Psalm 97 bible reading and devotions.

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MaxLucado.com: Jesus Honors You

You are valuable just because you exist! Remember that the next time some trickster tries to hang a bargain basement price tag on your self-worth.

Just think about the way Jesus honors you—and smile!  I do.  I smile because I know I don’t deserve a love like that.  None of us do.

When you get right down to it, any contribution any of us makes is pretty puny. All of us, even the purest of us, deserve heaven about as much as that crook on the cross did.

It makes me smile to think there’s a grinning thief walking the golden streets of heaven who knows more about grace than a thousand theologians.

No one else would have given the thief on the cross a prayer. But in the end that is all he had. And in the end, that is all it took!

No wonder they call Jesus the Savior.    (taken from Cast of Characters)

Psalm 97

1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
    let the distant shores rejoice.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
    and consumes his foes on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
    the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
    before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    and all peoples see his glory.
7 All who worship images are put to shame,
    those who boast in idols —
    worship him, all you gods!
8 Zion hears and rejoices
    and the villages of Judah are glad
    because of your judgments, Lord.
9 For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;
    you are exalted far above all gods.
10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil,
    for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
    and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light shines[b] on the righteous
    and joy on the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,
    and praise his holy name.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Serve Well With Joy

August 28, 2012 — by Dave Branon

Serve the Lord with gladness. —Psalm 100:2

Nine years ago today a good friend went out for a lunchtime jog and never came back. Kurt De Haan, who was the managing editor of Our Daily Bread, died of a heart attack on that sunny Thursday. Some of us who worked with Kurt still keep mementos of him in our offices.

For instance, on one wall of my cubicle, I display the last memo I received from Kurt. It reminds me of his thoroughness as an editor—striving to represent God’s Word accurately and well. Another co-worker displays the last paper wad Kurt threw in her direction, reminding her of his eagerness to enjoy life.

Each time we talk about Kurt and how much we miss him, we discuss his combination of a quest for excellence mixed with an enjoyable personality. He worked hard and loved life. He strove to teach God’s Word with integrity while living his life with joy.

Remembering Kurt and his example is refreshing and challenging. It reminds us that others are watching us and can tell if we’re serving “the Lord with gladness” (Ps. 100:2), and if our love for Jesus is coming through in our good works (Eph. 2:10). Serve well. Serve with joy. Does that describe our work for the Savior?

Help me, dear Jesus, to live out the joy
and peace You’ve given to me. May those who work
with and know me see that joy. And may I always
stand for truth and righteousness.
For joy that will last, always put Christ first.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 28, 2012

The Purpose of Prayer

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ —Luke 11:1

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

“Ask, and you will receive . . .” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

You Don't Know When You Were Born? - #6687

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Birthdays have changed for me over the years. When I was little, my parents always made it a big deal with a party, and friends, and hats, and cake with candles and all the rest.

Today my birthday just isn't a big hoopla it used to be. Many times I have the quiet kind with cards, a couple of gifts, and a nice family dinner together. Actually, it's getting to the point where my wife is hesitant to put candles on my cake. She says there's so many it might set off the smoke detectors in our house. Come on! But it is getting tougher.

The observance varies from year to year, but one thing is for sure - I always know when it's my birthday. You say, "Oh, well, congratulations! Most people do." In fact, I have to write it on a lot of forms many times a year. And then, I know when I was married too. Aren't you proud of me? I can even remember that, and I'd better remember the anniversary for sure. Hey, look, important beginnings; you know when they were, or you should.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Don't Know When You Were Born?"

Now, when you go flying - that is in an airplane, you don't try to talk your way on board. I do a lot of flying, and you don't say, "Listen, don't you think I'm good looking? Don't you think I'm a nice guy? Would you let me on board?" They'd say, "No, sir. Where is your ticket?" Did you know it's the same thing when it comes to getting into God's heaven? One day you and I are going to stand before God and hope that we'll spend forever in that wonderful place. Got your ticket?

Well, what's your ticket? John 3:3 - basically He says, "Here's the ticket." Jesus says, "I'll tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God (woah!) unless he is born again." Well, how do you do that? If that's the only ticket to get into God's heaven, you want to make sure that you are born again. So, how does that happen? When does it happen?

Our word for today from the Word of God, John 1:12 says this, "To all who received Christ, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become the children of God." In other words, to get born into His family. Now, on my first birthday I was born into the Hutchcraft family; I know when that happened. On your second birth, you get born into God's family when you place your total trust in Christ and tell Him you want Him to enter the control room of your life.

There's no way to do that without knowing you did it. Now, do you know when you were born into God's family? Okay, you may not remember a date - not everybody does - but you've got to remember that you did it, to know that you did. If not, you might not be in God's family. You say, "Well, I've been around Him for years; I must have picked Him up somewhere." You don't get Jesus by osmosis. "Well, I believe it all." But see, agreement is not commitment. "Well, I can't remember not knowing about Him." That doesn't mean you've given yourself to Him any more than knowing and even loving a person for 50 years means you married them.

Like birth, there's a day when no life becomes life. Like Mary, choosing Christ is a conscious choice. You know you did it. You may have Christian beliefs, a Christian pedigree, a Christian reputation, even a Christian position and not have Christ. When were you born? If you don't know...if you're not sure there's a day you began to be in God's family, well, maybe you're not in it. But you know what? You could consciously, today, receive Him and get this settled. Just don't be so proud that you won't make sure. Religious pride is going to cost a lot of people heaven.

If you're not sure you belong to Him, why not have a day when you make sure? Why not let this be the day? The Bible says, "Today is your day of salvation." Reach out and say, "Jesus, beginning today, consciously I give myself to You. I am Yours."

Go to our website. A lot of people go there, and you can find there how to be sure you belong to Him. The website's YoursForLife.net. And when you do finally tell Him that for sure, this could be the most special day of your life.

You let Christ in today, and your Heavenly Father will be the first to wish you "Happy Birthday!"

Psalm 96 bible reading and devotions.

