2 Kings 24 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com: Life Stinks

Yes, life stinks.  But it won’t forever!    

As one of my friends likes to say  “Everything will work out in the end.  If it’s not working out, it’s not the end.”

In the meantime, don’t over-react!  Psalm 37:7 reminds us, “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act.  Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.”

Avoid Pollyanna optimism.  But neither do we join the Chicken Little chorus of gloom and doom.  “The sky is falling.”  “The sky is falling!”

Somewhere between Pollyanna and Chicken Little, between denial and blatant panic, stands the  follower of Christ.

Psalm 27:3 says, “My heart shall not fear—though war arise against me, yes, I will be confident!”

Confident in Him.


2 Kings 24

24 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. 2 The Lord sent Babylonian,[a] Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, 4 including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.

5 As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 6 Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.

7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin King of Judah

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done.

10 At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials and the prominent people of the land. 16 The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans. 17 He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah King of Judah

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Believers Who Have Died

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Always

August 6, 2012 — by Joe Stowell

We shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. —1 Thessalonians. 4:17-18

I love the words always and never. They hold so much hope! I would like to think that I could always be happy and that life would never fail me. But reality says that I won’t always be happy and that the things I hope would never happen just might. So, as good as these words sound, they struggle to live up to their potential—unless you are thinking about the promise of Jesus’ presence.

To a group of troubled disciples who feared facing life on their own Jesus said, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20). The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus said, “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’” (Heb. 13:5-6). And the apostle Paul assures believers that after death, “We shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). How encouraging!

No matter how scary our journey may feel today or how hopeless our future may look, the assurance of His never-failing presence can provide us with the courage and comfort to make it through. And best of all, when this short life is over, we will always be with Him. No wonder Paul encourages us to “comfort one another with these words” (v.18).

Jesus said He’s always with us,
He will never leave our side;
Someday we’ll be in His presence
Where forever we’ll abide. —Sper
Confidence in God’s presence is our comfort.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 6, 2012

The Cross in Prayer

In that day you will ask in My name . . . —John 16:26

We too often think of the Cross of Christ as something we have to get through, yet we get through for the purpose of getting into it. The Cross represents only one thing for us— complete, entire, absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ— and there is nothing in which this identification is more real to us than in prayer.

“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why should we ask? The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him. If we pray only because we want answers, we will become irritated and angry with God. We receive an answer every time we pray, but it does not always come in the way we expect, and our spiritual irritation shows our refusal to identify ourselves truly with our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove that God answers prayer, but to be living trophies of God’s grace.

“. . . I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you . . .” (John 16:26-27). Have you reached such a level of intimacy with God that the only thing that can account for your prayer life is that it has become one with the prayer life of Jesus Christ? Has our Lord exchanged your life with His vital life? If so, then “in that day” you will be so closely identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.

When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to place the blame on someone else. That is always a trap of Satan. When you seem to have no answer, there is always a reason— God uses these times to give you deep personal instruction, and it is not for anyone else but you.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Strongest Men In the World - #6671

Monday, August 6, 2012

When my son was 16 he was quite a "hunk"! I mean, we didn't tell him that, but I think he probably was. He didn't start out that way. But he began lifting weights and he did it regularly. And he loved to report his new "max" to us...you know, the maximum amount he was able to lift - his bench press. And occasionally he'd flex and have us see how particular muscles had grown. I guess I was supposed to go, "Oooo, ahhhh!" I didn't exactly do that, but... Now, there are a number of factors that go into making a man achieve his full strength. Of course, lifting, lots of protein, certain vitamin supplements, sufficient rest, workouts, and a woman. Yeah! Yeah, he needs a woman to be really strong where it really counts.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Strongest Men In the World."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 31:23. It's in that famous passage what's really the Proverbs 31 woman; that's what a lot of people call it. It's about the virtuous woman, and it says, "Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." Now, in those days, to be at the city gate was the equivalent to being kind of in the top management office today. It means that you're one of the leaders of the community, and that's where her husband is.

This guy is a strong man; he's a winner, but the rest of the passage is about his wife strangely enough. Here are some excerpts: "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good not harm all the days of her life. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household." Verse 26 says, "She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue." This is one strong woman!

Verse 28: "Her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband, he praises her. He says, 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'" Okay, you get the distinct impression here that the reason this man is such a winner is because of the woman in his life. You know the old saying, "Behind every man is a great woman and an astonished mother-in-law."

Well, I don't know about that, but this man is smart enough to lean heavily on the woman in his life. It says, "He has full confidence in her." It says, "She speaks with wisdom." "He praises her for what she has done for him." How unlike many modern men and their attitude toward the women in their life.

I know men who just can't take advice from a woman. They think a woman's perspective isn't as strong as a man's; that they're weak if they listen to a woman. They kind of think women are superficial. We're logical; they just deal with feelings all the time. Actually truth is usually in the middle. We need the male logic and we need that unique feminine insight to get the real truth.

Sometimes because a man has felt dominated by a woman at some time in his life, he rejects any strength that a woman might offer him. Well, let me tell you, a truly strong man, like the man here in the Bible, is open to a strong, spiritual woman. Not being dominated by her, but being helped by her. I'm proud to say I value my wife's counsel more than any other person on earth. Does that make me weak? I don't think so. I think it makes me strong. A wise man knows that we as men are incomplete. Our logic, our aggressiveness give us only half the story. We need the sensitivity, the radar, the attention to detail, the instinctive insight of a woman.

