Ephesians 5:1-16 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily:


A Nosey Neighbor

Doubt.  He’s a nosey neighbor. An obnoxious guest.

The first seeds of doubt were sown in the Garden of Eden in the heart of Eve.  There she sat, enjoying the trees, when she noticed a pair of beady eyes peering over the shrubs. He positioned himself between Eve and the sun and cast his first shadow of a doubt.

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1).  No anger.  No picket signs.  Just questions. Had any visits from this nosey neighbor lately? If you find yourself doubting God could forgive you again for that, you’ve been sold some snake oil.

I suggest you put a lock on your gate. Draw near to your heavenly father and that old devil will tuck his tail between his legs and scamper out of the garden.

from Six Hours One Friday

Ephesians 5:1-16
New International Version (NIV)
5 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Philippians 4:10-20

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.

On The Fringe

March 7, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link

When butterflies hatch at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan, they do so in an indoor tropical paradise perfectly suited to meet their every need. The temperature is perfect. The humidity is perfect. The food is a perfect balance of calories and nutrition to keep them healthy. No need to go elsewhere. Yet some butterflies see the bright blue sky outside the conservatory and spend their days fluttering near the glass ceiling far away from the plentiful food supply.

I want to say to those butterflies, “Don’t you know everything you need is inside? The outside is cold and harsh, and you will die within minutes if you get what you are longing to have.”

I wonder if that is the message God has for me. So I ask myself, Do I look longingly at things that would harm me? Do I use my energy to gain what I don’t need and shouldn’t have? Do I ignore God’s plentiful provision because I imagine that something just beyond my reach is better? Do I spend my time on the fringes of faith?

God supplies all our needs from His riches (Phil. 4:19). So instead of striving for what we don’t have, may we open our hearts to gratefully receive everything we’ve already been given by Him.

All that I want is in Jesus;
He satisfies, joy He supplies;
Life would be worthless without Him,
All things in Jesus I find. —Loes
Our needs will never exhaust God’s supply.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 7, 2013

The Source of Abundant Joy

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us —Romans 8:37

Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of a saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be. Paul said this is the reason that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.

Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against— tribulation, suffering, and persecution— are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).

The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

God's in the Personnel Business - #6824

Thursday, March 7, 2013

When a member of our family would "shirk" a chore that they had at our house, we had a familiar line that we used jokingly. Somebody would say, "Oh, it's so hard to get good help these days." Actually, I first heard that from a friend of mine who said that about trying to find a housekeeper. Now, that's not been a real heavy issue for us, hiring a good housekeeper. We have a mom!

But the saying does have some truth to it. How do you find the best person for a job: want ads, call an agency, put out a sign, do an interview? Well, it's always a risk trying to match a person with a position. And often we're disappointed, as the worker turns out to be the wrong person for the job. That happens all too often in God's work, but it doesn't have to if you and I will do our part.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's in the Personnel Business."

Our word for today from the Word of God is from Matthew chapter 9; I'll start reading at verse 36. "When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field.'" Okay, here's what Jesus saw then and what I believe He sees now as He looks at the world you and I live in. There's a desperate need. There's a leadership shortage, and there's a personnel plan. You know what it is? One four-letter word - pray.

He gives here a prayer assignment for you and me. He says, "Ask the Lord of the harvest for the leaders of His choosing." Now, we often tend to pray for those who are already in His work. But often we don't pray for those who aren't in His work who should be. The words of Jesus indicate that God does not call and send these workers without our prayer. The active verb on our part is to pray and He will send.

The greatest danger in Christian work is that workers go out who have not been sent by God. It was said of John the Baptist in John 1:6, "He was a man sent from God." See, if they've not been sent from God, the work they do is only the work of man no matter how talented they are. There are people in leadership who never should have been, and there are people not in leadership who should be. And we are partly to blame. We need to fervently and specifically pray that God will send out His choices, sovereignly matching people with assignments, and that God will weed out those who should not lead His Kingdom.