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MaxLucado.com:

We Are Valuable

Value is now measured by two criteria: appearance and performance.  Where does that leave the ugly or uneducated?  Where hope does that offer the unborn child? The aged?  The handicapped? Not much at all. We become nameless numbers on mislaid lists.

This is man’s value system.  But it is not God’s.  His plan is much brighter.  In God’s book man is heading somewhere.  He has an amazing destiny.

We’re being prepared to walk down the church aisle and become the bride of Jesus. We’re going to live with him.  Share the throne with him. We count.  We’re valuable.

Jesus’ love does not depend on what we do for him. If there was anything that Jesus wanted everyone to understand it was this: A person is worth something simply because he is a person. That’s why Jesus treated people the way he did.

You have value simply because you are!

You are His.

From Cast of Characters

Psalm 96

1 Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns. ”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Hebrews 4:9-16

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[a] just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[b] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are —yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The New Normal

August 27, 2012 — by Bill Crowder

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. —Hebrews 4:15

A pastor, who was trained in trauma and grief counseling, commented that the greatest challenge for people who are hurting is often not the immediate heartache of the loss. Instead, the biggest problem is adjusting to the different kind of life that follows. What once was normal may never be normal again. So the challenge for those offering help is to assist the sufferers as they establish the “new normal.” It may be a new normal that no longer includes robust health, a treasured relationship, or a satisfying job. Or it may be living without a loved one who has been taken in death. The gravity of such losses forces us to live a different kind of life—no matter how unwelcome it may be.

When our “new normal” comes, it’s easy to think no one understands how we feel. But that isn’t true. Part of the reason Jesus came was to experience life among us, resulting in His present ministry: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

Our Savior lived a perfect life, yet He also knew the pains of a broken world. He endured sorrow; He suffered agony. And He stands ready to encourage us when the dark moments of life force us to embrace a new normal.

Father, thank You that in the darkest seasons of life, You
will never abandon us. Guide us with Your never-failing
presence through both the welcome and unwelcome changes
of life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
In our desert of grief, Jesus can provide an oasis of hope.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 27, 2012

Living Your Theology

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you . . . —John 12:35

Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mountaintop with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23). The moment you forsake the matter of sanctification or neglect anything else on which God has given you His light, your spiritual life begins to disintegrate within you. Continually bring the truth out into your real life, working it out into every area, or else even the light that you possess will itself prove to be a curse.

The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the prideful self-satisfaction of a past experience, but is not working that experience out in his everyday life. If you say you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it shows in your life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound.

Your theology must work itself out, exhibiting itself in your most common everyday relationships. Our Lord said, “. . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). In other words, you must be more moral than the most moral person you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you working it out in the everyday issues of your life? Every detail of your life, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, is to be judged and measured by the standard of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Avoiding the Backlash That's Building Behind You - #6686

Monday, August 27, 2012

When you hear about the weather on the East Coast, you almost always hear about a place called Cape Hatteras. It's a barrier reef off the coast of North Carolina; it's been called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. And it's probably the storm center of the East Coast. In fact, when you look at the map or hear the weatherman in the morning he'll say, "There's a blizzard off of Cape Hatteras. There's a hurricane off of Cape Hatteras. There's a major storm system off of Cape Hatteras."

It's a place where most hurricanes coming up the East Coast make landfall. Oh, you have the ocean on the front side of this barrier reef, and then there's a quieter bay on its backside. When a hurricane hits, it can do a lot of damage. I talked to some people when I was there, and they told me a surprising reason why the hurricane does so much damage. Most of it doesn't come from the hurricane coming in from the ocean, which I would have thought; it comes after the hurricane leaves from all the water that was pushed back into the bay. It's that backlash that kills the island, not the front of the storm. It's sort of like postponed destruction.

Maybe you've faced some gale-force winds lately in your life. But because of the way you're handling it, you may face something worse than the storm, and that's the backlash from the bay.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Avoiding the Backlash That's Building Behind You."

Our word for today from the Word of God is about people under pressure; people who are being hit with perhaps emotional, or financial, or medical, or family hurricanes; storm centers like Cape Hatteras. Isaiah 30:15, talks about ways that we can handle that kind of pressure, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." Listen to what He says, "'But you would have none of it. No, here's how I'll handle it.' You said, 'No, we will flee on horses. Therefore, you will flee.' You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses. Therefore your pursuers will be swift.'"

Now, what He's talking about here is handling pressure in that time-honored way, "Run for it! Escape! Get on a fast horse and get out of here." It may very well be that trouble has hit you, and you've been trying to run from it rather than face it. You haven't resorted to horses, but there are a lot of other ways to run. To run from your family problems, from personal doubts you've been having, maybe a problem you've been postponing dealing with or a confrontation you need to have. Perhaps you run to your friends, or you just turn up the music, or get real busy, or use drugs or alcohol, maybe just deception - you kid yourself, you run to your recreation, you get lost in your work. Or maybe you've been running from the Lord's personal dealings with you.

But see, the backlash from the bay is going to catch you. That's why the Bible says your pursuers will be swift. The backlash is building. You can't postpone it. The Bible says, "Your strength is not in running from it. Your strength is in repenting, in resting, being quiet, in trusting.

Stop running from what you should be facing. You've got to face the pressure, face the storm, face the issue, and if need be, face the Lord. Trade in that false and temporary security we feel by trying to escape. Trade that for the real security of the peace of Almighty God.

Philippians 4 bible reading and devotionals.

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Max Lucado Daily: He Forgets

“He forgives your sins—every one.” Psalm 103:3 The Message

It’s against God’s nature to remember forgiven sins . . .

He who is perfect love cannot hold grudges. If he does, then he isn’t perfect love. And if he isn’t perfect love, you might as well put this book down and go fishing, because both of us are chasing fairy tales.

But I believe in his loving forgetfulness. And I believe he has a graciously terrible memory.

Philippians 4
New International Version (NIV)
Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity

4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Final Exhortations

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Thanks for Their Gifts

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. 17 Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

21 Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. 22 All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.[a]


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Romans 5:1-8

Peace and Hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Off-Limits

August 26, 2012 — by Anne Cetas

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —John 3:16

As a 12-year-old, I was curious about the Bible my dad was given when he retired from the paper mill. It came in a special cedar box marked The Holy Bible, and I assumed that “holy” meant it was off-limits to me. But still I peered inside. In the center of the Bible was a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross, along with the words of John 3:16. There was also a see-through red film covering the page, which I assumed meant He bled and died.

