Amos 9 bible reading and devotionals.

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Max Lucado Daily: Our Next Door Savior

“We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1 NASB

Even in heaven, Christ remains our next door Savior . . . The King of the universe commands comets with a human tongue and directs celestial traffic with a human hand. Still human. Still divine. Living forever through his two natures . . .

The hands that blessed the bread of the boy now bless the prayers of the millions . . . You know what that means? The greatest force in the cosmos understands and intercedes for you.

Amos 9

Israel to Be Destroyed

9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.
2 Though they dig down to the depths below,
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,
    from there I will bring them down.
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,
    there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword to slay them.
“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm and not for good. ”
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;
6 he builds his lofty palace[f] in the heavens
    and sets its foundation[g] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.
7 “Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites[h]?”
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines from Caphtor[i]
    and the Arameans from Kir?
8 “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people
    will die by the sword,
all those who say,
    ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’
Israel’s Restoration

11 “In that day

“I will restore David’s fallen shelter —
    I will repair its broken walls
    and restore its ruins —
    and will rebuild it as it used to be,
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom
    and all the nations that bear my name,[j] ”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.
13 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman
    and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,
14     and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.[k]
“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant Israel in their own land,
    never again to be uprooted
    from the land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Romans 15:22-33

22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Surrounded By Prayer

July 22, 2012 — by Anne Cetas

Now I beg you, brethren, . . . that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me. —Romans 15:30

My friend Melissa’s 9-year-old daughter Sydnie was in the hospital for chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant when I had a dream about her. I dreamed she was staying in a central room at the hospital with her parents. Surrounding her room was a block of other rooms where family and friends were staying and continually praying for her during her times of treatment.

In real life, Sydnie wasn’t physically surrounded by family and friends in adjacent rooms. But spiritually speaking, she was and is surrounded by prayer and love.

The apostle Paul seemed to have a desire to be surrounded by prayer. In most of his letters to churches, he requested to be remembered in prayer to the Lord (2 Cor. 1:11; Eph. 6:18-20; Col. 4:2-4; Philem. 1:22). To the believers in Rome, he wrote, “Now I beg you, brethren, . . . that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me” (Rom. 15:30). He knew that he could not be effective in his service for God without His power.

The Bible tells us that Jesus also prays for us (John 17:20; Heb. 7:25), as does the Holy Spirit, whose prayers are according to the will of God (Rom. 8:27). What a comfort to be surrounded by prayer!

We give to those we hold most dear
No greater help and care
Than when we give them to the Lord,
Surrounding them with prayer. —D. De Haan
Prayer prompted by the Holy Spirit is powerful.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 22, 2012

Sanctification (1)

This is the will of God, your sanctification. . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3

The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ. When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . his own life . . . he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).

In the process of sanctification, the Spirit of God will strip me down until there is nothing left but myself, and that is the place of death. Am I willing to be myself and nothing more? Am I willing to have no friends, no father, no brother, and no self-interest— simply to be ready for death? That is the condition required for sanctification. No wonder Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us falter. We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ on this point. We say, “But this is so strict. Surely He does not require that of me.” Our Lord is strict, and He does require that of us.

Am I willing to reduce myself down to simply “me”? Am I determined enough to strip myself of all that my friends think of me, and all that I think of myself? Am I willing and determined to hand over my simple naked self to God? Once I am, He will immediately sanctify me completely, and my life will be free from being determined and persistent toward anything except God (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

When I pray, “Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,” He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me (see 1 Corinthians 1:30).

Amos 8 bible reading and devotionals.

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Max Lucado Daily: Adopted

“Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him, keep his commands, and obey him.” Deuteronomy 13:4

Christ’s kingdom is . . . a kingdom where membership is granted, not purchased. You are placed into God’s kingdom. You are “adopted.” And this occurs not when you do enough, but when you simply admit you can’t do enough. You don’t earn it; you simply accept it. As a result, you serve, not out of arrogance or fear, but out of gratitude.

Amos 8

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos? ” he asked.

“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[d] Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence! ”

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,

“When will the New Moon be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market wheat?” —
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating with dishonest scales,
6 buying the poor with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.

8 “Will not the land tremble for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth
    and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son
    and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.
13 “In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men
    will faint because of thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria —
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’
    or, ‘As surely as the god[e] of Beersheba lives’—
    they will fall, never to rise again. ”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Hebrews 13:1-8

Concluding Exhortations

13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”[a]
6 So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Abide With Me

July 21, 2012 — by Bill Crowder

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” —Hebrews 13:5

One of the highlights of English football (soccer) each year is the final match of the annual FA Cup Final. For more than a hundred years, the day has been marked by excitement, festivity, and competition. But what fascinates me is how the game begins. It starts with the singing of the traditional hymn “Abide With Me.”

At first that struck me as odd. What does that hymn have to do with football? As I thought about it, though, I realized that for the follower of Christ it has everything to do with sports, shopping, working, going to school, or anything else we do. Since there is no corner of our lives that should not be affected by the presence of God, the longing that He would abide with us is actually the most reasonable thing we could desire. Of course, the presence of our heavenly Father is not something we need to plead for—it is promised to us. In Hebrews 13:5, we read, “For [God] Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

Not only is God’s presence the key to our contentment, but it is also the promise that can give us wisdom, peace, comfort, and strength—no matter where we are or what we are doing.