Maybe you see a leadership need right now in His Kingdom. Well, pray! Focus on that need until God sends His laborer. Perhaps you see a leader who doesn't seem to be put there by God. Well, don't gossip. Don't complain! Don't back stab! Pray to the Lord of the harvest. Or maybe God will lay on your heart some man or woman that He wants in His service, and you can quietly pray them from the job they now have to the ministry they should have.

Consider if possibly you're the answer to your prayer, and the Lord of the harvest is calling you. As inadequate as you feel, He'll use you because you know you're inadequate. It's hard to think of a more important and more neglected prayer task. If the right person gets in the right place, there's almost no end to what he can do. Sure, it's hard to get good help these days. But prayer to the Lord of the harvest is how it gets done. After all, God is in the personnel business.

Isaiah 22 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily:

God Gave His Best

Jenna, wake up.  It’s time to go to school. For four lightning-fast years she’d been ours, and ours alone. And now that was all going to change.  I knew it was time. And I knew she would be fine.  But I never knew it would be so hard to give her up on her first day of preschool.

Is that how you felt, God? Is what I felt that morning anything like what you felt when you gave up your son? It explains how your heart must have ached as you heard the cracking voice of Jesus say, “Father take this cup away.” (Mark 14:36).

I said good-bye and sent my little Jenna into a safe environment with a compassionate teacher ready to wipe away any tears. Yet, you Father, released Jesus into a hostile arena with a cruel soldier who turned the back of your son into raw meat.

God gave His best, the apostle Paul reasons. Why should we ever doubt His love?

from Six Hours One Friday

Isaiah 22

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

22 A prophecy against the Valley of Vision:

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,
2 you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult and revelry?
Your slain were not killed by the sword,
    nor did they die in battle.
3 All your leaders have fled together;
    they have been captured without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day
    of tumult and trampling and terror
    in the Valley of Vision,
a day of battering down walls
    and of crying out to the mountains.
6 Elam takes up the quiver,
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir uncovers the shield.
7 Your choicest valleys are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.
8 The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day
    to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses to strengthen the wall.
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls
    for the water of the Old Pool,
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.
12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day
to weep and to wail,
    to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”
14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna the palace administrator:
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave for yourself here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?
17 “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted from your position.
20 “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat[d] of honor for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

25 “In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Matthew 18:23-35

English Standard Version (ESV)
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.[a] 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[b] 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant[c] fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,[d] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,[e] until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Bumper Cars

March 6, 2013 — by Joe Stowell

Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? —Matthew 18:21

Life is a lot like “bumper cars” at an amusement park. You get in your car, knowing that you will get hit . . . you just don’t know how hard. And when you get hit, you step on the gas pedal, chase the one who has hit you, and hope to bump that person harder than they have bumped you.

That may be a fun strategy for bumper cars, but it’s a terrible strategy for life. When you get bumped in life, bumping back only escalates matters and in the end everyone suffers damage.

Jesus had a better strategy: Forgive those who have “bumped” us. Like Peter, we may wonder how many times we have to forgive. When Peter asked Jesus, “Up to seven times?” Jesus answered “Up to seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21-22). In other words, there are no limits to grace. We should always extend a spirit of forgiveness. Why? In the story of the forgiving master, Jesus explained that we forgive not because our offenders deserve it but because we’ve been forgiven. He says, “I forgave you . . . because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (vv.32-33).

Since we are among those who’ve been forgiven much, let’s stop the damage and share that blessing with others.

Lord, remind us of how deeply we have offended You
and how often You have extended the grace of
forgiveness to us. Teach us to forgive others and to trust
You to deal with those who sin against us.
Forgiveness is God’s grace in action through us.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 6, 2013

Taking the Next Step

. . . in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses —2 Corinthians 6:4

When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.

Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17 .


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Suddenly Interested - #6823

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

It was right at the beginning of the first Gulf War when I got an unusual and an unexpected insight from one of the soldiers who had been shipped out for that very dangerous mission. Thousands and thousands of our military were sent out to the desert to try to liberate the nation of Iraq. And they were hit with such intense desert heat that it could require six gallons of water a day to keep from dehydrating. And they faced the very real fear of chemical warfare. They had to be prepared to resist that. Not just guns and tanks, but deadly gas.