Listen to your mother, listen to your sister, listen to your wife...the women in your life. One measure of the strength of a man is his openness to the strength of a woman. The men who listen to and respect the women in their life? They're the strongest men in the world.

Galatians 6 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear the word of the Lord Jesus.

Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Miss the Point

“Lord, you bless those who do what is right.” Psalm 5:12

The trip from Egypt to the promised land can be made in nine days (Deuteronomy 1:2). It took the Israelites thirty-eight years.

What they should have done, they didn’t . . . So God decided they needed some time to rethink a few things.

Maybe God is wanting to teach you a few things. Pay attention. You don’t want to spend thirty-eight years missing the point.

Galatians 6
New International Version (NIV)
Doing Good to All

6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Not Circumcision but the New Creation

11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to[b] the Israel of God.

17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 John 1:1-10

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched —this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Totally Clean

August 5, 2012 — by Bill Crowder

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9

A friend was updating me on his past year—a year in which he had been receiving ongoing medical treatment for cancer. The smile on his face was a powerful testimony to the good news he had just received. He said that at his one-year checkup the doctor announced that the test results all pointed to one thing: “You are totally clean!” What a difference two words can make! To my friend, totally clean meant every trace of the disease that had threatened his life only months before had been wiped from his body. We rejoiced to hear that he was totally clean!

King David, after his moral failure with Bathsheba, longed for a similar thing to happen in his heart. Hoping for the stains of his sin to be washed away, he cried out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). The good news for him and for us is that our sins can be taken care of. When we need cleansing, John’s familiar words bring hope: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

We can’t cleanse our own hearts; only God can do that. If we confess our sins to Him, He promises to make us totally clean!

Search me, O God, and know my heart today
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. —Orr
Confession to God always brings cleansing from God.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 5, 2012

The Bewildering Call of God

’. . . and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.’ . . . But they understood none of these things . . . —Luke 18:31, 34

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s. But what seemed to be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose.

This bewildering call of God comes into our lives as well. The call of God can never be understood absolutely or explained externally; it is a call that can only be perceived and understood internally by our true inner-nature. The call of God is like the call of the sea— no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him. What God calls us to cannot be definitely stated, because His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes. Our real test is in truly believing that God knows what He desires. The things that happen do not happen by chance— they happen entirely by the decree of God. God is sovereignly working out His own purposes.

If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are. As we grow in the Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say, “I wonder why God allowed this or that?” And we begin to see that the compelling purpose of God lies behind everything in life, and that God is divinely shaping us into oneness with that purpose. A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God.

2 Kings 23 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to listen.

Max Lucado Daily: Amazed at Jesus

“When the Lord Jesus comes . . . all the people who have believed will be amazed at Jesus.”

Amazed at Jesus . . . Paul doesn’t measure the joy of encouraging the apostles or embracing our loved ones. If we will be amazed at these, which we certainly will, he does not say. What he does say is that we will be amazed at Jesus.

What we have only seen in our thoughts, we will see with our eyes . . . What we’ve seen in a glimpse, we will then see in full view. And . . . we will be amazed.

2 Kings 23

Josiah Renews the Covenant

23 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court[c] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.

15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

18 “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones .” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

19 Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20 Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. 25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’[d]”

28 As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

Jehoahaz King of Judah

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. 33 Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents[e] of silver and a talent[f] of gold. 34 Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. 35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.

Jehoiakim King of Judah

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Isaiah 41:8-14

8 “But you, Israel, my servant,
    Jacob, whom I have chosen,
    you descendants of Abraham my friend,
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
    from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
    I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 “All who rage against you
    will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
    will be as nothing and perish.
12 Though you search for your enemies,
    you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
    will be as nothing at all.
13 For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help you.
14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
    little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Life-Changing Choices

August 4, 2012 — by David C. McCasland

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. —Isaiah 41:10

Champion athlete Eric Liddell’s decision not to run on Sunday in the 1924 Olympic Games was not difficult because of his deep belief that the Lord’s Day was for worship and rest.

A more agonizing dilemma had come a year earlier when Eric was asked to speak about his faith in Christ to a group of coal miners. Liddell said of his struggle: “My whole life had been one of keeping out of public duties but the leading of Christ seemed now to be in the opposite direction, and I shrank from going forward. At this time I finally decided to put it all on Christ—after all if He called me to do it, then He would have to supply the necessary power. In going forward the power was given me.”

The day after agreeing to publicly share his faith, Eric received a letter from his sister, Jenny, in China. Written weeks before, it ended with this verse of Scripture: “Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10).

Every call from God is an opportunity for us to say “Yes,” trusting His strength and not our own.

Lord, I’m fearful sometimes when You ask me
to do something out of my comfort zone.
Help me to remember that as I step out in faith,
You will provide the power to obey.
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. —1 Thessalonians 5:24


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 4, 2012

The Brave Friendship of God

He took the twelve aside . . . —Luke 18:31

Oh, the bravery of God in trusting us! Do you say, “But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing good in me and I have no value”? That is exactly why He chose you. As long as you think that you are of value to Him He cannot choose you, because you have purposes of your own to serve. But if you will allow Him to take you to the end of your own self-sufficiency, then He can choose you to go with Him “to Jerusalem” (Luke 18:31). And that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which He does not discuss with you.