Thank You, Lord, for walking with us every day.
You are our guardian, friend, and guide.
May we sense Your loving presence and always
know that You are close by our side. Amen.
Our greatest privilege is to enjoy Christ’s presence.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 21, 2012

The Doorway to the Kingdom

Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . —Matthew 5:3

Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be— to be “pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to despair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach— He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in the natural man— exactly what Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.” Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you . . .” (Matthew 5:11). This is the doorway to the kingdom, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the proper place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work.

Amos 7 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com: God is Enough

Let’s face it–anxiety or worry have no advantages!  They ruin our health, rob us of joy, and change nothing!  Our day stands no chance against the terrorists of the Land of Anxiety.

But Christ offers a worry-bazooka.  Remember how He taught us to pray?  “Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11”  This simple sentence unveils God’s provision plan:  live one day at a time.

Worry gives small problems big shadows.  Corrie ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.”   And Romans 8:28 affirms: “Every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

Most anxiety stems, not from what we need, but from what we want.  Philippians 4:4 says, “delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in Him at all times!”

If God is enough, you’ll always have enough!

From Great Day Every Day

Amos 7

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small! ”

3 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.

4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small! ”

6 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.

7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[a] with a plumb line[b] in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos? ”

“A plumb line, ” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam. ”
Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom. ”

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land. ’”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 21:15-19

Jesus Reinstates Peter

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Blunders To Wonders

July 20, 2012 — by Julie Ackerman Link

Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored. —Lamentations 5:21

Artist James Hubbell says, “Mistakes are gifts.” Whenever he’s working on a project and something goes wrong, he doesn’t start over. He looks for a way to use the mistake to make something better. None of us can avoid making blunders, and all of us have favorite ways of dealing with them. We may try to hide them or to correct them or to apologize for them.

We do that with our sin sometimes too. But God doesn’t throw us away and start over. He redeems us and makes us better.

The apostle Peter tended to do and say whatever seemed best at the moment. He has been referred to as an “impetuous blunderer.” In his fear after Jesus was arrested, Peter claimed three times that he didn’t know Jesus! Yet later, on the basis of Peter’s three declarations of love, Jesus turned Peter’s humiliating denial into a wonderful occasion of restoration (John 21). Despite Peter’s flawed past, Jesus restored him to ministry with these words: “Feed My sheep” (v.17).

If you have made a “blunder” so big that it seems irreversible, the most important matter is whether you love Jesus. When we love Him, Jesus can turn our most serious blunders into awesome wonders.

Lord, I’m so human and make foolish mistakes.
And worse yet, I willfully sin against You.
Please forgive me, change me, restore me,
and use me for Your name’s sake. Amen.
God can change our blunders into wonders.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 20, 2012



Dependent on God’s Presence

Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint —Isaiah 40:31

There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:35-36). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).

When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.

Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though . . .” (Psalm 46:2)— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Controlling or Being Controlled - #6660

Friday, July 20, 2012

They tell me that a dog is man's best friend. I hope so, because if you have one of those best friends you get to go for a walk with him very, very often, right? I mean, it's nice to have a walk with your best friend. Of course, you often see folks in our neighborhood walking their dog, and occasionally you see a humorous variation on the old theme of a man walking his dog.

There's this very big dog and this not so big person, and you see the owner desperately trying to control and keep up with his dog. It's a great picture. You chuckle to yourself and you think, "Oh, look at that dog walking the man!" It's kind of backwards. I mean, it's funny to see a person being led by something that they're supposed to be leading, right? Or is it?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Controlling or Being Controlled."

Our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. It's about controlling or being controlled; the issue Paul's writing about. He says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training; they do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Now, Paul is, of course, giving us an Olympic picture here, and what he's really saying is that a champion cannot let his body walk him like that man had the big dog taking him for a walk. You've got to control your body. I watched my son at football practice, and the coaches, man, they put them through the ringer. Why? They wanted the players to learn that when your body feels like quitting, you've got to keep going. You don't stop at the first sign of fatigue or pain, "Oh, I hurt. I'm going to quit." You've got to train your body so you control it and it doesn't control you.

That means that if you're a champion, you keep going even if you don't feel like it. It means you don't necessarily eat whatever you want. You don't quit when you feel like quitting; you don't indulge yourself. Now, if you and I are going to be spiritual champions, we've got to stop letting our body call the shots, and too often we do. We have an appetite to eat, so we do. We have a lustful desire; we let it wreak havoc in our soul. We don't exercise to protect that temple of God; the place where God lives - this body, because we don't have time and we don't feel like it. We're letting our body make the decisions.

In his book The Christian Response, Michel Quoist says, "If your body makes all the decisions and gives all the orders, and if you obey the physical, you can effectively destroy every other dimension of your personality." Wow! Over 200 years ago, Susanna Wesley, John Wesley's mother, said, "Whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind - that is sin to you."

We're going to have to learn championship techniques here, to deny our appetites and desires, and to exercise daily practices of saying "no" to your body. Look, has your body been walking you? It's time to get control again. There's an important spiritual reason for passing up that food I don't need, the drink I should never use, the sexual flirtations I should avoid. My body uncontrolled will wage war against my soul!

"Lord, once again, become the lord of my body." Say to Him, "Lord, I've been on the wrong end of this leash long enough."

Galatians 1 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Max Lucado Daily :Lavish Grace

Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Worry is falling short on faith.  Impatience is falling short on kindness.  The critical spirit falls short on love.

So, how often do you sin, hmm… in an hour?  For the sake of discussion, let’s say ten times an hour.  Ten sins an hour, times sixteen waking hours, times 365 days a year, times the average life span of 74 years.  I’m rounding the total off to 4,300,000 sins per person!  How do you plan to pay God for your 4.3 million sin increments?  You’re swimming in an ocean of debt.