What struck me was the comment of one female soldier who had just spent her first few days on that front. She said, "You know, they tried to tell us about chemical warfare and masks and all that stuff in training, and nobody listened. We dozed off." She said, "You know what? They're teaching us again. We're listening now!"

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Numbers 32. Now, it's interesting how combat situations change our attitude toward what we're learning. In fact, remember this principle: An awareness of war gives you an appetite for training. Numbers 32 talks about the tribes of Israel that had the opportunity to settle on the quiet side of the Jordan River. They weren't going to cross over the Jordan River into Canaan; their land, the Reubenites and the Gadites, happened to be on the side of the Jordan where they didn't have to fight for it. They didn't have to go against all those big, bad Canaanites.

So in chapter 32, verse 4, they say, "The land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel, and this land is suitable for our livestock, and your servants have livestock. If we have found favor in your eyes," they said to Moses, "let this land be given to your servants as possessions. Do not make us cross the Jordan. (That's the front lines.) Moses said to the Gadites and the Reubenites, 'Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here?'"

In verse 16 it says, "They came up to him and said, 'We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children. But we're ready to arm ourselves and go ahead and fight.' And so, fully armed they crossed the Jordan River." Here they are living on the quiet side of the Jordan. They weren't thinking about fighting; they were ready to relax, settle down, and in essence Moses says, "Hey, guys, this is not a picnic. This is a war! Get your weapons." You know, there is a war raging fiercely all around us in our generation. Two kingdoms are fighting it out, and these may be the last great battles before Jesus Christ comes back.

If you live in one of the heavily persecuted parts of the world where Christians pay a high and often deadly price for their allegiance to Christ, you know we're in a war. You can see the battle. But see, you and I live kind of on the quiet side of the river, but there's no less of a battle. Lives all around you are prisoners of Satan and prospects for hell. There are Christians compromising all around you, embarrassing their Lord, betraying their Lord. Lives are being lost to loneliness and emptiness because they're living without knowing God. How can you sit here when there's a war going on?

We tend to get bored reading our Bible, and going to church, and hearing the same old story. Like that soldier who didn't listen to all the training until she realized she needed it, because she was about to be involved in a war. You want to wake up people who are dozing off on God's Word? Give them a mission to do. Give them responsibility. Preach about the war. Tell them they're responsible for a lost friend. They're not listening because they're not fighting.

Our job isn't to entertain or babysit, or even to inform. It's to prepare people for battle. So, do whatever you do under this banner. This is war! I think you'll find sleeping soldiers suddenly interested.

Isaiah 21 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Is Heaven for Me?

My friend Joy teaches children in an inner city church. Her class is a lively group of nine-year-olds. There’s one exception—a timid girl named Barbara. Her difficult home life had left her afraid and insecure. She never spoke.  Never.  Always present.  Always listening.  Always speechless. Until the day Joy talked about heaven—about seeing God. About tearless eyes and deathless lives. Barbara raised her hand.  “Mrs. Joy? Is heaven for girls like me?”

I would’ve given a thousand sunsets to have seen Jesus’ face as this tiny prayer reached His throne. A prayer to do what God does best: To take a pebble and kill a Goliath. To take a peasant boy’s lunch and fed a multitude. To take three spikes and a wooden beam and make them the hope of humanity. To take the common and make it spectacular!

from Six Hours One Friday

Isaiah 21

A Prophecy Against Babylon

21 A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:

Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland,
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.
2 A dire vision has been shown to me:
    The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot.
Elam, attack! Media, lay siege!
    I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
3 At this my body is racked with pain,
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered by what I see.
4 My heart falters,
    fear makes me tremble;
the twilight I longed for
    has become a horror to me.
5 They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!
6 This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookout
    and have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”
8 And the lookout[b] shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen!
All the images of its gods
    lie shattered on the ground!’”
10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.
A Prophecy Against Edom

11 A prophecy against Dumah[c]:

Someone calls to me from Seir,
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman replies,
    “Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
    and come back yet again.”
A Prophecy Against Arabia

13 A prophecy against Arabia:

You caravans of Dedanites,
    who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
14     bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,
    bring food for the fugitives.
15 They flee from the sword,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
    and from the heat of battle.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Zephaniah 3:14-20

Israel's Joy and Restoration

14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
    let not your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
    a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
    so that you will no longer suffer reproach.[a]
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
    and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the Lord.

