messages. That's frustrating! I mean, it depends on who takes the message, how busy they are when the phone message comes in, what there is to write with, what there is to write on, and of course you can also depend on where it gets set down, and also what gets set down on top of it. I used to shudder when someone called me and said, "You know, I tried to reach you a couple of times." And I'd say, "Well, I didn't get the message." "Well, I left one." And then they'd say, "No problem. It's too late now." Great! That usually led to a, shall we say warm conversation with somebody in my family. I mean, after all, you expect messages to be delivered.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Undelivered Messages."
God is trying to send us a message. He's been calling and somehow it's not getting delivered. And we are the ones who are misplacing it somewhere. The message? Oh, our word for today from the Word of God, John 16:8: "When the comforter (that's the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." Now, right here we're told the three messages God wants the world to get. When the Holy Spirit comes, these are the messages He'll be leaving, just like those phone messages for me.
One is the seriousness of sin. The second one is the priority of righteous living, and the third is the reality of judgment. God's three messages: sin, righteous living, and judgment. Now, if you have heard a lot of messages about these subjects, well, you might be in the minority, because we don't talk too much about that part of the Christian message. Oh, we like messages about God's love, and how He'll always forgive us, and He'll accept us no matter what, and our self-worth. And that's all part of the Christian Gospel.
But it isn't all warm, fuzzy and cozy. There are some life-saving messages that someone's not delivering. And if we don't do it, no one will. We are the only ones with the truth. The Holy Spirit's messages about sin - are we delivering it? Sin isn't just mistakes, or "I have a weakness," or personal preferences, or poor judgment. Sin is a direct violation of the laws of a Holy God.
Teenagers aren't "sexually active"; they're sinning the sin of fornication--immorality. They're defiling God's beautiful gift. Men and women aren't having "affairs." They're committing adultery. Lying is lying. Gossip is gossip. We don't help people when we pull punches on the ugliness of rebelling against God.
Secondly, the message is righteousness--not a cool buttoned-down Christianity, but passion and purity. Not just the privileges of the Gospel, but the demands of it. We need to measure how we're doing by the character of Jesus, not by comparing ourselves with the world around us or even the Christians around us.
And the third message that the Holy Spirit is delivering to the world is judgment. The bill does come. There is a place called hell where people are separated from God because they sinned and they did not receive our Christ. If Christians are silent, no one will ever know. We are charged to deliver this message to our children, to our friends, and all the people we minister to. God has called and He's left us a destiny message. It's in your care. Be sure it gets delivered.
I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. Genesis 26:24, NKJV
Hope is not what you expect; it’s what you would never dream… It’s Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see not his grandson, but his son…
Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no, it’s far greater than that. It’s a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks and be there in the flesh to see our reaction.
1 Samuel 26
David Again Spares Saul’s Life
1 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”
2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David. 3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, 4 he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.
5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.
6 David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”
“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.
7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the LORD lives,” he said, “the LORD himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”
12 So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the LORD had put them into a deep sleep.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them. 14 He called out to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Aren’t you going to answer me, Abner?”
Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?”
15 David said, “You’re a man, aren’t you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn’t you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. 16 What you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, you and your men must die, because you did not guard your master, the LORD’s anointed. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”
17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice, David my son?”
David replied, “Yes it is, my lord the king.” 18 And he added, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong am I guilty of? 19 Now let my lord the king listen to his servant’s words. If the LORD has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. If, however, people have done it, may they be cursed before the LORD! They have driven me today from my share in the LORD’s inheritance and have said, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea—as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong.”
22 “Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The LORD rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness. The LORD delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. 24 As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble.”
25 Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, David my son; you will do great things and surely triumph.”
So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 1:6-13
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Surprise!
October 31, 2011 — by C. P. Hia
Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! —John 1:29
A writer for The Washington Post conducted an experiment to test people’s perception. He asked a famous violinist to perform incognito at a train station in the nation’s capital one January morning. Thousands of people walked by as he played, but only a few stopped to listen. After 45 minutes, just $32 had been dropped into the virtuoso’s open violin case. Two days earlier, this man—Joshua Bell—had used the same $3.5 million Stradivarius for a sold-out concert where people paid $100 a seat to hear him perform.