But God pardons the zillion sins of selfish humanity.  He forgives sixty million sin-filled days.  He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be.  And He did it by the grace of Jesus Christ.

From Great Day Every Day

Galatians 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle —sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead — 2 and all the brothers and sisters[a] with me,

To the churches in Galatia:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul Called by God

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas[b] and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Matthew 23:23-31

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Dorian Gray

July 19, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of . . . all uncleanness. —Matthew 23:27

The Victorian novel The Picture of Dorian Gray illustrates how the person we project to others may be very different from who we are on the inside. After the youthful and handsome Dorian Gray had his portrait painted, he dreaded the prospect of growing old, and he wished the portrait would grow old in his place.

Soon he realized that his wish had been granted. The portrait, which mirrored his troubled soul, aged and became more hideous with each sin Dorian committed, while he himself remained youthful. His outward appearance did not match his corrupted heart.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for displaying a similar hypocrisy. Many of them took pride in showing off their spirituality in public. Yet on the inside, they were guilty of many secret sins. Because of this, Jesus compared them to “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of . . . all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27).

We are tempted to cultivate a false image for others to see. But God knows our hearts (1 Sam. 16:7; Prov. 15:3). Through confession and prayerfully opening our hearts to God’s Word and the work of the Spirit, we can experience an inner goodness that is reflected in godly actions. Let God transform you from the inside out (2 Cor. 3:17-18).

Father, it’s easy to put up a front and hide
from the public what we are really like. We’re
grateful that we cannot hide from You. You
know us. Please change us inside and out.
Only Christ can transform us.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 19, 2012

The Submission of the Believer

You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13

Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.” No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It is a complete and effective domination, in which I acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord . . .” (Revelation 4:11). It is simply the unworthiness within me that refuses to bow down or to submit to one who is worthy. When I meet someone who is more holy than myself, and I don’t recognize his worthiness, nor obey his instructions for me, it is a sign of my own unworthiness being revealed. God teaches us by using these people who are a little better than we are; not better intellectually, but more holy. And He continues to do so until we willingly submit. Then the whole attitude of our life is one of obedience to Him.

If our Lord insisted on our obedience, He would simply become a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we truly see Him we will instantly obey Him. Then He is easily Lord of our life, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The level of my growth in grace is revealed by the way I look at obedience. We should have a much higher view of the word obedience, rescuing it from the mire of the world. Obedience is only possible between people who are equals in their relationship to each other; like the relationship between father and son, not that between master and servant. Jesus showed this relationship by saying, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). The Son was obedient as our Redeemer, because He was the Son, not in order to become God’s Son.



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

First, Breathe It Yourself - #6659

Thursday, July 19, 2012

If the flight attendant were ever to become incapacitated on a flight I'm on while she's giving those safety instructions, I think I'd be able to step right up and take over! I mean, I know the routine by heart after hearing it so many times over the years.

Of course those flight instructions are more interesting with the video they supply. I like the part where the little yellow oxygen mask drops down and they show you what to do if the cabin pressure suddenly goes down. I've noticed in the dramatization that the people are wonderfully calm. Have you ever noticed that? No one is screaming, no one's yelling, "We're going to crash!"

But no problem; they're calm as they quietly put on their masks. But that's good. And the video shows a mother putting the mask on herself first, and then reaching over and giving it to her little girl and affixing it to her mouth. Well, the instructions go like this, "If the cabin pressure drops, put the oxygen on your face first, and then even though you might want to take care of your child first, take care of yourself so you're strong enough to help them." To give a child breath, you first have to take a breath of your own.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "First, Breathe It Yourself."

I hear from a lot of parents something like this, "My son or daughter is having a serious problem, Ron. Could you help my child?" In essence they're saying, "Could you help me get the mask on them? They need some oxygen; they need some help, and I need to get that mask on them." You know, many times the child's weakness or problem turns out to be a mirror of the parents' weakness or problem.

Our word for today from the Word of God talks about family sins that are these ugly hand-me-downs that grandfathers have, then the father learns to have it, and then his son learns to act that way. Then there's hope. Listen, 1 Peter 1:18 - "You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers with the precious blood of Christ."

Empty ways of life have been passed from generation to generation. Every family has them, and those family sins continue from generation to generation. Maybe you see a harsh, critical tongue or spirit developing in them, and you hate it because you look in the mirror and you know you've got it. Maybe they've got an addictive personality or they've got a tendency to cheat on the truth, and it's the problem that frustrates you in yourself. And now it's mirrored in them.

The good news in this verse is the words, "You were redeemed." You can break that cycle; it doesn't have to be the way it's always been. But you've got to take the oxygen for yourself first. You've got to be redeemed from that empty way of life. You can't help your child with that problem until you have breathed the oxygen.

You need to turn Jesus Christ loose on that besetting sin; that family sin. Begin to win some daily victories. And if you lose one day, then just let it be one day. Make a daily rebound. And try acknowledging your struggle with that weakness to your family; ask for their prayers; let them know that you know you shouldn't be that way. Ask for their help. And then you can say, "You know, I think you may be struggling and having a hard time breathing in the same area I am, and it's probably because you learned it from me. Here, breathe what I'm breathing - the redeeming power of Jesus Christ."