We tend to say that because a person has natural ability, he will make a good Christian. It is not a matter of our equipment, but a matter of our poverty; not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a matter of natural virtues, of strength of character, of knowledge, or of experience— all of that is of no avail in this concern. The only thing of value is being taken into the compelling purpose of God and being made His friends (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31). God’s friendship is with people who know their poverty. He can accomplish nothing with the person who thinks that he is of use to God. As Christians we are not here for our own purpose at all— we are here for the purpose of God, and the two are not the same. We do not know what God’s compelling purpose is, but whatever happens, we must maintain our relationship with Him. We must never allow anything to damage our relationship with God, but if something does damage it, we must take the time to make it right again. The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.

2 Kings 22 bible reading and devotionals.

Clickto hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

MaxLucado.com

Chapters in Life

Certain chapters in this life seem so unnecessary—like nostrils on the pre-born. Like suffering.  Loneliness.  Disease. Holocausts.  Martyrdom.  Hurricanes, earthquakes and monsoons.

If we assume this world exists just for pre-grave happiness, these atrocities disqualify it from doing so!  But what if this earth is the womb?  Might these challenges, severe as they may be, serve to prepare us, equip us for the world to come?

The apostle Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 4:17:  “These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing.”

Eternal glory?  I’d like a large cup of that,  wouldn’t you?

Everything in this life is preparing us for the next.

2 Kings 22

The Book of the Law Found

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”

8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.

15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made,[a] my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse[b] and be laid waste —and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”

So they took her answer back to the king.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: James 2:14-26

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16  and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Faith With Works

August 3, 2012 — by Albert Lee

Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. —James 2:17

Because of his arthritis, Roger could no longer handle the winters of Illinois, so he moved to tropical Bangkok, Thailand. One day he remembered his grandmother’s favorite song, “What You Are”: What you are speaks so loud that the world can’t hear what you say; they’re looking at your walk, not listening to your talk; they’re judging from your actions every day.

This song prompted Roger to feed the homeless who stayed along a half-mile stretch of road. Every morning, he served hot food to more than 45 families. Years later, one of the homeless women came to know Jesus as Savior and sought out Roger to thank him for introducing her to the love of Christ.

In James, we are clearly told that faith without works is dead (2:17). It does not mean that works will result in faith, but that good works will affirm that our faith is real. It is easy to say we believe in God, but only our works can prove the truthfulness of our words. Abraham was an example of this. He didn’t just talk about his faith; he demonstrated it by his willingness to give up his only son in obedience to God (James 2:21-24; see Gen. 22:1-18). And Isaac was spared.

Today, how can we actively demonstrate our love for God and trust in Him?

Faith is the power that prompts us to go
And give to the hungering, bread—
Faith means much more than a doctrine or two,
For faith without works is dead. —Woodrum
What matters is not faith and works; it is not faith or works; it is faith that works.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 3, 2012

The Compelling Purpose of God

He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . —Luke 18:31

Jerusalem, in the life of our Lord, represents the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will. Jesus said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Seeking to do “the will of the Father” was the one dominating concern throughout our Lord’s life. And whatever He encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, success or failure, He was never deterred from that purpose. “. . . He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem . . .” (Luke 9:51).

The greatest thing for us to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose, not our own. In the natural life our ambitions are our own, but in the Christian life we have no goals of our own. We talk so much today about our decisions for Christ, our determination to be Christians, and our decisions for this and that, but in the New Testament the only aspect that is brought out is the compelling purpose of God. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you . . .” (John 15:16).

We are not taken into a conscious agreement with God’s purpose— we are taken into God’s purpose with no awareness of it at all. We have no idea what God’s goal may be; as we continue, His purpose becomes even more and more vague. God’s aim appears to have missed the mark, because we are too nearsighted to see the target at which He is aiming. At the beginning of the Christian life, we have our own ideas as to what God’s purpose is. We say, “God means for me to go over there,” and, “God has called me to do this special work.” We do what we think is right, and yet the compelling purpose of God remains upon us. The work we do is of no account when compared with the compelling purpose of God. It is simply the scaffolding surrounding His work and His plan. “He took the twelve aside . . .” (Luke 18:31). God takes us aside all the time. We have not yet understood all there is to know of the compelling purpose of God.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Only Feedback That Matters - #6670

Friday, August 3, 2012

I remember that time when our son got a new haircut and a pretty noticeably different hair style. Not something real radical, but it was different. Needless to say, he was a little unsure of how he looked the first day after he had the makeover. At least he was used to the old style; he knew how to feel about it. We tried to reassure him. We gave him our parent's opinion about how he looked, but of course, what does our opinion matter...right?

So, he went off to school looking for feedback, and he returned all smiles that afternoon. Yeah, well see, several girls - the right girls - had noticed and they had complimented him on his new hair style. It didn't matter what anybody else said, whether they liked it or not, he decided whose feedback really mattered to him. You know, that's actually something good to decide.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Only Feedback That Matters."

Now, there are a lot of choices more significant, of course, than a change of hair style. And we usually evaluate our decisions and our performance based on how well we please the audience that really matters to us. Right? My son wanted to make sure the girls liked his hair style; he decided what audience he needed to please. It's sort of like a boy who wants to know if his Dad likes what he did, or an athlete who has decided that above all else he just wants to please his coach. "What does the coach think of my performance?"