The idea of a person not being recognized for his greatness isn’t new. It happened to Jesus. “He was in the world,” John said, “. . . and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10). Why did people who had been expecting the Messiah give Jesus such a cold reception? One reason is that they were surprised. Just as people today don’t expect famous musicians to play in railway stations, the people in Jesus’ day didn’t expect Messiah to be born in a stable. They also expected Him to be a political king—not the head of a spiritual kingdom.
The people in the first century were blinded to God’s purpose in sending Jesus to this world. He came to save people from their sins (John 1:29). Receive God’s surprising gift of salvation that He offers freely to you today.
Amazing thought! that God in flesh
Would take my place and bear my sin;
That I, a guilty, death-doomed soul,
Eternal life might win! —Anon.
God broke into human history to offer us the gift of eternal life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 31, 2011
The Trial of Faith
If you have faith as a mustard seed . . . nothing will be impossible for you —Matthew 17:20
We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Undelivered Messages - #6471
Undelivered Messages - #6471
Monday, October 31, 2011
When I walk in the door at our house, I'm often greeted by a lot of phone messages. And sometimes I don't get the messages. That's frustrating! I mean, it depends on who takes the message, how busy they are when the phone message comes in, what there is to write with, what there is to write on, and of course you can also depend on where it gets set down, and also what gets set down on top of it. I used to shudder when someone called me and said, "You know, I tried to reach you a couple of times." And I'd say, "Well, I didn't get the message." "Well, I left one." And then they'd say, "No problem. It's too late now." Great! That usually led to a, shall we say warm conversation with somebody in my family. I mean, after all, you expect messages to be delivered.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Undelivered Messages."
God is trying to send us a message. He's been calling and somehow it's not getting delivered. And we are the ones who are misplacing it somewhere. The message? Oh, our word for today from the Word of God, John 16:8: "When the comforter (that's the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." Now, right here we're told the three messages God wants the world to get. When the Holy Spirit comes, these are the messages He'll be leaving, just like those phone messages for me.
One is the seriousness of sin. The second one is the priority of righteous living, and the third is the reality of judgment. God's three messages: sin, righteous living, and judgment. Now, if you have heard a lot of messages about these subjects, well, you might be in the minority, because we don't talk too much about that part of the Christian message. Oh, we like messages about God's love, and how He'll always forgive us, and He'll accept us no matter what, and our self-worth. And that's all part of the Christian Gospel.
But it isn't all warm, fuzzy and cozy. There are some life-saving messages that someone's not delivering. And if we don't do it, no one will. We are the only ones with the truth. The Holy Spirit's messages about sin - are we delivering it? Sin isn't just mistakes, or "I have a weakness," or personal preferences, or poor judgment. Sin is a direct violation of the laws of a Holy God.
Teenagers aren't "sexually active"; they're sinning the sin of fornication--immorality. They're defiling God's beautiful gift. Men and women aren't having "affairs." They're committing adultery. Lying is lying. Gossip is gossip. We don't help people when we pull punches on the ugliness of rebelling against God.
Secondly, the message is righteousness--not a cool buttoned-down Christianity, but passion and purity. Not just the privileges of the Gospel, but the demands of it. We need to measure how we're doing by the character of Jesus, not by comparing ourselves with the world around us or even the Christians around us.
And the third message that the Holy Spirit is delivering to the world is judgment. The bill does come. There is a place called hell where people are separated from God because they sinned and they did not receive our Christ. If Christians are silent, no one will ever know. We are charged to deliver this message to our children, to our friends, and all the people we minister to. God has called and He's left us a destiny message. It's in your care. Be sure it gets delivered.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
1 Samuel 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: God Speaks
“Speak, Lord. I am your servant and I am listening.” I Samuel 3:9
We expect God to speak through peace, but sometimes he speaks through pain…
We think we hear him in the sunrise, but he is also heard in the darkness.
We listen for him in triumph, but he speaks even more distinctly through tragedy.
1 Samuel 25
David, Nabal and Abigail
1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.[c]
2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.