Have you ever unleashed that power in your life? Jesus has the power to break the hold of every sin you've ever struggled with. Because it took His cross to break that power. And when He died on the cross, He paid the penalty for your sin, and He broke the power of that sin. And those who have experienced what the blood of Christ was shed to do, know what it is to experience this truth from Jesus: "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

And then, liberated by Him, you can pass that freedom on to your son or daughter. Our website is all about beginning this redeeming relationship with Jesus. I hope you'll check it out today - YoursForLife.net.

The biggest single answer for your child's weakness is to let Christ transform that weakness in you. He has redeeming grace for your son, for your daughter. But first, breathe it yourself.

Amos 6 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.
MaxLucado.com:Taking Out the Trash

Who wants to live with yesterday’s rubble?  Who wants to hoard the trash of the past?  You don’t, do you?  Or do you?

I’m not talking about the trash in your house, but in your heart.  Not the junk of papers and boxes but the remnants of anger and hurt.  Do you rat-pack your pain?  Amass offenses?  Record slights?

A tour of your heart might be telling.  A pile of rejections.  Accumulated insults.  No one can blame you.  They’re innocence takers, promise breakers, and wound makers.  They’re everywhere and you’ve had your share.

Jesus answered Peter’s question in Matthew 18:21 and 22 when he asked:  “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me?  Seven times?”  “No, not seven times,” Jesus said.  “Seventy times seven!”

Do you want to give every day a chance?  Jesus says to get rid of the trash.  Give the grace you’ve been given!

From Great Day Every Day

Amos 6

Woe to the Complacent

6 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,
    and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
you notable men of the foremost nation,
    to whom the people of Israel come!
2 Go to Kalneh and look at it;
    go from there to great Hamath,
    and then go down to Gath in Philistia.
Are they better off than your two kingdoms?
    Is their land larger than yours?
3 You put off the day of disaster
    and bring near a reign of terror.
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory
    and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
    and fattened calves.
5 You strum away on your harps like David
    and improvise on musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful
    and use the finest lotions,
    but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;
    your feasting and lounging will end.
The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel

8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself —the Lord God Almighty declares:

“I abhor the pride of Jacob
    and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
    and everything in it. ”
9 If ten people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them[f] asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For the Lord has given the command,
    and he will smash the great house into pieces
    and the small house into bits.
12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
    Does one plow the sea[g] with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
    and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness —
13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar[h]
    and say, “Did we not take Karnaim[i] by our own strength? ”
14 For the Lord God Almighty declares,
    “I will stir up a nation against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
    from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah. ”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Proverbs 23:1-18

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
    observe carefully what[a] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to appetite.
3  Do not desire his delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.
4  Do not toil to acquire wealth;
     be discerning enough to desist.
5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
     for suddenly it sprouts wings,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6  Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;[b]
     do not desire his delicacies,
7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[c]
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
    and waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10  Do not move an ancient landmark
    or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Redeemer is strong;
    he will plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
     if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike him with the rod,
    you will save his soul from Sheol.
15  My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
16 My inmost being[d] will exult
    when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not your heart envy sinners,
    but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely there is a future,
    and your hope will not be cut off.

The Best Things In Life

July 18, 2012 — by David C. McCasland

Do not overwork to be rich. —Proverbs 23:4

An old adage says, “The best things in life are free.” There’s a lot of truth in that. Some people, however, believe that the best things in life are expensive or perhaps elusive. Recently I saw a sign that made me smile and think. It said, “The best things in life are not things.” What a great way to say it! The value of family, friends, and faith points us to the realization that what matters most in life is all wrapped up in people and the Lord.

Solomon was well qualified to speak about material things because he “surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom” (1 Kings 10:23). His advice? “Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven” (Prov. 23:4-5). His recommended course of action was, “Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge. . . . For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off” (vv.12,18).

The best things in life are the eternal riches that come from God’s goodness and grace in Jesus Christ. We do not hold them in our hands, but in our hearts.

The treasures of earth are not mine,
I hold not its silver and gold;
But a treasure far greater is mine;
I have riches of value untold. —Hartzler
Our greatest riches are the riches we have in Christ.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 18, 2012

The Mystery of Believing

He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5

Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.

There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.

Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21).



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Good Wood - #6657

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Now, if I said I was going to give you the great secrets of hitting a baseball, I don't think you're going to go right out and try them. You're going to be skeptical, and you should be. But if one of the game's greatest hitters were to tell you the secret of hitting a baseball, well now you should pay attention.

Pete Rose actually was one of those, and he was once interviewed for an article in Sports Illustrated, and I like the title. It's called Good Wood. And he said that he liked a heat-treated bat. Now, I didn't realize this, but he said that you put the bat through an intense heat and that the heat would seal the pores and it actually made the bat hit harder. Well, it worked for him! I guess it's true, heat-treated bats hit harder. Well, you know something? So do heat-treated people.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Good Wood."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is found in Romans 5:3-4, and it talks about, well, heat treating. Here we go. "We, also, rejoice in our sufferings because we know suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope." Those are curious words. "We rejoice in our suffering?" This doesn't mean that Christian suffering feels any better than non-Christian suffering. It doesn't. It feels about the same, whether you're a Christian or not. But if you're a believer, pain is just as painful, unemployment is just as demoralizing, and pressure is just as stressful.

But you rejoice, not because it feels better, you rejoice because in Christ, pain has a point. A minus can be made into a plus. Suffering can be made into perseverance, character and hope. Just ask Pete Rose's bat. He said that heat heals up the holes in the bat and makes it more solid. Well, could it be that the heat that you're undergoing right now is heat-treating you and the holes in your life are being healed up by it and you're becoming more solid because of it? The heat you're feeling is not to burn you up, even though it feels like you might not make it through it. It's to make you strong; to build into you great perseverance, great character, great hope.