Occasionally, when no one else was looking, I would gently pull the holy Book off the shelf, open the box, look at the picture of Jesus on the cross, read the verse, and wonder about this Man and why He died. I wondered if His love was meant for me or if it too was off-limits.

Several years later I heard a message about how God had provided access to His love through Jesus. Romans 5:1-2 tells us: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” I believed and received Jesus’ salvation from my sin.

Aren’t you thankful that the Bible and God’s love aren’t off-limits? Receive His forgiveness—it’s meant for unholy people like you and me.

How precious is God’s holy Word—
Its pages every one!
They lead us to the Living Word—
To Jesus, God’s dear Son. —D. De Haan
The Bible is God’s love letter to us.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 26, 2012

Are You Ever Troubled?

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you . . . —John 14:27

There are times in our lives when our peace is based simply on our own ignorance. But when we are awakened to the realities of life, true inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace, because the words that He speaks are always “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “. . . My peace I give to you. . .”— a peace that comes from looking into His face and fully understanding and receiving His quiet contentment.

Are you severely troubled right now? Are you afraid and confused by the waves and the turbulence God sovereignly allows to enter your life? Have you left no stone of your faith unturned, yet still not found any well of peace, joy, or comfort? Does your life seem completely barren to you? Then look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus. Reflecting His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the freedom to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. Allowing anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you either causes you to become troubled or gives you a false sense of security.

With regard to the problem that is pressing in on you right now, are you “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and receiving peace from Him? If so, He will be a gracious blessing of peace exhibited in and through you. But if you only try to worry your way out of the problem, you destroy His effectiveness in you, and you deserve whatever you get. We become troubled because we have not been taking Him into account. When a person confers with Jesus Christ, the confusion stops, because there is no confusion in Him. Lay everything out before Him, and when you are faced with difficulty, bereavement, and sorrow, listen to Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:27).

Psalm 95 bible reading and devotionals.

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Max Lucado Daily: Go Deep

“You thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.” Psalm 1:2 The Message

The Bible is not a newspaper to be skimmed but rather a mine to be quarried.

Here is a practical point. Study the Bible a little at a time. God seems to send messages as did his manna: one day’s portion at a time. He provides ” a command here, a command there. A rule here, a rule there. A little lesson here, a little lesson there” (Isa. 28:10). Choose depth over quantity.

Psalm 95

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,[a]
    as you did that day at Massah[b] in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm —
    he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

Sleepless In Heaven

August 25, 2012 — by Joe Stowell

He who keeps you will not slumber. —Psalm 121:3

One of the most dangerous aspects of flying is the landing. As the aircraft gets closer to land, the air traffic is more congested, the weather on the ground may be far worse than the weather at 30,000 feet, and the runways may not be clear of other planes. So pilots rely on the air-traffic controller to coordinate all the details so that every plane can arrive without incident. Without the air-traffic controller, chaos would be certain.

Imagine, then, the panic when the pilot of an airliner full of passengers radioed the tower and got no answer. It was eventually discovered that the air-traffic controller was in fact there but sound asleep, putting pilot, passengers, and plane in great jeopardy. The good news is that the plane landed safely.

Even better news is that God, the ultimate traffic controller, neither slumbers nor sleeps. From His heavenly vantage point, He knows all that is going on in and around your life. As the psalmist notes, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber” (121:2-3).

You can count on it—God knows the impending dangers and will tirelessly direct the traffic of your life for your good and His glory (Rom. 8:28).

When trouble stalks the path we tread,
We need assurance, Lord, to know
That all our steps are being led—
That You, our God, are in control. —D. De Haan
Because God never sleeps, we can be at peace.



My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 25, 2012

Sacrifice and Friendship

I have called you friends . . . —John 15:15

We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if . . . !” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.

But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.

Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God . . . .” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.

“I have called you friends. . . .” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.

Psalm 94 bible reading and devotions.

Click here to download and listen.

Max Lucado: Make a Choice

Maybe your past isn’t much to brag about. Maybe you’ve seen raw evil—and now you have to make a choice. Do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses?

Healthy bodies.  Sharp minds.  But retired dreams.  Back and forth they rock in the chair of regret.  Lean closely and you’ll hear them.

If only I’d been born somewhere else. . .

If only I’d been treated fairly. . .

If only I’d had more opportunities. . .if only. . .

Put down the scrapbook of your life and pick up the Bible.  Read Jesus’ words in John 3:6: “Human life comes from human parents but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.”

God has not left you adrift on a sea of heredity. You have a choice in the path you take.

Choose well!

From Cast of Characters

Psalm 94

1 The Lord is a God who avenges.
    O God who avenges, shine forth.
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth;
    pay back to the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, Lord, will the wicked,
    how long will the wicked be jubilant?
4 They pour out arrogant words;
    all the evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, Lord;
    they oppress your inheritance.
6 They slay the widow and the foreigner;
    they murder the fatherless.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob takes no notice.”
8 Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
    you fools, when will you become wise?
9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
    Does he who formed the eye not see?
10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
    Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?
11 The Lord knows all human plans;
    he knows that they are futile.
12 Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
    the one you teach from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,
    till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
    he will never forsake his inheritance.
15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
    Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,
    I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping, ”
    your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
    your consolation brought me joy.
20 Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—
    a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
21 The wicked band together against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
    and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
23 He will repay them for their sins
    and destroy them for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will destroy them.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Luke 9:18-27

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Jesus Predicts His Death

21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

Risky Business

August 24, 2012 — by David C. McCasland

Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. —Luke 9:24

As the worldwide financial crisis deepened in 2010, executives of a global banking firm were investigated for deceiving their customers about the risk involved in certain investments they were selling. While promising a high rate of return, the banking firm knew that the investments were destined to fail, leaving those who purchased them with nothing.