4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. 5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. 6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
7 “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. 8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’”
9 When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.
10 Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”
12 David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. 13 David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
14 One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”
18 Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs[d] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20 As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. 21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. 22 May God deal with David,[e] be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the LORD your God lives and as you live, since the LORD has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.
28 “Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The LORD your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the LORD’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the LORD has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.”
32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”
35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”
36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”
Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. 40 His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”
41 She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. 43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives. 44 But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel[f] son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 8:37-47
37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.[a]”
39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would[b] do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Father Of Lies
October 30, 2011 — by Joe Stowell
When [the devil] speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. —John 8:44
Satan’s sway over mankind began when he turned the minds of Adam and Eve against God. In order to pull it off, he had to lie to them about God—and they had to fall for it. In that defining moment, he lied to them about God’s goodness, God’s Word, and God’s intentions (Gen. 3:1-6).
Satan is still up to his old tricks. Jesus said that when the devil “speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar” (John 8:44). It should not be surprising, then, that when trouble interrupts our lives, the father of lies whispers in our ears and suddenly we are questioning God’s goodness. When we are told to follow His commands, we wonder if His Word is really true in the first place. When Jesus tells us things like, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matt. 6:19), Satan tells us that the good life is about piling up things here, causing us to doubt God’s good intentions.
Our problem is that we, like Adam and Eve, believe Satan’s lies. And when we do, our loyalty to God is compromised. Then our enemy slithers off to his next assignment, leaving us alone to face our regrets and the realization that his lies have seduced us away from our truest and dearest Friend. Who have you been listening to lately?
Satan can catch you by surprise
And stop you in your tracks,
So keep on guard and trust God’s Word,
Resist his strong attacks. —Branon
The power of Satan is no match for the power of God’s Word.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please Him . . . —Hebrews 11:6
Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good . . .” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
“Speak, Lord. I am your servant and I am listening.” I Samuel 3:9
We expect God to speak through peace, but sometimes he speaks through pain…
We think we hear him in the sunrise, but he is also heard in the darkness.
We listen for him in triumph, but he speaks even more distinctly through tragedy.
1 Samuel 25
David, Nabal and Abigail
1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.[c]
2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.
4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. 5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. 6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
7 “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. 8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’”
9 When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.
10 Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”
12 David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. 13 David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
14 One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”
18 Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs[d] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20 As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. 21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. 22 May God deal with David,[e] be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the LORD your God lives and as you live, since the LORD has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.
28 “Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The LORD your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the LORD’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the LORD has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.”
32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”
35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”
36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”
Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. 40 His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”
41 She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. 43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives. 44 But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel[f] son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 8:37-47
37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.[a]”
39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would[b] do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Father Of Lies
October 30, 2011 — by Joe Stowell
When [the devil] speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. —John 8:44
Satan’s sway over mankind began when he turned the minds of Adam and Eve against God. In order to pull it off, he had to lie to them about God—and they had to fall for it. In that defining moment, he lied to them about God’s goodness, God’s Word, and God’s intentions (Gen. 3:1-6).
Satan is still up to his old tricks. Jesus said that when the devil “speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar” (John 8:44). It should not be surprising, then, that when trouble interrupts our lives, the father of lies whispers in our ears and suddenly we are questioning God’s goodness. When we are told to follow His commands, we wonder if His Word is really true in the first place. When Jesus tells us things like, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matt. 6:19), Satan tells us that the good life is about piling up things here, causing us to doubt God’s good intentions.
Our problem is that we, like Adam and Eve, believe Satan’s lies. And when we do, our loyalty to God is compromised. Then our enemy slithers off to his next assignment, leaving us alone to face our regrets and the realization that his lies have seduced us away from our truest and dearest Friend. Who have you been listening to lately?
Satan can catch you by surprise
And stop you in your tracks,
So keep on guard and trust God’s Word,
Resist his strong attacks. —Branon
The power of Satan is no match for the power of God’s Word.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please Him . . . —Hebrews 11:6
Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good . . .” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
1 Samuel 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: God Came Near
We are eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16, RSV
God came near. To be seen.