Right now you are in a position to learn more about the resources of God than any person who's in a comfortable setting. Sure you'd like to be comfortable again. I hope you will be. Sure you'd like this insecurity, this pain to pass. But right now you have a chance to know the resources, and the power, and the grace of God more deeply than you and those around you perhaps have ever known. You are learning, or you can learn, how to wait, how to overcome, how to really, urgently, desperately pray.

Perhaps you're being forced to close up some of the holes in your life; weaknesses, un-confessed sin, broken relationships that have been called to your attention by this hard time. Things you might not have given attention to any other way. And you can, because of the fire, be forced to deal with the weaknesses that you might otherwise still tolerate. And when you do, you have added a new kind of strength.

The fire turns spiritual wimps into spiritual warriors. So, rejoice as you see what you are becoming or can become through heat-treating, and only through heat-treating. You are becoming a heavy hitter in the hands of Almighty God.

Be encouraged! You're becoming good wood.

Amos 5 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

MaxLucado.com:Weed Hunts

God’s love sprouts around us like lilacs, but we go on weed hunts!  How many flowers do we miss in the process? If you look long enough, you’ll find something to bellyache about.  So quit looking!

Lift your eyes off the weeds.  Collect your blessings.  Catalog His kindnesses.  Assemble your reasons for gratitude.  “Always be joyful” is what Paul tells us in 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18.  “Pray continually and give thanks, whatever happens.  This is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus.”

Gratitude is always an option.  Make it your default emotion and you’ll find yourself giving thanks for the problems of life.  Who knows what you might record in your journal:

Mondays.  Oh boy–my favorite!

Final exams.  I can hardly wait!

“Impossible,” you say?  How do you know?

How do you know until you give the day a chance?  Thank God!

From Great Day Every Day

Amos 5

A Lament and Call to Repentance

5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:

2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel,
    never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
    with no one to lift her up. ”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
    will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
    will have only ten left. ”
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek me and live;
5     do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
    do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[d] ”
6 Seek the Lord and live,
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;
it will devour them,
    and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
7 There are those who turn justice into bitterness
    and cast righteousness to the ground.
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    who turns midnight into dawn
    and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
    and detest the one who tells the truth.
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
    you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
    for the times are evil.
14 Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil, love good;
    maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
    on the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing in all the streets
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.
The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?
    That day will be darkness, not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
    your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river,
    righteousness like a never-failing stream!
25 “Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
    forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,
    the star of your god[e]—
    which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Joshua 7:1-13

Achan Sins Against the Lord

 1 But the people of Israel weren't faithful to the Lord. They didn't do what they were told to do with the things that had been set apart to him in a special way to be destroyed.
   Achan had taken some of those things. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel. Achan was the son of Carmi. Carmi was the son of Zimri. And Zimri was the son of Zerah. They were from the tribe of Judah.

 2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai. Ai is near Beth Aven east of Bethel. Joshua told the men, "Go up and check out the area around Ai." So the men went up and checked it out.

 3 Then they returned to Joshua. They said, "The whole army doesn't have to go up and attack Ai. Send only two or three thousand men. They can take the city. Don't make the whole army go up there. Ai only has a few men."

 4 So only about 3,000 men went up. But the men of Ai drove them away. 5 They chased the men of Israel from the city gate all the way to Shebarim. They killed about 36 of them on the way down.

   So the hearts of the people of Israel melted away in fear.

 6 Joshua and the elders of Israel became sad. Joshua tore his clothes. He fell in front of the ark of the Lord with his face to the ground. He remained there until evening. The elders did the same thing. They also sprinkled dust on their heads.

 7 Joshua said, "Lord and King, why did you ever bring these people across the Jordan River? Did you want to hand us over to the Amorites? Did you want them to destroy us? I wish we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!

 8 "Lord, our enemies have driven us away. What can I say? 9 The people of Canaan will hear about it. So will everyone else in the country. They will surround us. They'll wipe our name from the face of the earth. Then what will you do when people don't honor your great name anymore?"

 10 The Lord said to Joshua, "Get up! What are you doing down there on your face?

 11 "Israel has sinned. I made a covenant with them. I commanded them to keep it. But they have broken it. They have taken some of the things that had been set apart to me in a special way to be destroyed. They have stolen. They have lied. They have taken the things they stole and have put them with their own things.

 12 "That is why the men of Israel can't stand up against their enemies. They turn their backs and run. It is because I have decided to let them be destroyed. You must destroy the things you took that had been set apart to me. If you do not, I will not be with you anymore.

 13 "Go. Set the people apart. Tell them, 'Make yourselves pure. Get ready for tomorrow. Here is what the Lord, the God of Israel, wants you to do. He says, "People of Israel, you have kept some of the things that had been set apart to me in a special way to be destroyed. You can't stand up against your enemies until you get rid of those things."

What’s The Trouble?

July 17, 2012 — by Dave Branon

Be sure your sin will find you out. —Numbers 32:23

There was something wrong with my lawn. I couldn’t see what the trouble was, but I knew something was causing damage.

After investigating, I discovered the problem: moles. Those voracious little bug-eaters were crawling around just under the surface of my previously well-groomed lawn looking for food and wreaking havoc on my grass.

The children of Israel also had a problem with a hidden cause (Josh. 7). They were experiencing trouble, and they couldn’t figure out why. There was something hidden from their view that was causing serious damage.