When you decide to follow Jesus Christ with your life, you've decided whom you want to please. You've said by following Christ, "I've decided my bottom line is this: 'Is Jesus happy with it?'" It's as if all the significant people in your life are sitting in this circle. Just imagine them in a room and they're waiting for you to make whatever life decision you're dealing with right now. Members of your family are there, maybe your pastor is there, some of your key friends, some coworkers, maybe your boss is there, or your teachers, a professor, and Jesus is in that circle.

And then you announce the choice you've made. Whose smile are you looking for? Whose smile lets you know you did the right thing? My son decided that the approval of certain girls would determine the rightness of his hair style choice. Well, the smile you should be looking for in that circle is the smile of Jesus.

So, how do you judge whether He's please or not? I mean, He isn't visibly there. Well, our word for today from the Word of God (you thought we'd never get there. We just did) - Colossians 3:15 says this, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." Now, the word rule there actually means be the umpire; be the deciding factor in your life. "...the peace of God." See, if God is smiling, He will show His pleasure by giving you this supernatural sense of His peace deep inside; this stubborn confidence; a poise that's there even if everyone else in the circle is frowning.

Oh, you may still have doubts, but when you're alone in His presence - it's just you and Him - you'll just know that you've done the right thing. That peace, that sense of rightness, okay-ness, will be there in the midst of the confusion. Live for that green light of God's peace. Believe that peace deep down in your soul. It will stand the test of the worst of storms.

Over and over in our family, when one or the other of us has been faced with a major life choice, we've given each other the advice that sometimes we tend to forget: "Go with the peace." After all, Jesus' smile expressed through the inner peace He gives you, is the only feedback that really matters.

Galatians 5 bible reading and devotionals.

Clickto hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

MaxLucado.com: From Poverty to Pride

There’s a predictable progression from poverty to pride.  The poor man prays and works; God hears and blesses.  The humble man becomes rich and forgets God.  The faithful, poor man becomes the proud, rich man.

As God said through Hosea, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” (Hosea 13:6)

How can a person survive prosperity?  Scripture says, do not be haughty!  Don’t think for a moment that you had anything to do with your accumulation.

Scripture also makes clear that your stocks, cash, and 401k are not yours.

1st Timothy 6:17 warns us, “do not put your trust in uncertain riches.”

Money is an untrustworthy foundation.

Have you noticed that the word “miser” is just one letter short of the word “misery!”

Galatians 5
New International Version (NIV)
Freedom in Christ

5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Life by the Spirit

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Ruth 2:13-20

13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[a] of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”

Take Notice

August 2, 2012 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Blessed be the one who took notice of you. —Ruth 2:19

While standing in a checkout line, I was estimating my bill and trying to keep my son from wandering away. I barely noticed when the woman ahead of me shuffled toward the exit, leaving all of her items behind. The clerk confided that the woman didn’t have enough money to pay her bill. I felt terrible; if only I had been aware of her situation earlier, I would have helped her.

In the book of Ruth, Boaz became aware of Ruth’s plight when he saw her gleaning in his fields (2:5). He learned that she was recently widowed and was the breadwinner for herself and her mother-in-law. Boaz saw her need for protection, and warned his harvesters to leave her alone (v.9). He supplied her with extra food by instructing his workers to let grain fall purposely (v.16). Boaz even addressed Ruth’s emotional needs by comforting her (vv.11-12). When Naomi heard about this, she said, “Blessed be the one who took notice of you” (v.19).

Are you aware of the needs of the people around you—in your church, neighborhood, or under your own roof? Today, consider how you might help bear someone’s burden. Then you will be fulfilling God’s plan for you (Gal. 6:2; Eph. 2:10).

Help me Lord, to notice
The hurting, sick, and lost;
Guide me as I help them
Regardless of the cost. —Schuldt
God works through us to meet the needs of those around us.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 2, 2012

The Teaching of Adversity

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world —John 16:33

The typical view of the Christian life is that it means being delivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in adversity, which is something very different. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling . . .” (Psalm 91:1,10)— the place where you are at one with God.

If you are a child of God, you will certainly encounter adversities, but Jesus says you should not be surprised when they come. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” He is saying, “There is nothing for you to fear.” The same people who refused to talk about their adversities before they were saved often complain and worry after being born again because they have the wrong idea of what it means to live the life of a saint.

God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength. Are you asking God to give you life, liberty, and joy? He cannot, unless you are willing to accept the strain. And once you face the strain, you will immediately get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the first step. Then God will give you nourishment— “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life . . .” (Revelation 2:7). If you completely give of yourself physically, you become exhausted. But when you give of yourself spiritually, you get more strength. God never gives us strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the moment. Our temptation is to face adversities from the standpoint of our own common sense. But a saint can “be of good cheer” even when seemingly defeated by adversities, because victory is absurdly impossible to everyone, except God.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Double Agent In Your Life - #6669

Thursday, August 2, 2012

I don't know if the espionage field is as exciting in real life as it is in fiction, but it sure makes for some great adventure plots - TV shows, novels, and movies. And I love spy stories! Let me tell you, they're pretty exciting! Now, in many good spy stories you'll find at least one character that they call a double agent. That means he's a spy who works for both sides, and you hope he's working for our side on this one. Of course, not all double agents are CIA types. In fact uh... you might know one intimately.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Double Agent In Your Life."