And ... those who saw him were never the same. “We saw his glory” exclaimed one follower. “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty,” whispered a martyr…
Christianity, in its purest form, is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating him whom we see.
1 Samuel 24
David Spares Saul’s Life
1 [a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.
14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the LORD be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”
16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the LORD delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the LORD that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 22:34-39; 28:16-20
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The Right Ingredients
Always be ready to give a defense . . . with meekness. —1 Peter 3:15
Although my culinary skills remain undeveloped, occasionally I use a box of premixed ingredients to make a cake. After adding eggs, vegetable oil, and water, I stir it all together. To bake a palate-pleasing cake, it’s vital to have the correct balance of the right ingredients. That helps me picture the relationship of the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:36-38) and the Great Commission (28:19-20) as we spread the gospel.
When Jesus told His followers to go and make disciples of all nations, He did not give them permission to be rude and uncaring as they did so. His own citing of the “first and great commandment”—to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind—was quickly followed by the call to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-39). Throughout the New Testament, we find this model of compassionate, respectful living restated many places, including “the love chapter” (1 Cor. 13) and Peter’s instruction to give a reason for the hope within us “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).
In our eagerness to share Christ with others, we must always include a healthy balance of those two ingredients—the true gospel and godly love. This wonderfully sweet cake bakes best in the warmth of God’s love.
Lord, help me to love with both words and deeds,
To reach out to sinners and meet their needs;
Lord, burden my heart for those lost in sin,
With mercy and love that flows from within. —Fitzhugh
They witness best who witness with their lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Substitution
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him —2 Corinthians 5:21
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made. . . to be sin. . . .” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9 , where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (seeGalatians 4:19).
We are eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16, RSV
God came near. To be seen.
And ... those who saw him were never the same. “We saw his glory” exclaimed one follower. “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty,” whispered a martyr…
Christianity, in its purest form, is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating him whom we see.
1 Samuel 24
David Spares Saul’s Life
1 [a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.
14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the LORD be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”
16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the LORD delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the LORD that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 22:34-39; 28:16-20
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The Right Ingredients
Always be ready to give a defense . . . with meekness. —1 Peter 3:15
Although my culinary skills remain undeveloped, occasionally I use a box of premixed ingredients to make a cake. After adding eggs, vegetable oil, and water, I stir it all together. To bake a palate-pleasing cake, it’s vital to have the correct balance of the right ingredients. That helps me picture the relationship of the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:36-38) and the Great Commission (28:19-20) as we spread the gospel.
When Jesus told His followers to go and make disciples of all nations, He did not give them permission to be rude and uncaring as they did so. His own citing of the “first and great commandment”—to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind—was quickly followed by the call to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-39). Throughout the New Testament, we find this model of compassionate, respectful living restated many places, including “the love chapter” (1 Cor. 13) and Peter’s instruction to give a reason for the hope within us “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).
In our eagerness to share Christ with others, we must always include a healthy balance of those two ingredients—the true gospel and godly love. This wonderfully sweet cake bakes best in the warmth of God’s love.
Lord, help me to love with both words and deeds,
To reach out to sinners and meet their needs;
Lord, burden my heart for those lost in sin,
With mercy and love that flows from within. —Fitzhugh
They witness best who witness with their lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Substitution
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him —2 Corinthians 5:21
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made. . . to be sin. . . .” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9 , where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (seeGalatians 4:19).
Friday, October 28, 2011
Psalm 63, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: Ambition
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. Job 28:28, NKJV
Ambition is that grit in the soul that creates disenchantment with the ordinary and puts the dare into dreams.
But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige; a roaring hunger for achievement that devours people as a lion devours an animal, leaving behind only the skeletal remains of relationships ...
God won’t tolerate it.
Psalm 63[a]
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Leviticus 19:11-18
11 “‘Do not steal.
“‘Do not lie.
“‘Do not deceive one another.
12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.
14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.
15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD.
17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.
18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Zero Tolerance
October 27, 2011 — by Marvin Williams
You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people. —Leviticus 19:16
When Shayla McKnight applied for a job for an online printing company, she was surprised to learn that they had a zero-tolerance policy for gossip. The employees are encouraged to confront one another, instead of gossip about their fellow employees. If employees are caught gossiping, they are reprimanded, and if they continue, they are fired.