The trouble became noticeable when Joshua sent 3,000 troops to attack Ai. Although that should have been a sufficient army to defeat Ai’s small force, the opposite happened. Ai routed the Israelites, killing 36 of them and chasing them back where they came from. Joshua had no idea why this trouble had come. Then God explained the hidden problem: One of his men, Achan, had violated a clear command and had stolen some “accursed things” from Jericho (Josh. 7:11). Only when that hidden sin was discovered and taken care of could Israel have victory.

Hidden sin does great damage. We need to bring it to the surface and deal with it—or face certain defeat.

Dear Lord, I don’t want anything in my life to
hinder my fellowship with You. You know what’s
in my heart. Reveal any areas of my life that are
not pleasing to You and forgive me. Amen.
Confession to God ensures forgiveness.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 17, 2012

The Miracle of Belief

My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4

Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest degree; he was not speaking here out of a deep sense of humility, but was saying that when he preached the gospel, he would veil the power of God if he impressed people with the excellency of his speech. Belief in Jesus is a miracle produced only by the effectiveness of redemption, not by impressive speech, nor by wooing and persuading, but only by the sheer unaided power of God. The creative power of redemption comes through the preaching of the gospel, but never because of the personality of the preacher.

Real and effective fasting by a preacher is not fasting from food, but fasting from eloquence, from impressive diction, and from everything else that might hinder the gospel of God being presented. The preacher is there as the representative of God— “. . . as though God were pleading through us . . .” (2 Corinthians 5:20). He is there to present the gospel of God. If it is only because of my preaching that people desire to be better, they will never get close to Jesus Christ. Anything that flatters me in my preaching of the gospel will result in making me a traitor to Jesus, and I prevent the creative power of His redemption from doing its work.

“And I, if I am lifted up. . . , will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Way to Your Father's Heart - #6658

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The old wisdom is that the way to a man's heart is, yeah, through his stomach. Actually I think that's true, but I believe that the way to a parent's heart is through their children. And I have to admit that I'm one of those who feels that way. I mean, you really have a warm feeling toward people who are kind to your children. And, you know, when our kids were young, that was really especially true. It was important to me when people remember my child's name or maybe their birthday.

Most of all, well, I really felt warmly toward those people who didn't just act like my kids weren't there; they took time to actually talk with them like they were people. I guess I noticed the people who didn't treat my kids right too. You know, it was hard to have warm feelings toward them. Actually there is a Heavenly Father watching you and me too, and He's responding to our treatment of some people He really loves. So, I wonder if you're giving your Father (capital F, Father) those warm feelings?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Way to Your Father's Heart."

Proverbs 19:17 is where we will find our word for today from the Word of God, and here's what it says: "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done." Well, that's pretty clear what God is saying. There is a group of people that are very special to Him, and He's watching how they're treated, as I watch how people treat my children. We're told here that the poor are special to God.

That's not just in this verse. In fact, all through the Old Testament over and over again, righteousness is actually equated with how you treat the poor. The Old Testament law is very careful in providing for the care of the poor. And in Luke 4:18, Jesus preached His first sermon and He says, "I have come to preach good news to the poor."

It's pretty clear from this verse that our Heavenly Father is watching how we treat the poor. And not only that, but He takes it personally. It says that the person who was kind to the poor, lends not to them but to the Lord. That's interesting. It tells you something about your commitment to the Lord and your unselfish love when you do something for the poor, because, well, they can't do anything back for you. You're really giving. There's nothing in it for you. You know what? We're surrounded today by people who God the Father has His eyes on. They're the homeless people that might be within our reach, or that family out of work right within your circle of influence, a struggling single parent who's having a very difficult time making ends meet. There are some hungry people maybe near you and a world away from us.

If you are attuned to God's heart, you're going to be involved in treating the poor like Jesus did. Maybe you need to be looking for an inner city ministry working among poor people. See, the hardest ministry to support in America is work in the inner city or on Indian reservations. Well, everybody seems to care about their turf, and maybe that's totally beyond your own personal world.

Put your money, your time, mobilize your church to do something about needy people wherever they are, not just long distance loving. I'm talking about getting your hands dirty, personal involvement, family involvement. Teach your kids how to have a heart for the poor. Work first hand with some less fortunate people; help lift their burden. Do the work of God on earth. By the way, those folks have a lot to teach you. Pray this, "Lord, it's so easy just to drive by; to write people off as lazy or just to care about what's close to me, what's like me. But I know, Lord, You have Your eyes on the poor. Would you give me Your heart for the poor and a way to take a piece of that action in my world? You know what the Bible says will happen? "He will reward you."

Embracing a poor person or a poor family? Apparently that's the way to your Father's heart.

Amos 4 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.



MaxLucado.com: I Messed Up

We’ve all messed up.  Said the wrong words, loved the wrong person, reacted the wrong way…walked when we should have waited, indulged when we should have resisted.

You’ll mess up more if you let yesterday’s mistakes sabotage today’s attitude!

The Bible says, God’s mercies are new every morning.  Receive them.  Learn a lesson from them.

Thunderbolts of regret can ignite and consume you.  What makes the difference? Counteract them with downpours of God’s grace, daily washings of forgiveness.

Once a year won’t do.  Once a month is insufficient.  Sporadic mistings leave you combustible.  Weekly showers leave you dry.  You need a solid soaking every day!

Lamentations 3:22-23 says “The Lord’s love never ends; His mercies never stop.  They are new every morning.”