Now, there are many phrases from the Bible that people use all the time and they don't even know it's from the Bible. One of those is, "My thorn in the flesh." Well, that's out of the Bible and it's our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 12:7. Paul says, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."

Now, literally that word torment means to keep beating me up; to beat on me. Now, we don't really know exactly what the nature of the thorn was. There are a lot of different theories; it could have been something physical or emotional, but that's not important. I think God didn't let us know so we could apply this thorn idea to our own lives.

You see, God had a message for Paul, and so he was given this thorn in the flesh. This thorn was God's means of delivering the message to Paul. In fact, the book of 2 Corinthians really recounts Paul's battle to learn to depend totally on the Lord. We're talking here about a guy who was very skilled, persuasive, influential, and highly educated. He had to battle to learn to depend on God, not on himself.

The simplicity of what we learned when we were little kids, "Jesus loves me, this I know." Remember the part that says, "They are weak, but He is strong." We have to spend a whole lifetime learning that we are weak and He is strong. That's what 2 Corinthians is about. The one thing that makes humility tough is being used mightily by God, and Paul was.

You know, the tendency to take the credit for what God has done through you. You probably know about that. In a sense, when you've been a great worker, well, you need a great "weakener" to bring about balance. Paul's thorn was an agent for God saying, "You really need me, Paul." But it wasn't just God's agent; it was also a messenger of Satan. "It was given to him," it says, God gave Satan permission, in a sense, so it came from God indirectly, but it was a messenger from Satan to beat on Paul. It was a double agent. The Devil was using that same problem to say to Paul, "Give up, man! Do your own thing!"

Now, if God has really been working in your life; if God's really been using your life, you've probably got a thorn in your life. Maybe it's a physical limitation, or financial, family, relational. And you know what? As painful as it is, you needed it, and so do I. It's the thorns that keep us desperately depending on the Lord, and it's depending that makes us strong. That means that there's just a little of me and a lot of Him because of what I'm going through. But, see, the Devil wants to use this thorn for his purposes. So, the enemy taunts you with that problem. He tries to get you out of God's will; out of God's power. Yeah, that thorn is a double agent in your life; potentially working for both sides.

So, you have to decide whose agent your thorn will be. It's a powerful messenger. Don't let it work for the Devil - the destroyer. Listen for God's message in the thorn, and be sure you're letting Agent Thorn work for the winning side.

2 Kings 21 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.
MaxLucado.com: Giving Characterizes God

Scrooge didn’t create the world—God did!

Giving characterizes God’s creation. From the first page of Scripture, God produces in pluralities. Every gift arrives in bulk, multiples, and medleys.

Psalm 104 celebrates this lavish creation with twenty-three verses of blessings: the heavens and the earth, the water and streams and trees and birds and oil and bread.  It continues by saying God is the source of  “innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great.  These all wait for Him, that He may give them their food in due season.”

 And He does.  God is the great giver.  The great provider.  The fount of every blessing.  Absolutely generous and utterly dependable.

 The resounding and recurring message of Scripture is clear:

God owns it all.  God shares it all.  1st Timothy 6:17 says we’re not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God.

Trust Him—not stuff!

2 Kings 19-21 (New International Version)

Manasseh King of Judah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5 In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

7 He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them.” 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; 15 they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”

16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

17 As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

Amon King of Judah

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. 22 He forsook the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him.

23 Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. 24 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.

25 As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Romans 5:8-11

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

But God

August 1, 2012 — by Julie Ackerman Link

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8

Howard Sugden, my pastor when I was in college, preached many memorable sermons. After all these years, the one titled “But God . . .” still makes me stop whenever I come to those words in the Bible. Here are a few examples of verses that encourage me with the reminder of God’s righteous intervention in human affairs:

“You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to . . . save many people alive” (Gen. 50:20).

“Their beauty shall be consumed in the grave . . . . But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave” (Ps. 49:14-15).

“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26).

“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7-8).

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard . . . the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:9-10).

Whenever you feel discouraged, look up some “but God” verses and be reassured of God’s involvement in the lives of those who love Him.

Creator of the universe
Who reigns in awesome majesty:
How can it be that You’re involved
With such a one as me? —Sper
God’s involvement in our lives should reassure us of His love.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 1, 2012

Learning About His Ways

When Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples . . . He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities —Matthew 11:1

He comes where He commands us to leave. If you stayed home when God told you to go because you were so concerned about your own people there, then you actually robbed them of the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all the consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach, but as long as you were disobedient, you blocked His way. Watch where you begin to debate with Him and put what you call your duty into competition with His commands. If you say, “I know that He told me to go, but my duty is here,” it simply means that you do not believe that Jesus means what He says.

He teaches where He instructs us not to teach. “Master . . . let us make three tabernacles . . .” (Luke 9:33).

Are we playing the part of an amateur providence, trying to play God’s role in the lives of others? Are we so noisy in our instruction of other people that God cannot get near them? We must learn to keep our mouths shut and our spirits alert. God wants to instruct us regarding His Son, and He wants to turn our times of prayer into mounts of transfiguration. When we become certain that God is going to work in a particular way, He will never work in that way again.