Long before this kind of policy was ever implemented by a company, God spoke of His own zero-tolerance policy for gossip and slander among His people (Lev. 19:16). Idle talk that foolishly or maliciously spreads rumors or facts about another person was forbidden.
Solomon said that speaking badly of others could have disastrous effects. It betrays confidence (Prov. 11:13), separates close friends (16:28; 17:9), shames and saddles you with a bad reputation (25:9-10), and perpetually fuels the embers of a quarrel (26:20-22). People rarely can undo the damage their untrue words have done to a neighbor.
Let’s ask the Lord to help us not to engage in harmful talk about others. He wants us to set a guard over our mouths so that we’ll instead speak all the good we know about everybody.
Many things that others say
Are not for us to tell;
Help us, Lord, to watch our tongue—
We need to guard it well. —Branon
Destroy gossip by ignoring it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Method of Missions
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . —Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go . . . make disciples of all the nations . . . .” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me . . . . Gotherefore. . .” (Matthew 28:18-19).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Big Men, Big Mistakes - #6469
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wait! I thought Humpty Dumpty was just a nursery rhyme. You know, the big egg who sat on a wall, but had a great fall. Turns out he's got a lot of company these days--sitting on a high wall, and smashed by a big fall.
Take one of the world's most powerful financial figures, for example, in a $3,000-a-night Manhattan hotel suite one night, and then the next night, in a tough New York jail. He stood accused of serious sexual violation of a hotel maid. Now, those accusations had to be proven in court, but they did resonate with a reputation for mixing power with sexual aggression.
But then that story isn't what we want to focus on. That's just the latest of many high-profile stories of a powerful man who has taken a precipitous Dumpty crash. You can think about athletes, politicians, financial high-rollers, yeah, and even prominent men in ministry.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Big Men, Big Mistakes."
Now, at the root is a time-bomb mindset identified by a man who knows this scenario all too well--Tiger Woods. After his darkest secrets spilled out of the closets for all the world to see, here's what he said: "I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I felt I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me." Now, listen to this key word: "I felt I was entitled."
Entitlement: that's the gateway to moral disaster. "My position means the rules don't apply to me. I have a right to go out of bounds." You know, in 2 Chronicles 26:16, our word for today from the Word of God, The Jewish king Uzziah had led his nation to a new pinnacle of greatness, all the while, he was deeply reliant on God until it says, "He became successful" and "pride became his downfall." He walked into the temple and began to take privileges that God had clearly given only to His priests. And like Icarus flying too close to the sun, Uzziah came crashing down.
Even the great King David must have felt that he'd won so many victories and done so much good that, well; he was entitled to sex with the wife of a trusted friend. His life was never the same.
It's just all too easy to succumb to that feeling of entitlement. Some feel entitled because of the position they've achieved, or some because of the pressures they face. "If you only knew what I'm going through." Some because of the pain they're going through. It can be a high-flying leader, a lonely wife, a much-loved pastor, or a very busy, very tired man. Entitled to some relief, some attention, some affection, some stolen pleasure, some reward, a spiritual "day off." And it is those detours at Entitlement Junction where lives and families and reputations and ministries are ripped apart.
God really is "no respecter of persons." And, as Warren Wiersbe says, "A lifetime of obedience will not buy you one hour of disobedience." Just ask King David.
God's made it clear "your sin will find you out." He loves you too much to let you keep getting away with what will ultimately destroy you. We have to build our walls high around the places where we're vulnerable. And fall to our knees in repentance where we've strayed out of bounds before any more damage is done.
Sins of entitlement are not just some harmless "three-hour tour." They're a surging tide that will carry you and those you love right onto the rocks.
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. Job 28:28, NKJV
Ambition is that grit in the soul that creates disenchantment with the ordinary and puts the dare into dreams.
But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige; a roaring hunger for achievement that devours people as a lion devours an animal, leaving behind only the skeletal remains of relationships ...
God won’t tolerate it.
Psalm 63[a]
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Leviticus 19:11-18
11 “‘Do not steal.