What a gift He has given to you.  What more do you need?

From Great Day Every Day

Amos 4

Israel Has Not Returned to God

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
    you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
    and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks! ”
2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
    “The time will surely come
when you will be taken away with hooks,
    the last of you with fishhooks.[a]
3 You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[b]”
declares the Lord.
4 “Go to Bethel and sin;
    go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three years.[c]
5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
    and brag about your freewill offerings —
boast about them, you Israelites,
    for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.
6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city
    and lack of bread in every town,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also withheld rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for water
    but did not get enough to drink,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
    destroying them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues among you
    as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you
    as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
    and because I will do this to you, Israel,
    prepare to meet your God.”
13 He who forms the mountains,
    who creates the wind,
    and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth —
    the Lord God Almighty is his name.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Proverbs 18:1-15
A person who isn't friendly looks out only for himself.
      He opposes all good sense.
 2 A foolish person doesn't want to understand.
      He takes delight in saying only what he thinks.
 3 People hate it when evil comes.
      And they refuse to honor those who bring shame.
 4 The words of a person's mouth are like deep water.
      But the fountain of wisdom is like a flowing stream.
 5 It isn't good to favor those who do wrong.
      And it isn't good to hold back what is fair from those who aren't guilty.
 6 What a foolish person says leads to arguing.
      He is just asking for a beating.
 7 The words of a foolish person drag him down.
      He is trapped by what he says.
 8 The words of anyone who talks about others are like tasty bites of food.
      They go deep down inside you.
 9 Anyone who doesn't want to work
      is like someone who destroys.
 10 The name of the Lord is like a strong tower.
      Godly people run to it and are safe.
 11 The wealth of rich people is like a city that makes them feel safe.
      They think of it as a city with walls that can't be climbed.
 12 If a man's heart is proud, he will be destroyed.
      So don't be proud if you want to be honored.
 13 To answer before listening
      is foolish and shameful.
 14 A man's cheerful heart gives him strength when he is sick.
      You can't keep going if you have a broken spirit.
 15 Those whose hearts understand what is right get knowledge.
      The ears of those who are wise listen for it.

Speech Study

July 16, 2012 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. —Ephesians 4:29

Dr. Deb Roy, a researcher and cognitive scientist with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recorded the first 3 years of his child’s life to learn how humans acquire language. He and his wife rigged their home with recording devices, which they used to collect over 200,000 hours of audio and video footage. Amassing, condensing, and editing the recordings enabled them to hear baby sounds like “gaga” evolve into words like “water.”

If someone wanted to conduct a research project at your home, would you participate if you knew that your every syllable would be recorded and analyzed? What would the study reveal? Proverbs 18 offers insight about some unwise speech patterns. The writer notes that foolish people express their own opinions instead of trying to understand what others have to say (v.2). Does this characterize us? Do we sometimes provoke fights with our words (v.7), or speak impulsively and “answer a matter before [hearing] it”? (v.13).

We need to become students of our speech. With God’s help we can identify and transform destructive dialogue into words of encouragement that are “good for necessary edification” and that “impart grace to the hearers” (Eph. 4:29).

Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages for Thee. —Havergal
Our words have the power to build up or tear down.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 16, 2012

The Concept of Divine Control

. . . how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11

Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.

Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!” This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?

Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7).



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Intimate Messages - #6656

Monday, July 16, 2012

It's always kind of exciting to go to the mailbox. It's depressing however, when most of it is addressed to Occupant, Resident, or it comes with some computer label that calls me Don Hutchcraft. Or it butchers my last name, which is a very "butcherable" name, by the way.

But I pay more attention to the labels that at least have my name right on them, and you probably do too. When the envelope says, Open First, I open eagerly. Of course, they're personally addressed. They have my name on them. Well, if you like things with your name on them, oh you came to the right place today!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Intimate Messages."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 10 and I'll begin reading from verse 4. "The man who enters in by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he has brought all his sheep out, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

You know, the shepherds of Jesus' day would name their sheep, and they'd call them by name as they called them out of the sheepfold in the morning. "Hey, there's Curly! Hey, Bumpy! Come here Woolly! Come on, let's go!" They're all individual sheep to him.

Maybe you just feel like you're just part of God's big flock. You say, "Well, I'm just one of a million Christians; I'm another person in my church." No! One of the most heartwarming revelations in Scripture is that God deals intimately, and personally, and uniquely with each individual. He calls His sheep - He calls you by name. Can you hear Him now whispering your name? He called to Moses from a burning bush, "Moses!" Called him by name to give him his life assignment.

He called Samuel by his name, "Samuel! Samuel!" when he was asleep in the temple. He called him by name to let him know His plans for him. When He saw Zacchaeus in a tree, He said, "Zacchaeus, you come down." Called him by name so He could love him and change his life. When Jesus rose from the dead, He called Mary by her name, "Mary." When Saul was on the Damascus road, He said, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" All through the Bible called by name. In Saul's case, to convict him of sin - to bring him to Christ.

Jesus calls you by name. He's got a customized plan for you and He knows the kind of love you need. He wants to pour out His love on you in a unique way; customized for you. See, prayer is listening for God to call your name. You read the Bible, you go to church, you listen for Him to speak your name with a message that's got your name on it. You're not just some piece of wood carried along in this massive current of life. You're not just someone in the Christian category. He knows you; He wants to relate to you as just you. He knows what's in your bank account, what's in your heart, what's in your closet, what's in your future, what's in your deepest feelings.