Forced Leisure

March 5, 2013 — by David C. McCasland

The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. —Zephaniah 3:17

Just before Christmas one year, a friend was diagnosed with leukemia and was told she must begin chemotherapy immediately. Just a few weeks earlier, Kim had told friends how blessed and content she felt with a loving family, a comfortable home, and a new grandson. As she entered the hospital, Kim asked Jesus to make His presence known to her and to stay close.

The next 7 months of treatments followed by recovery in partial isolation became a season she calls “forced leisure.” She says she learned how to slow down, reflect quietly, and rest in God’s goodness, love, and perfect plan—regardless of whether or not she would be healed.

One of God’s promises to His people Israel became personal to Kim: “The Lord your God . . . will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph. 3:17).

Kim is in remission after a journey she says changed her life for the better. Now back in her busy routine, she often pauses to recapture the lessons of “forced leisure.”

How important that we—in good times or times of challenge—draw near to God’s loving heart to hear His voice and place our lives in His hands.

A troubled heart, a wearied mind
Are burdens hard to bear;
A lack of peace, a heavy load
Are lifted by God’s care. —Fitzhugh
People are at the heart of God’s heart.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 5, 2013

Is He Really My Lord?

. . . so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus . . . —Acts 20:24

Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Family Flu - #6822

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

At our house, we call it clean juice. I think the official name is "hand sanitizer." Whatever it's called, I've been using it big-time - for flu germs! Actually in that recent flu outbreak that took place, our hospital was overwhelmed. The next closest hospital was overwhelmed, too, by people from our town.

That especially nasty flu invasion was all over the country. In fact, in one major city, some hospitals had issued "bypass" warnings - bypass bringing any patients here unless it's life-or-death. In another area, the hospital set up triage tents in the parking lot because their ER was so overrun with flu victims.

Did I mention that flu was especially nasty? If you caught that, man, didn't it hang on! If someone in your family caught it, well, you could almost count on being next. Of course, that's the case with colds and lots of other contagious grungy too. Families are for sharing - including germs.

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

And it's not just flu germs that are for sharing. There are family germs that actually get passed from generation to generation. Moral viruses, character infections that somehow get transmitted from parent to child.

Sadly, the things that drove us crazy about our mom or dad - that may have hurt us deeply - start popping up in us. Even though we said, "I'll never be like that!" we are. And the sad part about family germs is that the infection that scars one generation passes down and scars another one.

A teenage guy complained to me one time about how he could do nine things right and one thing wrong, and his mother would just talk about the one that she could criticize. I asked him how his grandmother treated his mom. With a dawning in his eyes, he said, "Wow! Like my mother treats me." He thought for a moment and he said, "Man, I think I'm starting to be the same way."

And so it goes. Control freaks beget control freaks. Negative reproduces negative, an angry parent - an angry child, who becomes an angry parent. Addictive behaviors, self-centeredness, a weakness for the opposite sex, self-pity, a wounding tongue - we hate it, but we do it.

That's not new. Even one of the writers of the Bible said: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do" (Romans 7:15). Who doesn't know that feeling? So much of the darkness is those family germs; actually, family sins. They're some of the toughest sins for us to see, and even tougher to change. In fact, if we could have changed, we would have changed by now.

That conflicted Bible writer concluded there was only one hope of a cure: "Who will rescue me?" he said. He couldn't save himself from himself. He knew it would take a rescuer. And he found Him. "Thanks be to God, (he said) through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24)

So many of us trapped in the chains of our dark side have found a powerful game-changer from the Bible. It's our word today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 1:18-19, "...you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers." Wow! The chain of sin and hurt can be broken by supernatural intervention. It goes on to say, "You were redeemed...with the precious blood of Christ."