Deception is nothing new. Jesus described Satan as one who “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him . . . for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). The enemy of our souls tells us, “Live only for the present,” when he knows it will result in our eternal loss.

Jesus, on the other hand, did not offer His disciples a life of prosperity and ease but called them to self-sacrifice and identification with Him. After telling them that He would be killed and raised from the dead, Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

There are two voices telling us where to invest our lives. It’s risky business to follow the wrong one.

When you hear the Shepherd’s voice
As He calls you, “Come to Me,”
In your life make Him your choice
And His faithful follower be. —Hess
If we hold on to God’s truth, we won’t be trapped by Satan’s lies.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 24, 2012

The Spiritual Search

What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Matthew 7:9

The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a “good child” in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, “I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”

We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).

I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Going Through the Motions - #6685

riday, August 24, 2012

Ah, the lost art of tying a tie. I experienced it a few weekends ago as the man doing the marrying at a young couple's wedding.

It was fairly amusing watching the helpless look on the groomsmen's faces as they were handed their necktie to put on for the ceremony. There they stood, fingering that mysterious piece of cloth, wondering what to do with it. I suggested to the guys my theory as to how ties even came to be. I think they were invented by a woman who had a big time grudge against men. Yep! And she's been gloating over the thought that every time men would have to dress up, they would strangle themselves.

Okay, so much for my little tirade. I can do my tie easily enough. I just can't think backwards enough to tie it on someone else. But I couldn't just leave these guys hangin'. So I tied each of their ties on myself, I loosened it and put it on them. Now, they were ready for the self-choking maneuver, and the wedding.

That was on Saturday. Friday night, we all went tieless, but it did look a lot like a wedding. The bridesmaid/groomsmen couples came down that aisle, her arm in his. Beautiful music was playing and the groom and I were at the front. Then, the big moment. The bride and her father made that stately march down the aisle as people stood for the grand entrance. The father "gave away" his daughter...the bride and groom stood before the minister, and ultimately the young couple - all smiles now - marched out of that sanctuary together.

But they still were not married. That was only the rehearsal. So on Friday night, they entered that church not married. And they left uh-huh not married. But Saturday, they entered that church not married and they left married! The difference? Well, on Friday, they were just going through the motions. On Saturday, they committed their lives to each other.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Going Through the Motions."

There are a lot of people who walk into church Sunday after Sunday, looking all Christian but without Jesus. And they walk out the same way they came in, without Jesus, because they're only going through the motions.

It's all too easy to do, sometimes without even realizing it. You have lots of Christianity, but you totally miss Christ. You go through all the motions of belonging to Him, believing all the right beliefs, doing all the right things, saying all the right words. Looking and sounding, for all the world like a person who knows Jesus for real. But you're missing Him.

That's why God gives this warning to all us church folks in our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 13:5. Listen carefully, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?"

There's something very sobering about a Judgment Day tragedy that Jesus described. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven...Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you'" (Matthew 7:21-23).

Those are some of the most chilling words in the Bible, "You knew all about Me, but I never knew you." Because they had Jesus in their head, but somehow never asked Him into their heart. So, it's possible to know all about Jesus, but not really know Jesus, because you've missed the one step that makes the Savior your Savior.

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life," the Bible says (John 3:36). When God says "believe," He's talking about grabbing Jesus like He's your only hope. Pinning all your hopes on Him and what He did when He died on the cross to pay for every sin you've ever done. If you ask me if I'm married and I say, "Well, I'm not sure," then I'm not married, right? If you don't know you've given yourself to Jesus, you probably haven't, because it is a conscious commitment.

If you've missed that step of committing your life to Him, then you've missed Jesus, and you will miss heaven, because you're just going through the motions. If you're not sure you belong to Jesus, even though you've been playing the part, please today say, "Jesus, today I want to be yours. Today I claim what you did on the cross for me; for my sin. You are my Savior beginning today."

And I would encourage you to go to our website and check out there how to be sure you really do belong to Him. YoursForLife.net. You could have this thing settled finally once and for all.

Psalm 93 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to download and listen.

MaxLucado.com: You Are His

God’s grace defines you!

Society labels you like a can on an assembly line. Stupid.  Unproductive. Slow learner.  Fast talker.  Quitter.  But as grace infiltrates, criticism disintegrates. You know you aren’t who they say you are.

You are who God says you are:  “spiritually alive.” Heavenly positioned, “seated with him in the heavenly realms.”  “One with Jesus Christ.”

Of course, not all labels are negative.  Some people regard you as clever, successful. But it doesn’t compare with being “seated with him in the heavenly realms!”  God creates the Christian’s resume!

Grace defines who you are.  The parent you can’t please is as mistaken as the doting uncle you can’t disappoint.

Listen, God wrote your story.  He cast you in his drama. You hang as God’s work of art, a testimony in his gallery of grace.

According to Him, you are His.  Period.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”  Ephesians 2:6

From Cast of Characters

Psalm 93

Psalm 93

1 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;
    the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
    indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
2 Your throne was established long ago;
    you are from all eternity.
3 The seas have lifted up, Lord,
    the seas have lifted up their voice;
    the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
    mightier than the breakers of the sea—
    the Lord on high is mighty.
5 Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;
    holiness adorns your house
    for endless days.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Hebrews 12:3-11

3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

God Disciplines His Children

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

A Picture Of Him

August 23, 2012 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Whom the Lord loves He chastens. —Hebrews 12:6

One day my son uncapped an orange marker and drew a picture of his father. His toddler’s rendering featured eyes, a nose, and a mouth, all inside of a circle on top of two long sticks (he informed me that those were the legs). Although my little boy scored high marks for effort, his picture didn’t quite capture the specifics that would have created a close likeness to my husband: blue eyes, a confident smile, and silver-flecked hair.

As God’s children, we sometimes create images of our heavenly Father that aren’t accurate. We may view God as unloving when He corrects sinful patterns in our lives. And because discipline is painful (Heb. 12:11), we may assume that God’s correction is a form of divine revenge or the result of His anger. In reality, it is proof of His love for us. The Bible says, “Whom the Lord loves He chastens” (v.6). He disciplines us for our benefit, so that we “may be partakers of His holiness” (v.10) and experience the peace that comes from right living (v.11).