He wants to speak to you. He wants to love you. He wants to lead you in a way that He will do for no one else on earth. Nobody else has got the plan that He has for you. This is how much Jesus loves you. And even if you don't know Him; even if you're away from Him, He's calling your name. Maybe through this radio broadcast right now He's calling your name. Don't ever believe the lie that you're lost in the crowd or that you don't matter. You're Jesus' sheep; He knows you by name.

I think it dawned on the Apostle Paul when he said these words, "I live my life now by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Let me ask you, has there ever been that moment in your life when you've been to the cross where Jesus died for our sins and said, "Jesus, for me. I'm taking You for me. You died on that cross for me. I want you to be my Savior." First person, singular; just for you. If you've never done that, can I encourage you to go to our website and find there how to begin your relationship with this One who loves you like nobody ever has, nobody ever could. Go to YoursForLife.net.

That song we learned as kids didn't say, "Jesus loves us," though that's true. It's so right because it says, "Jesus loves me. This I know."

Acts 15 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear a message from the Lord Jesus
Max Lucado Daily: Immersed in Grace

“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad.” Psalm 126:3 NKJV

You have not been sprinkled with forgiveness. You have not been spattered with grace. You have not been dusted with kindness. You have been immersed in it. You are submerged in mercy. You are a minnow in the ocean of God’s mercy. Let it change you!

Acts 15:22-41
New International Version (NIV)
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] [a] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Acts 18:1-4

In Corinth

18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Opening Our Homes

July 15, 2012 — by Marvin Williams

In Outlive Your Life, Max Lucado writes: “Hospitality opens the door to uncommon community. It’s no accident that hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word, for they both lead to the same result: healing. When you open your door to someone, you are sending this message: ‘You matter to me and to God.’ You may think you are saying, ‘Come over for a visit.’ But what your guest hears is, ‘I’m worth the effort.’”

This is what the apostle Paul must have heard and felt when Aquila and Priscilla opened the doors of their home to him. When he arrived in Corinth, he was probably exhausted from his journey from Athens. He may also have been discouraged because of his seemingly unsuccessful ministry there (Acts 17:16-34). He later wrote, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3). Aquila and Priscilla probably met Paul in the marketplace of Corinth and opened their home to him. They provided a spiritual oasis through Christian hospitality.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be hospitable, to be a “hospital” that helps those who are going through life’s storms and need restoration. We can be used by the Lord because He has provided for us.

Heavenly Father, make me open to be willing to serve
others through showing hospitality.
May I provide a safe haven for those going through
the storms of life. Amen.
Christian hospitality is an open heart and an open home.



My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 15, 2012

My Life’s Spiritual Honor and Duty

I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians . . . —Romans 1:14

Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.

I am not a superior person among other people— I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Paul said, “. . . you are not your own . . . you were bought at a price . . .” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ and he said, in effect, “I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His.” That is the characteristic of a Christian’s life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real. Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life.

Amos 3 Bible reading and devotionals.

(Talk with God lately if not click to listen to God’s teaching)


Max Lucado Daily: No Room for Almost

“We don’t live following our sinful selves, but we live following the Spirit.” Romans 8:4

ALMOST. How many times do these six letters find their way into despairing epitaphs?

“She almost chose not to leave him.” “He almost became a Christian.”

Jesus . . . demands absolute obedience. He never has room for “almost” in his vocabulary. You are either with him or against him . . . With the Master, “almost” is just as good as “never.”


Amos 3

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

3 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you —against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

2 “You only have I chosen
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your sins. ”
3 Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
4 Does a lion roar in the thicket
    when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
    when it has caught nothing?
5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
    when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
6 When a trumpet sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
    has not the Lord caused it?
7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
    without revealing his plan
    to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared —
    who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
    who can but prophesy?
9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
    and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
    see the great unrest within her
    and the oppression among her people.”
10 “They do not know how to do right, ” declares the Lord,
    “who store up in their fortresses
    what they have plundered and looted.”
11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“An enemy will overrun your land,
    pull down your strongholds
    and plunder your fortresses. ”
12 This is what the Lord says:

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
    only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
    with only the head of a bed
    and a piece of fabric[i] from a couch.[j] ”
13 “Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.

14 “On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house
    along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
    and the mansions will be demolished, ”
declares the Lord.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Do Not Forget the Lord

8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land —a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Two Lessons Learned

July 14, 2012 — by David C. McCasland

The Lord your God led you all the way these forty years . . . to humble you and test you. —Deuteronomy 8:2

Afew weeks after writing an Our Daily Bread article about the importance of obeying the law, I set out on an 850-mile trip—determined to stay within the posted speed limit. While driving out of a small town in New Mexico, I became more occupied with unwrapping a sandwich than with watching the road signs, and I got a speeding ticket. My first lesson that day was that not paying attention costs the same as deliberate disregard for the law. And I still had 700 miles to go!

My second lesson was that our resolve will always be tested. I thought of Moses’ words to God’s people as they prepared to enter the Promised Land: “You shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not” (Deut. 8:2).

Pastor and author Eugene Peterson called the process of following Christ “a long obedience in the same direction.” Every resolution to begin to obey must be followed by many decisions to continue.

God gave me a humbling reminder of how vital it is to keep my heart set on obeying Him—and to pay attention along the way.

Thou who hast freely given
Thine all in all for me,
Claim this life for Thine own to be used,
My Savior, every moment for Thee. —Christiansen
To love God is to obey God.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 14, 2012

Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile

I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also —Matthew 5:39

This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.

Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.