The moral diseases handed down through generations can be cured. But only one way - a blood cure. But not our blood - Jesus' blood. Freely given when He died on the cross to pay for every sin of our life and to rob it of its power to poison our lives any longer or the lives of those we love. Talk about hope! When you've got Jesus, you can face that infectious darkness and say, "It stops here in my generation!" And replace a legacy of hurt with hope.

When you belong to Jesus, things no longer have to be like they've always been. He's a Life-Changer. If you're interested in how He could change yours, visit our website YoursForLife.net. There's hope there.

Isaiah 20 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: What Steals the Zeal?

What steals our childhood zeal?  For a child the possibilities are limitless. Then weariness finds us.  Sesame Street gets traffic-jammed.  Star Trek’s endless horizon gets hidden behind smog and skyscrapers. What is the source of such weariness?  The names of these burdens?

Jesus gazes into our weariness and makes this paradoxical promise:  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29).

Jesus was the only man to walk God’s earth who claimed to have an answer for man’s burdens.  “Come to Me”  he invited them. The people came. They came out of the cul-de-sacs and office complexes of their day. They brought him the burdens of their existence, and he gave them not religion, not doctrine, not systems…He gave them rest.  My prayer is that you, too, will find rest!

from Six Hours One Friday

Isaiah 20

A Prophecy Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it— 2 at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.

3 Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush,[a] 4 so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame. 5 Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame. 6 In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Titus 3:1-8

Be Ready for Every Good Work

3 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

They’re Watching

March 4, 2013 — by Dave Branon

Speak evil of no one, . . . be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. —Titus 3:2

It’s been several decades since a high school event devastated me. Playing sports was hugely important to me. I zeroed in on basketball and spent hundreds of hours practicing my game. So when I didn’t make the varsity team in my last year after being on the team since junior high, I was crushed.

Disappointed and confused, I carried on. I became a stats guy for the team, going to games and keeping track of my friends’ rebounds and shots as they got within one game of the state championship without me. To be honest, I never thought of how they were viewing my response. I just muddled through. That’s why I was surprised recently to hear that several of my classmates told my brother that they saw in my response a lesson in Christianity—a picture of Christ. My point is not to tell you to do as I did, because I’m not sure what I did. My point is this: Whether we know it or not, people are watching us.

In Titus 3:1-8, Paul explains the life God enables us to live—a life of respect, obedience, and kindness that results from being reborn through Jesus and renewed by the Holy Spirit who has been poured out on us.

As we live a Spirit-guided life, God will show the reality of His presence to others through us.

Dear Father, You know how inadequate I am.
Please equip me through the Spirit to show love
and respect in my life so that others will see
through me and see You.
A Christian is a living sermon whether or not he preaches a word.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 4, 2013

Is This True of Me?

None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself . . . —Acts 20:24

It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.

What do I count in my life as “dear to myself”? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as “dear to myself.” But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, “Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.” That attitude chooses our own judgment, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use— but always consider that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are His.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Power of Pre-Choice - #6821

Monday, March 4, 2013

I think I've been on a diet since I was about six months old, or at least it seems that way. I guess my "thorn in my flesh" is my metabolism. Is that possible? It refuses to convert calories; it loves to store calories instead. Now, over the years, I've made friends with my metabolism, and that's probably why I left 210 pounds years ago and have been able to stay, you know, a lot lower than that by 40 or 50 pounds over the years. I've learned how much intake I can stand in relation to how much I'll be exerting that day. The problem is that the day is filled with caloric choices, whether it's a nibble on those snacks that somebody brought to the office, or getting a sandwich from the deli like everybody else is, or eating that tempting dinner that my wife has prepared.

I've learned a fundamental principle of how to control your weight. You have to decide in advance what you're going to do. You choose your lunch fare before your appetite or your opportunity chooses for you. I have to decide in the morning what I'm going to do about lunch. And you decide early in the day that perhaps you're not going to eat dinner or you're going to figure out a very low-calorie dinner. In fact, pre-choosing? That's actually the way to control of any part of your life.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of Pre-Choice."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Daniel chapter 1:8. Daniel is actually a captive in another country; he is in Babylon. The Jews have been carried away to captivity there. He's been identified as kind of a leadership prospect, and he and some of his friends are kind of in the leadership academy there, and he's being asked to eat food that is forbidden to him by his Jewish faith. He says he won't do it.