Today, if you are facing God’s discipline, remember that He isn’t peering down at you with an angry scowl or shaking a vengeful fist. Picture Him as a concerned Father, lovingly correcting His child in whom He delights (Prov. 3:12).

Lord, when I sin and You discipline me,
help me to see it’s Your love in action. May Your loving
discipline mold and shape my character
so that I become more and more like You. Amen.
God’s hand of discipline is a hand of love.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 23, 2012

Prayer— Battle in “The Secret Place”

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly —Matthew 6:6

Jesus did not say, “Dream about your Father who is in the secret place,” but He said, “. . . pray to your Father who is in the secret place. . . .” Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray. We cannot seem to get our minds into good working order, and the first thing we have to fight is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is overcoming this problem of our idle and wandering thinking. We have to learn to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful, deliberate prayer.

We must have a specially selected place for prayer, but once we get there this plague of wandering thoughts begins, as we begin to think to ourselves, “This needs to be done, and I have to do that today.” Jesus says to “shut your door.” Having a secret stillness before God means deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him. God is in secret, and He sees us from “the secret place”— He does not see us as other people do, or as we see ourselves. When we truly live in “the secret place,” it becomes impossible for us to doubt God. We become more sure of Him than of anyone or anything else. Enter into “the secret place,” and you will find that God was right in the middle of your everyday circumstances all the time. Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

How to Avoid a Spiritual Hernia - #6684

Thursday, August 23, 2012

It all started when my Dad helped some people lift a piano. There were not enough men to lift it, but they all thought they could handle it. And the next thing I knew, my Dad ended up in the hospital for a hernia operation, all because of lifting that big piano. He never should have tried to lift that much. You know what? I'm talking to somebody now who is sweating, and straining to lift...oh, not a piano! But it might be something you were never meant to lift.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Avoid a Spiritual Hernia."

Well, our word for today from the Word of God is John 15:4-5. I guess you could say it's about avoiding spiritual hernias! Jesus is probably walking through the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples. He's now in the countdown hours before He goes to the cross, and He stops and says, "Gentlemen, take a look at that grape vine over there." And in the process, He teaches them a lesson that they probably remembered every time they looked at a grape vine. He said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." And then in verses 4 and 5 He said, "Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing."

Now, what Jesus is saying here in simple language is this: you concentrate on staying close to Me, and I'll produce the results. Not you'll produce the results; I'll produce them. Don't get it backwards. You're not the vine producing the fruit. Jesus said, "I'm the vine. All you are is the branch."

When He says you'll bear fruit, I think that every follower of Christ who has any life at all in Him is going to be a fruit-bearing Christian. What does that mean? Well, it means, for example, the love that you need for that person in your family or at work that's really difficult for you to deal with...maybe somebody at school. The fruit that you need to produce is love for that person who has given you no reason to love them.

How about the patience you need? Or fruit can mean people coming to Christ. So, how do you have the love you need, the patience you need, the self-control you need? How do you lead people to Christ? It is not about you producing the results. Don't forget the vine and the branches picture. You look at that branch on that vine, it looks like the grapes are coming from the branch. But that's wrong! They're coming through the branch. They're coming from the vine. All of the good traits of a Jesus follower, all the love, all the witness, all the persuasion, all the power, all the patience that you need isn't yours. The good result oh, comes through you but not from you.

Imagine a little branch lying off on the side going, "Oh, oh, wait! I've got to get some fruit on me!" You say, "Get back on the vine! That's where the fruit comes from." Maybe you've seen the Christian experience as something where you have to sweat, and strain, and push and say, "Oh, I've just got to try harder. I've tried so hard to be a good Christian." That's why you get a spiritual hernia. All you've got is a self-improvement plan with Christian words. See, your mission is to stay close to your Jesus, and then as you do your part, He will naturally produce what you've been trying to force.

Hudson Taylor, the great missionary leader, said, "I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him, and I ended up asking Him to do His work through me." Listen, "Open your hands, open your arms and relax." Or in the words of Corrie ten Boom, "Don't wrestle, just nestle."

Philippians 3 bible reading and devotions.

Click to download and listen.

MaxLucado.com:  A Godly Touch

The power of a godly touch. Have you known it? The doctor who treated you, or the teacher who dried your tears?  Was there a hand holding yours at a funeral?

Haven’t we known the power of a godly touch? Can’t we offer the same?

Some of you use your hands to pray for the sick. If you aren’t touching them personally, you’re writing notes, calling, baking pies.  You’ve learned the power of a touch.

But others tend to forget. Our hearts are good; it’s just that our memories are bad. We forget how significant one touch can be.

We fear saying the wrong thing, or using the wrong tone or acting the wrong way. So rather than do it incorrectly, we do nothing at all.

Aren’t we glad Jesus didn’t make the same mistake? Jesus touched the untouchables of the world. Will you do the same?

 From Cast of Characters

Philippians 3
New International Version (NIV)
No Confidence in the Flesh

3 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Following Paul’s Example

15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 1:1-13

The Word Became Flesh

1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4  In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8  He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Theory Of Everything

August 22, 2012 — by David C. Egner

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible. —Colossians 1:16

Scientists have been looking for the “Theory of Everything.” One person who thinks he found it is physicist Brian Greene, who wrote The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory. Greene’s “string theory” is a complicated concept suggesting that at its tiniest level everything consists of combinations of vibrating strands, or strings. He has described his theory as “a framework with the capacity to explain every fundamental feature upon which the world is constructed.”

Over the years, thinkers from Newton to Einstein to Hawking to Greene have spent the greater portion of their lives trying to figure out how the universe works—and they have proposed fascinating theories.

In reality, for any theory to explain everything in the universe adequately it must begin and end with God. “All things . . . visible and invisible” (Col. 1:16) have their origin in Him and exist for His glory (Ps. 72:19). The first few verses of John’s gospel tell us that our Lord created the universe—and that without His hand of creation nothing would exist.

That’s why when we consider the world and everything in it, we can exclaim with Isaiah: “The whole earth is full of His glory!” (6:3). Praise His holy name!