He works where He sends us to wait. “. . . tarry . . . until . . .” (Luke 24:49). “Wait on the Lord” and He will work (Psalm 37:34). But don’t wait sulking spiritually and feeling sorry for yourself, just because you can’t see one inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our own spiritual fits of emotion to “wait patiently for Him”? (Psalm 37:7). Waiting is not sitting with folded hands doing nothing, but it is learning to do what we are told.

These are some of the facets of His ways that we rarely recognize.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Mom's Greatest Gift - #6668

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Nine years old and oh, so proud. Proud of the gift I had just bought for my mom for Mother's Day, that is. I picked it out myself. I paid for it with my own allowance. And I ruined it all by myself.

It was a two-carnation corsage. With a plastic bumblebee. That bumblebee was really cool. I was pushing the speed limit on my bicycle with the white florist box perched on my handlebars. Until I hit a bump and it went flying. I ran over my Mother's Day present. The flowers were crushed. And so was I.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mom's Greatest Gift."

Maybe that's why I love the idea of a crushproof Mother's Day gift. And there is one. It might be the greatest gift Mom could ever receive. And it's intimately tied to an amazing gift a Mom can give her son or daughter. I know. If it weren't for those two gifts, the wife I've loved all these years might never have been born.

Bill was the apple of his mother's eye. He had a great job, a good income - and an insatiable appetite for alcohol. From the time he was nine years old, he entertained the men at the local store by lapping booze from a saucer like a kitten.

By the time Bill was in his 20s, his drinking cost him his job, his dignity and almost some people he loved. After drinking heavily one night, he returned home, flew into a rage and chased his sisters with a butcher knife. Later, his drinking - and ultimately even cocaine use - took him to jail and then prison. Hopeless. Except for the gift his mother gave him. Her relentless prayer for him.

In 1907, Bill's mama wrote this on the back of a picture of him, dressed so fashionably at the time: "Will, O dear Will - When will you cease from your wandering ways and return to Jesus Christ? You may see this long after I am gone from this earth, but may you know that your mother always prayed for you."

One night those prayers reached all the way to her "Billy Boy," walking down Chicago's South State Street, his feet protected only by shoe soles tied on with rags. He was heading for Lake Michigan to end his wasted life. Then he heard the music - a hymn he remembered from his childhood. It was coming from a rescue mission. And it drew him inside. There a mission worker reached out to him with these words from the Bible: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

On the night Bill planned to end his life, he gave his life to Jesus. And he would say, from that day on, "I wasn't a reformed man - I was a transformed man." He spent the rest of his life traveling this country, telling people about the Rescuer of "hopeless" lives. Living in a trailer, his "Little Church on Wheels" - with John 3:16 emblazoned boldly on the side.

His Mama lived to see the miracle she prayed for. She saw his transformed life for ten wonderful years before she went Home. She gave her son the gift of her never-give-up praying. And he gave her the greatest gift of all - a child who loved and lived for her Savior.

Without those gifts, my wife would not be here. Because Bill - that young man saved by Jesus only minutes before he planned to die - was her grandfather. Who later fathered a daughter who loved and served Jesus. Who birthed the baby who has been the love of my life all these years...who loves and serves Jesus.

Because a mother would not give up praying for her wandering child. As a result, she experienced the miracle a widowed mother long ago experienced at the funeral of her only son. Jesus touched that coffin and commanded her dead boy to "get up!" "The dead man sat up...and Jesus gave him back to his mother" (Luke 7:14-15). Jesus is still the Savior who gives back a lost son or daughter to a mother who loves them. Who believes, as she pours out her heart in prayer for her prodigal, that "we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).

There is no greater gift a mother can give her children than to pray them to the foot of Jesus' cross. There is no greater gift a child can give a mother than to live their life for Jesus. For "I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth" (3 John 4).

I have living proof of the power of those gifts. My wife is sitting next to me. I just wished my wife, "Happy Mother's Day."

Maybe you're the son or daughter of a praying mother, but you've not been following her Jesus. Or maybe you're a mother who really needs the hope only Jesus can give. He waits with open arms to welcome you home - to the love you were made for. Please - stop by our website, YoursForLife.net. It's there to point the way home.

2 Kings 20 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear the word ofthe Lord Jesus Christ

MaxLucado.com: A Huge Asset

As followers of God, you and I have a huge asset.  We know everything is going to turn out all right!

Christ has not budged from His throne, and Romans 8:28 has not evaporated from the Bible.  Our problems have always been His possibilities.

The kidnapping of Joseph resulted in the preservation of his family.  The persecution of Daniel led to a cabinet position.  Christ entered the world by a surprise pregnancy and redeemed it though His unjust murder.

Dare we believe what the Bible teaches?  That no disaster is ultimately fatal?

In 2nd Timothy 4:18 the apostle Paul wrote his final words from a Roman prison, chained to a guard, within earshot of his executioner’s footsteps.   Worst-case scenario?  Not from Paul’s perspective.

He wrote: “God is looking after me, keeping me safe in the kingdom of heaven.  All praise to Him, praise forever!”

Paul chose to trust his Father.  May we do the same.

2 Kings 20

Hezekiah’s Illness

20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”

7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.