“‘Do not lie.
“‘Do not deceive one another.
12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.
14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.
15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD.
17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.
18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Zero Tolerance
October 27, 2011 — by Marvin Williams
You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people. —Leviticus 19:16
When Shayla McKnight applied for a job for an online printing company, she was surprised to learn that they had a zero-tolerance policy for gossip. The employees are encouraged to confront one another, instead of gossip about their fellow employees. If employees are caught gossiping, they are reprimanded, and if they continue, they are fired.
Long before this kind of policy was ever implemented by a company, God spoke of His own zero-tolerance policy for gossip and slander among His people (Lev. 19:16). Idle talk that foolishly or maliciously spreads rumors or facts about another person was forbidden.
Solomon said that speaking badly of others could have disastrous effects. It betrays confidence (Prov. 11:13), separates close friends (16:28; 17:9), shames and saddles you with a bad reputation (25:9-10), and perpetually fuels the embers of a quarrel (26:20-22). People rarely can undo the damage their untrue words have done to a neighbor.
Let’s ask the Lord to help us not to engage in harmful talk about others. He wants us to set a guard over our mouths so that we’ll instead speak all the good we know about everybody.
Many things that others say
Are not for us to tell;
Help us, Lord, to watch our tongue—
We need to guard it well. —Branon
Destroy gossip by ignoring it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Method of Missions
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . —Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go . . . make disciples of all the nations . . . .” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me . . . . Gotherefore. . .” (Matthew 28:18-19).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Big Men, Big Mistakes - #6469
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wait! I thought Humpty Dumpty was just a nursery rhyme. You know, the big egg who sat on a wall, but had a great fall. Turns out he's got a lot of company these days--sitting on a high wall, and smashed by a big fall.
Take one of the world's most powerful financial figures, for example, in a $3,000-a-night Manhattan hotel suite one night, and then the next night, in a tough New York jail. He stood accused of serious sexual violation of a hotel maid. Now, those accusations had to be proven in court, but they did resonate with a reputation for mixing power with sexual aggression.
But then that story isn't what we want to focus on. That's just the latest of many high-profile stories of a powerful man who has taken a precipitous Dumpty crash. You can think about athletes, politicians, financial high-rollers, yeah, and even prominent men in ministry.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Big Men, Big Mistakes."
Now, at the root is a time-bomb mindset identified by a man who knows this scenario all too well--Tiger Woods. After his darkest secrets spilled out of the closets for all the world to see, here's what he said: "I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I felt I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me." Now, listen to this key word: "I felt I was entitled."
Entitlement: that's the gateway to moral disaster. "My position means the rules don't apply to me. I have a right to go out of bounds." You know, in 2 Chronicles 26:16, our word for today from the Word of God, The Jewish king Uzziah had led his nation to a new pinnacle of greatness, all the while, he was deeply reliant on God until it says, "He became successful" and "pride became his downfall." He walked into the temple and began to take privileges that God had clearly given only to His priests. And like Icarus flying too close to the sun, Uzziah came crashing down.
Even the great King David must have felt that he'd won so many victories and done so much good that, well; he was entitled to sex with the wife of a trusted friend. His life was never the same.
It's just all too easy to succumb to that feeling of entitlement. Some feel entitled because of the position they've achieved, or some because of the pressures they face. "If you only knew what I'm going through." Some because of the pain they're going through. It can be a high-flying leader, a lonely wife, a much-loved pastor, or a very busy, very tired man. Entitled to some relief, some attention, some affection, some stolen pleasure, some reward, a spiritual "day off." And it is those detours at Entitlement Junction where lives and families and reputations and ministries are ripped apart.
God really is "no respecter of persons." And, as Warren Wiersbe says, "A lifetime of obedience will not buy you one hour of disobedience." Just ask King David.
God's made it clear "your sin will find you out." He loves you too much to let you keep getting away with what will ultimately destroy you. We have to build our walls high around the places where we're vulnerable. And fall to our knees in repentance where we've strayed out of bounds before any more damage is done.
Sins of entitlement are not just some harmless "three-hour tour." They're a surging tide that will carry you and those you love right onto the rocks.
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