Our God has fashioned earth and sky,
Sun, moon, and stars beyond compare;
His workmanship we can’t deny—
His fingerprints are everywhere. —Seals
All creation is an outstretched finger pointing toward God.


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

“I Indeed . . . But He”

I indeed baptize you with water . . . but He . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire —Matthew 3:11

Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can say, “I indeed . . . but He . . .”? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do anything more— butHe begins right there— He does the things that no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.

Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He will baptize you . . . .” The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.

“I indeed” was this in the past, “but He” came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Promise Keepers - #6683

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

You know, a hand shake just isn't what it used to be. It used to be all that you needed to guarantee an agreement between two people. There aren't very many deals done today on just a hand shake. If someone says they'll do something, out come the papers, the contract, the warranties, the fine print, the lawyers, the notary public. I've learned from following my wife around antique stores, where we've mostly just looked, that the less there are of certain objects the more valuable that one is. That's true of people too. In a world where words are cheap, you can be one of a rare and priceless breed.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Promise Keepers."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is coming from Psalm 15; a very interesting psalm. It's a description of what it takes to be a person who is really close to God; to get God's best, to be respected by heaven and earth. What determines all this is how a person handles his tongue, his neighbor, his money, the people around him; actually five solid gold traits. I want to focus on one today. It's our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 15:4.

The beginning of this psalm says, "Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary; who may live on Your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous." Then it defines that, and this characteristic of that person is this: "One who keeps his oath, even when it hurts." Wow! That's a good one, isn't it?"Keeps his oath when it hurts?" He's a promise keeper, no matter how expensive it is to keep that promise." Hey, that's a rare kind of person.

People today just get through the moment by promising whatever they have to promise and then forgetting it. Well, now, if promise keeping and commitment keeping were common, a lot of lawyers would probably be out of work today. But it's very important to God.

That's what this psalm says. It's important to God whether you keep your promises. You may forget your promises, but God doesn't. You may minimize your commitment, but God doesn't. You make it a top priority to promise only what you can do, and then to do what you promise.

See, the follower of Christ is bound to keep his promise, not by a contract but by his character. God remembers our promises, and someone else who remembers them is our children. If you've promised your child time, or help, or an answer, you deliver on that promise even if it hurts. No matter what you have to rearrange; you move heaven and earth to keep a promise you've made to your son or daughter. The issue is trust, and you've got nothing with that child if you don't have their trust.

Now, this affects every area. Meet the deadlines you said you would, deliver what you said you would in your business, even if things don't go as you thought they would, keep a commitment even if - especially if - something better comes along. Give what you said you'd give; go where you said you'd go. And then just really try to be what you said you would be. Maybe it's your marriage oath; your marriage commitment. It's hurting right now to keep it. Don't even consider quitting as an option. Put all your energy into fighting for her; fighting for him. Most important, stay true to that commitment you made to your Lord Jesus, even if it's costing you right now in some ways you've never anticipated.

God richly rewards the one who keeps his oath even when it hurts. He rewards the promise keepers. Oh, yeah, they're rare, but they are priceless.

Psalm 92 bible reading and devotions.

Click here to download and listen.

MaxLucado.com:
Nothing Compares With Him

To what can we compare God?  Who is like the Lord?

What you are to a paper airplane, God is to you.

Make one.  Challenge it to race you around the block.  Who’s faster?

Invite the airplane to a game of one-on-one basketball. Will you not dominate the court? And well you should.

The thing exists only because you formed it and flies only when someone throws it.

God asks Isaiah:  “To whom will you compare me?  Who is my equal?” As if his question needed an answer, he gives one: I am God.  I alone!  I am God, and there is no one else like me.

King David marveled, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7)

You and I may have power.  But God is power. No one and nothing compares with Him!

From Cast of Characters

Psalm 92[a]

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

1 It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
    and the melody of the harp.
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
    I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
5 How great are your works, Lord,
    how profound your thoughts!
6 Senseless people do not know,
    fools do not understand,
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.
8 But you, Lord, are forever exalted.
9 For surely your enemies , Lord,
    surely your enemies will perish;
    all evildoers will be scattered.
10 You have exalted my horn[b] like that of a wild ox;
    fine oils have been poured on me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him. ”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Kings 19:19-21

The Call of Elisha

19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

Sharpening One Another

August 21, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. —Proverbs 27:17

Social networks on the Internet are on the rise. Even when separated by great distance, people are still able to gain insights and a listening ear from peers on-line. Blogs, Twitter, e-mail, and Web links add to the ways we can receive and give spiritual guidance.

But it’s also valuable to meet face to face with mature believers for mentoring. “Elisha . . . followed Elijah” (1 Kings 19:21), and Paul mentored Timothy as “a true son in the faith” (1 Tim. 1:2). He even admonished Timothy to set up a chain of mentoring which would multiply spiritual growth (2 Tim. 2:2). Moses exhorted parents to teach their children throughout their day: “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:7). The Master Teacher, Christ Himself, illustrated how to mentor: “He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out” (Mark 3:14).

From these passages we see the value of meeting face to face in a variety of settings so that we can sharpen one another spiritually (Prov. 27:17). Along life’s journey, there are times when we can benefit from a wise guide or provide this same service to one who wants to follow.

Lord, who could be my mentor? And is there a
younger person in the faith I could help?
Please lead me so that I might grow stronger
spiritually and help others as well.
We need each other to get where God wants us to go.


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

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

The New Testament notices things that do not seem worthy of notice by our standards. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This literally means, “Blessed are the paupers.” Paupers are remarkably commonplace! The preaching of today tends to point out a person’s strength of will or the beauty of his character— things that are easily noticed. The statement we so often hear, “Make a decision for Jesus Christ,” places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him— something very different. At the foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is the genuine loveliness of those who are commonplace. I am truly blessed in my poverty. If I have no strength of will and a nature without worth or excellence, then Jesus says to me, “Blessed are you, because it is through your poverty that you can enter My kingdom.” I cannot enter His kingdom by virtue of my goodness— I can only enter it as an absolute pauper.