8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”

9 Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”

10 “It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”

11 Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

Envoys From Babylon

12 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. 13 Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”

15 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

19 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”

20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Acts 3:13-21

13  The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant[a] Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus[b] has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19  Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21  whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Recall Notice

July 31, 2012 — by C. P. Hia

Repent . . . that your sins may be blotted out. —Acts 3:19

In 2010, auto manufacturers recalled a staggering 20 million cars in the US for various defects. The thought of such a large number of defective cars on the road is startling enough. But what is more disturbing is the apathy of some owners. In one instance, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety warned owners, “It’s a free repair. Get it done. It may save your life.” Yet, despite the risk to their own lives, 30 percent never responded.

Likewise, many ignore God’s “recall notice” to the entire human race. Unlike a defect found in automobiles, the moral defect of the human race is not the Maker’s fault. He made everything “very good” (Gen. 1:31), but people’s sin ruined it. God’s offer to us is “repent . . . that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

God offers not just a free repair of the human heart but a replacement of it (Ezek. 36:26; 2 Cor. 5:17). Though the offer costs us nothing (Eph. 2:8-9), it cost God the life of His only Son Jesus Christ. “[Jesus] bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Don’t ignore the Lord’s call. The free and permanent remedy offered by God for your spiritual defect will save your life!

The heart of man is stained by sin,
From Adam’s fall this has been true;
Yet God in Christ can make a change—
Through faith in Him we are made new. —Fitzhugh
For a new start, ask God for a new heart.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 31, 2012

Becoming Entirely His

Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing —James 1:4

Many of us appear to be all right in general, but there are still some areas in which we are careless and lazy; it is not a matter of sin, but the remnants of our carnal life that tend to make us careless. Carelessness is an insult to the Holy Spirit. We should have no carelessness about us either in the way we worship God, or even in the way we eat and drink.

Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the outward expression of that relationship must also be right. Ultimately, God will allow nothing to escape; every detail of our lives is under His scrutiny. God will bring us back in countless ways to the same point over and over again. And He never tires of bringing us back to that one point until we learn the lesson, because His purpose is to produce the finished product. It may be a problem arising from our impulsive nature, but again and again, with the most persistent patience, God has brought us back to that one particular point. Or the problem may be our idle and wandering thinking, or our independent nature and self-interest. Through this process, God is trying to impress upon us the one thing that is not entirely right in our lives.

We have been having a wonderful time in our studies over the revealed truth of God’s redemption, and our hearts are perfect toward Him. And His wonderful work in us makes us know that overall we are right with Him. “Let patience have its perfect work . . . .” The Holy Spirit speaking through James said, “Now let your patience become a finished product.” Beware of becoming careless over the small details of life and saying, “Oh, that will have to do for now.” Whatever it may be, God will point it out with persistence until we become entirely His.



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

So What Are You Building? - #6667

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

This is going to come as a surprise to my friends who know my handyman abilities or my lack of handyman abilities, but my sons and I have built several houses together. Uh-huh! Yeah. Now, don't expect to see a pickup truck around town that says Hutchcraft & Sons on the side; that's not going to happen. See, our houses...well, they haven't done too well.

It wasn't because we didn't work hard. We did. And it wasn't because they didn't look good; they looked great. It wasn't because they weren't big; we built them pretty big. But they literally collapsed within hours of the time we finished building them. It might have had something to do with the fact that we built those houses out of sand on a beach near the ocean.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about, "So What Are You Building?"

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 16:16. "Simon Peter said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.'" Did you get that? "And on this rock I will build My church."

That's what Jesus is building, and the tide is not going to affect it, the gates of hell He says will not overcome it. Now, there's no doubt about what Jesus is building. He's building His church. Are you? What are you building? We're all working on some structure; some kingdom of some kind. It's that in which you are putting your dreams, quite a bit of your money, the best of your time, a lot of your daily conversation revolves around whatever kingdom you are working on.

Maybe you're building a reputation for yourself. Maybe you're building a romantic relationship, and that relationship is actually getting most of your best. Maybe you're building a business; I will build my business. I will build my income. I will build my personal dream. I will build my retirement. I will build my own little kingdom, maybe even within Christ's church. It's all sand castles; it's all going to collapse.

Jesus is calling us to focus what we have on building His church, and that means reaching the lost and building up believers. So, is that where your best is going? Someone has said in order for us to pray, "Thy kingdom come," we first have to pray, "My kingdom go." All these other things are all right if they're around the periphery and Christ is at the center and calling the shots in all of them.

I wonder if you'd stand back and take a candid look at your motives; at what is really your great passion right now; your great focus; your great obsession. Where are your energies going? Is it getting people to your Jesus? Or has Jesus' building program taken a back seat to something you're building; something out of sand; something a strong tide is going to wash away.

Jesus said, "The gates of hell will not wash away what He is building." Don't waste your few years on earth on a building that's not going to last. Jesus is building His church. What are you building?

2 Kings 19 bible reading and devotionals.

Clickto hear the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

MaxLucado.com: We Can Do This

Parents!  We can do this.

We can take our parenting fears to Christ.  In fact, if we don’t, we’ll take our fears out on our kids!

Fear turns some parents into paranoid prison guards who monitor every minute, check the background of every friend.  They stifle growth and communicate distrust.  A family with no breathing room suffocates a child.

Fear can also create permissive parents.  For fear their child will feel too confined, too fenced in, they lower all boundaries.  High on hugs and low on discipline.   They don’t realize that appropriate discipline is an expression of love.