The true character of the loveliness that speaks for God is always unnoticed by the one possessing that quality. Conscious influence is prideful and unchristian. If I wonder if I am being of any use to God, I instantly lose the beauty and the freshness of the touch of the Lord. “He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). And if I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord.

Who are the people who have influenced us most? Certainly not the ones who thought they did, but those who did not have even the slightest idea that they were influencing us. In the Christian life, godly influence is never conscious of itself. If we are conscious of our influence, it ceases to have the genuine loveliness which is characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

A Lifestyle, Not a Compartment - #6682

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Our oldest son was only two years old when our neighbor's daughter, Kim, broke her leg. Now, on the scale of world disasters, Kim's leg wouldn't even move the needle. But it was a very big disaster to our two-year-old son. We got the news, and when we did we stopped, and as a family we prayed for Kim. We were done, but my son wasn't. All day that day he kept coming up to Mom while she was at the sink or the stove, cleaning the bedroom, or whatever. And he tugged on her pant leg, and she would say, "Yes?" And he would say, "Pray for Kim."

So they stopped and prayed for Kim once, twice, ten times. I think they prayed 20 times for Kim that day. A couple of days later we got word that Kim was doing pretty well and we told our son. He pulled Mom over to a picture of Jesus that we had hanging next to the refrigerator, and he pointed at Him and just said, "Jesus make Kim better." We had smiled only at the way a little boy wanted to pray for Kim all day long. Maybe instead of smiling we should have been taking notes.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Lifestyle, Not a Compartment."

Well, our word for today from the Word of God: Nehemiah 2:4. The situation: Nehemiah is cupbearer to the king. He has just received word that the walls of Jerusalem are down; his native city really needs rebuilding. He knows the king has the resources to make it happen, but Nehemiah is going to use his position to get to the king and he is scared.

Well, he goes before the king, "And the king said to me," the Bible says, "'What is it you want?' Then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered the king." Now, here's Nehemiah in his big pressure moment, and he quietly plugs into the Throne Room in heaven before he gives his answer. He prays, then he answers.

Now, as you read, you find that Nehemiah was a spiritual champion, because all through this book it says he prayed about everything as it came up. When he got some bad news at the beginning of the book, he says, "I sat down, wept and prayed." When he heard vicious things being said about him, he instinctively begins and says, "Hear us, O Lord," and starts talking. When an attack was imminent, it says, "We prayed to our God and posted a guard." And now here in the big meeting with the king he prays before he answers.

See, Nehemiah believed that prayer was a lifestyle, not a compartment. We tend to put praying into certain time slots in our life: I'm having my devotions, I'm in church, I'm in a crisis, it's bedtime. But life is happening all day long. We need to be talking with our Father and listening to Him throughout the day, entering a class, praying as we do that, praying as we answer a question, an email, as we make a stand, as we buy something, as we start a meal, pick up the phone, praying as we do our homework, as we take out the garbage, as we're running those thousand and one errands we've got to do.

Prayer isn't a religious exercise; it's your declaration of dependence on God. To look up and say throughout the day, "This piece of my day is Yours, Lord." You don't have to drop to your knees or close your eyes, especially if you're driving. It's just a quiet recognition of Christ's presence in your need. That's how you carry out what the Bible says, "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Integrate prayer into your everyday life. Wherever possible, stop and pray with someone else when they bring a need to you. Let that be your response.

I can see this little boy insisting on praying for Kim throughout the day and then the simple worship that resulted as he pointed to a picture of Jesus, who had answered his prayers.

That could happen to you all day long if you make prayer more than just a compartment. It's a lifestyle.

Psalm 89 bible reading and devotions.

Click here to listen or download:

MaxLucado.com: Your Family

Is your fantasy that your family will be like the Waltons? An expectation that your dearest friends will be your next of kin?  Jesus didn’t have that expectation.

Look how Jesus defined his family in Mark 3:35: “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.”

He recognized that his spiritual family could provide what his physical family didn’t. If Jesus himself couldn’t force his family to share his convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?

We can’t control the way our family responds to us. We have to move beyond the naïve expectation that if we do good, our family will treat us right. I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but I know this- God will.

Accept God as your Father! Let God give you what your family doesn't!
From Cast of Characters


Psalm 89[a]

A maskil[b] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
    with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
    through all generations.
2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
    that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
    I have sworn to David my servant,
4 ‘I will establish your line forever
    and make your throne firm through all generations.’”[c]
5 The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
    your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
    Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
    he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
    You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the surging sea;
    when its waves mount up, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;
    with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
    you founded the world and all that is in it.
12 You created the north and the south;
    Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm is endowed with power;
    your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
    who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
16 They rejoice in your name all day long;
    they celebrate your righteousness.
17 For you are their glory and strength,
    and by your favor you exalt our horn.[d]
18 Indeed, our shield[e] belongs to the Lord,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once you spoke in a vision,
    to your faithful people you said:
“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
    I have raised up a young man from among the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
    with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
21 My hand will sustain him;
    surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 The enemy will not get the better of him;
    the wicked will not oppress him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down his adversaries.
24 My faithful love will be with him,
    and through my name his horn[f] will be exalted.
25 I will set his hand over the sea,
    his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, the Rock my Savior.’
27 And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,
    the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28 I will maintain my love to him forever,
    and my covenant with him will never fail.
29 I will establish his line forever,
    his throne as long as the heavens endure.
30 “If his sons forsake my law
    and do not follow my statutes,
31 if they violate my decrees
    and fail to keep my commands,
32 I will punish their sin with the rod,
    their iniquity with flogging;
33 but I will not take my love from him,
    nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
    or alter what my lips have uttered.
35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
    and I will not lie to David—
36 that his line will continue forever
    and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon,
    the faithful witness in the sky.”
38 But you have rejected, you have spurned,
    you have been very angry with your anointed one.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant
    and have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken through all his walls
    and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
41 All who pass by have plundered him;
    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword
    and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
    and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
46 How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how fleeting is my life.
    For what futility you have created all humanity!
48 Who can live and not see death,
    or who can escape the power of the grave?
49 Lord, where is your former great love,
    which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has[g] been mocked,
    how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
51 the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked,
    with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
52 Praise be to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Matthew 6:1-4,19-21

Giving to the Needy

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2  “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

19  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Unrewarded

August 20, 2012 — by Philip Yancey

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. —Matthew 6:18

Most of us look to friends and colleagues for rewards: a slap on the back, a hero’s medal, applause, a sincere compliment. But according to Jesus, the more important rewards await us after death. It’s possible that the most significant human acts of all are carried out in secret, seen by no one but God. In a nutshell, the message of the kingdom is this: Live for God and not other people.

As Jesus explained it, we are accumulating a kind of savings account, storing up “treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20) rather than on earth—treasures so great that they will compensate for any amount of suffering. The Old Testament has dropped a few scant hints about an afterlife, but Jesus spoke plainly about a place where “the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43).

In their quest for a kingdom, the Jews of Jesus’ day had been looking for signs of God’s approval in this life, primarily through prosperity and political power. Beginning with this speech, Jesus changed the focus to the life to come (ch.6). He discounted success in this visible world. Invest in the future life, He cautioned. After all, rust, a thief, or a lowly insect can destroy all else that we accumulate (v.20).

Lord, help us not to seek the applause of our friends
and colleagues, but rather to look to You for approval.
Teach us to put into practice the principles of the
Sermon on the Mount. Amen.
Reward in eternity does not depend upon recognition in life.


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

Christ-Awareness

. . . and I will give you rest —Matthew 11:28

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once, asking Him to re-establish your rest. Never allow anything to remain in your life that is causing the unrest. Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration as something to fight against, not as something you should allow to remain. Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you, and your self-awareness will disappear. Then He will be your all in all. Beware of allowing your self-awareness to continue, because slowly but surely it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is satanic. Don’t allow yourself to say, “Well, they have just misunderstood me, and this is something over which they should be apologizing to me; I’m sure I must have this cleared up with them already.” Learn to leave others alone regarding this. Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness, and He will steady you until your completeness in Him is absolute.

A complete life is the life of a child. When I am fully conscious of my awareness of Christ, there is something wrong. It is the sick person who really knows what health is. A child of God is not aware of the will of God because he is the will of God. When we have deviated even slightly from the will of God, we begin to ask, “Lord, what is your will?” A child of God never prays to be made aware of the fact that God answers prayer, because he is so restfully certain that God always answers prayer.

If we try to overcome our self-awareness through any of our own commonsense methods, we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness tremendously. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest,” that is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest— the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Mayor in the Flames - #6681

Monday, August 20, 2012

If you're a mayor, you're used to taking the heat, of course, but not the flames. Recently, that's exactly what Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker did to save his next door neighbor.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mayor in the Flames."

Mayor Booker arrived home at his apartment to find one of his security detail knocking on the door of the building next door to warn them the second floor was on fire. The officer managed to get two women and a man out of the building. But one of the women told the mayor and his security men that her daughter, Zina, was still upstairs.

With his officers holding his belt and trying to physically restrain him, the mayor got loose and ran into that burning building. Upstairs, Booker encountered a kitchen, engulfed in flames. He said later, "Just as I was looking down, finding somewhere to breathe, I heard her."

He followed her voice as he heard explosions and he saw "sparks flying everywhere." When he reached the room where the woman was, it was totally in flames. Well, he picked her up over his shoulder, carried her as these burning embers were falling from the ceiling, burning her back and burning his hand.

Meanwhile, the security officers were pretty sure that their mayor was not coming out alive, and Booker was thinking the same thing. He said, "Every time I breathed in, I just felt a blackness. We were fighting for our lives." The mayor told reporters, "I had a conversation with God I never had before." Amazingly, Booker made it out with the woman he'd rescued, collapsed on the ground, just coughing violently.

Needless to say, the news accounts hailed the mayor's incredible bravery. But his take was a little different. He said, "I did not feel bravery. I felt terror." Which raises the question, "Why did he run right into those flames?" Well, his answer was right to the point. He said, "If I didn't go in, this lady's going to die." Afraid of what might happen to him if he went in for the rescue, but more afraid of what might happen to her if he didn't.

And then there's me, ordered by my Lord, along with all of His children, in our word for today from the Word of God, to "snatch others from the fire and save them" and to "rescue those being led away to death." That's Jude 23 and Proverbs 24:11. But too often, afraid of what might happen to me if I try to tell them about Jesus, and letting that decide what I do: Staying silent, holding back, leaving them in their deadly situation.

When I've asked groups of believers what keeps us from talking to folks about our Jesus, I get the same answer, almost in unison. "Fear." "Fear of what?" I ask. Well, the answers are pretty predictable. "They might reject me," "they might not like me," "I might mess it up." The fears that silence us have one thing in common. They're all about me; what might happen to me. But rescue is all about them. "If I don't go in, they're going to die."

Unfortunately, we can't actually see the horrific spiritual danger our friends and neighbors and coworkers are in, unless we ask Jesus to help us see what He sees. Those people you see day after day are, in the Bible's words, "lost" (Luke 19:10), "perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15), "without hope and without God" (Ephesians 2:12). And ultimately, it says, they will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:9) unless someone goes in for the rescue, and tells them that Jesus loves them so much that He took all that hell so they would never have to.

If the mayor had waited for the rescue professionals to do it, that woman would be dead. Had he let his fears decide, had he waited for someone who could do it better, if he'd said, "It's not up to me," a life would have been lost. He knew what I can't afford to forget - the life in danger is in the hands of the person who's where they are. That means there's a list of people in my world for whom I am their best hope of rescue, because the Good News of Jesus isn't just beliefs to share. It's life-or-death information.

I don't think I'm going to ever lose the fear. But courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the disregard of it because a life is at stake. Spiritual rescue is possible because of the love of one Man - Jesus. Who didn't just risk His life for you and me; He gave His life. And He stands ready to rescue you from a spiritual death penalty you can't escape any other way.

Check out our website to find out how to get to know Him; how to trust Him as your Rescuer. Go to YoursForLife.net. You could change your eternal destination this very day.