Permissive parents.  Paranoid parents.  How can we avoid the extremes?

We pray!  Prayer is the saucer where parental fears are poured to cool.  Each time a parent prays, Christ responds.  His big message to moms and dads?

Bring your children to Me.  Pray!  Raise them in a greenhouse of prayer!

“Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire. Proverbs 29:17?

From Fearless

2 Kings 19

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”

5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword. ’”

8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

“‘Virgin Daughter Zion
    despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    “With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
    the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 “‘Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.
26 Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched before it grows up.
27 “‘But I know where you are
    and when you come and go
    and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.’
29 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“‘He will not enter this city
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;
    he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Philippians 1:12-22

The Advance of the Gospel

12 I want you to know, brothers,[a] that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard[b] and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word[c] without fear.

15  Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

Bad News And Good News

July 30, 2012 — by Marvin Williams

I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. —Philippians 1:12

Recently I had a conversation with a woman who had experienced a very difficult situation. The stress had affected her health, so she had to visit the doctor frequently. But with a smile on her face, she told me that she has been able to use this painful circumstance as an opportunity to share Christ with her doctor.

In the book of Philippians, we read how the apostle Paul used his difficult situation—imprisonment—to preach the gospel. The Philippian believers were grieved because Paul had been arrested for preaching Jesus, but he told them that his bondage had “actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel” (1:12). The whole palace guard and others knew why he was in jail—because he preached Christ. Whoever came in contact with Paul heard about Jesus—whether soldiers (who guarded him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or others outside. As a result of using his bad news to share the good news, some of the guards may have even become believers (4:22). Just because Paul was confined didn’t mean that the gospel was confined.

As Jesus-followers, we can allow our pain to be a platform to share the gospel. In our bad news, let’s find an opening to share the good news.

We often think if life were smooth
We would a better witness be;
But God knows best—that faith midst trials
Can honor Him more powerfully. —Cetas
Pain can be a platform to share Christ.



My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 30, 2012

The Teaching of Disillusionment

Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . . , for He knew what was in man —John 2:24-25

Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions. However, though no longer deceived, our experience of disillusionment may actually leave us cynical and overly critical in our judgment of others. But the disillusionment that comes from God brings us to the point where we see people as they really are, yet without any cynicism or any stinging and bitter criticism. Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts, seeing each other as we really are; we are only true to our misconceived ideas of one another. According to our thinking, everything is either delightful and good, or it is evil, malicious, and cowardly.

Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens— if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give. There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is so obviously uncompromising with regard to every human relationship because He knows that every relationship that is not based on faithfulness to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no one, and never placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God, and in what God’s grace could do for anyone, was so perfect that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Jewish Sandals - #6666

Monday, July 30, 2012

My car started this morning. You say, "Big deal." Well, it is; it starts every morning no matter how cold it is or how wet it is. That's especially good when you realize the old girl's got, you know, something like 150,000 miles on her. I don't have nearly that many miles on me, and I'm having increasing trouble starting in the morning myself. Actually, all our cars have been like that since we began in the ministry many years ago, and they keep working. And I don't credit the automobile company with it; I credit the manufacturer - no, the manufacturer.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy 29:5. God is speaking through Moses and reflecting on the 40 years that He kept the Israelites in the wilderness. Seemingly there's going to be no place where they're going to be able to get what they need. There aren't too many resources out there in the wilderness. But He says, "During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out nor did the sandals on your feet" (and your car kept starting. No, no...I added that part; that's not in there. That's the Hutchcraft translation).

Jewish sandals! The sandals didn't wear out on your feet. This is another insight into your Heavenly Father who is called Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides. See, God has so many creative ways to meet the needs of His kids. He seldom does it the same way twice. Sometimes it's manna. The supply comes in a form you've never even known before. Sometimes it's water from a rock. "Where are we going to get water, Moses?" Wait! Water doesn't come from rocks. Oh, really?

Sometimes God supplies for you through a totally unexpected source. Sometimes He sends the ravens, like He did for Elijah, as He sent them every morning and evening with his food. Surprising deliverers of His supply will be the ones who sometimes bring it to you. They just weren't even on your radar. Who would have guessed it would have come from them? And it's usually done on a daily bread basis; just what you need for that day. Sometimes He does loaves and fish; he makes a little go farther than you ever dreamed it could. But He always keeps His promise in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd," say it with me, "I shall not want."

Sometimes there's a different kind of supply miracle. He simply makes things last, like Jewish sandals. Our repairman said that about our washing machine. He said, "This thing should not be alive." But it's still going - Jewish sandals.

Now, God could have had it rain sandals if He wanted it to, but instead He just preserved one pair, and they're walking every day for 40 years in those sandals in the wilderness. See, we get in a rut of looking for manna all the time, and God may want to do it through Jewish sandals. We miss those miracles of things that last because they're not as dramatic. Well, take care of what God gives you, and pray for His preserving miracles as well as His delivering miracles. Let God do it in any creative way He wants, and live knowing that you always, always will have what you need.

His Word in Philippians 4:19 is, "My God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Look around you. I'll bet somewhere God is meeting your need through a miracle of manna right now; just a miraculous, out-of-nowhere provision. But I'll bet somewhere you've got the modern equivalent of those Jewish sandals. Either way, every need is supplied. You're living hand-to-mouth; His hand to your mouth. Wow! Are you secure!