The Bible puts it this way, "Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way." He goes ahead and eats a diet that is consistent with his convictions and he ends up stronger than any of those who ate the prescribed diet.

Notice here his resolution came before - ahead of time - that he was not going to eat it. Then he took action to support that choice. He had already resolved what he would not eat. See, most of us don't do that; we make situational choices. Right in the middle of it we'll say, "I'll see how I feel. I'll see how it's going. I'll see which way the wind's blowing. I'll see how it goes. I'll see what the circumstances are." Well, that's a good way to get blown away spiritually.

Remember this, the key to no-regrets choices is deciding in advance. I guess Sampson had never really made up his mind how far he would go. And with Delilah he lost his leadership and he lost his life. But Daniel, in contrast, knew where his line was and became one of God's great leaders. He had decided in advance.

Now, if you're facing a situation where you'll be tempted to give away what you'll later wish you hadn't, decide in advance how you're going to handle it. That's nowhere more crucial than in keeping sex special. You set your line sometime when you're alone with your Lord, and then you don't violate that boundary. You don't let your glands decide. Your glands make lousy choices.

Maybe you're in a situation where you're going to be tempted to tell something less than the truth. Well, you've got to decide now to tell the truth and what truth you'll tell. It might be a situation where you're going to be offered a chance to sin possibly. Would you decide now how you're going to answer? We live in a world where 99% of the pressure is to not do it God's way. If you wait and see how it's going to go, I know how it's going to go - so do you. You'll make a wrong choice.

No, you see, like a dieter, you have to know now what you're going to do then. The key to no-regrets choices is deciding in advance.

Ephesians 4 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: On Behalf Of Jesus

“This man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:41

Finally someone is defending Jesus. Peter fled. The disciples hid. The Jews accused. Pilate washed his hands. Many could have spoken on behalf of Jesus, but none did. Until now.

Kind words from the lips of a thief. He makes his request. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

The Savior turns his heavy head toward the prodigal child and promises, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Ephesians 4
New International Version (NIV)
Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:

“When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”[b]
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Instructions for Christian Living

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 4:7-26

New International Version (NIV)
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Refreshing Candor

March 3, 2013 — by Bill Crowder

He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, . . . this one will be blessed in what he does. —James 1:25

Of the many things I love about my mom, chief among them may be her candor. Many times I have called to ask her opinion on a matter and she has consistently responded, “Don’t ask my opinion unless you want to hear it. I’m not going to try to figure out what you want to hear. I’ll tell you what I really think.”

In a world where words are carefully parsed, her straightforwardness is refreshing. It is also one of the characteristics of a true friend. Real friends speak the truth to us in love—even if it isn’t what we want to hear. As the proverb says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:6).

This is one of the reasons Jesus is the greatest of friends. When He encountered the woman at the well (John 4:7-26), He refused to be pulled into a tug-of-war over secondary issues but instead drove to the deepest issues and needs of her heart. He challenged her about the character of the Father and lovingly spoke to her of her broken dreams and deep disappointments.

As we walk with our Lord, may we allow Him to speak candidly to the true condition of our hearts through the Scriptures—that we might turn to Him and find His grace to help us in our times of need.

Father, thank You for sending Your Son to be my Savior
and the greatest of friends. Help me to learn from Him
how loving honesty can make a difference in helping
the hurting people around me.
Jesus always tells us truth.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 3, 2013

His Commission to Us

Feed My sheep —John 21:17

This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ’Feed My sheep.’ ” Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.

Isaiah 19 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily:

The Economy of Heaven

“A crown is being held for . . . all those who have waited with love for him to come again.” 2 Timothy 4:8

We understand that in the economy of earth, there are a limited number of crowns.

The economy of heaven, however, is refreshingly different. Heavenly rewards are not limited to a chosen few, but “to all those who have waited with love for him to come again.” The three-letter word all is a gem. The winner’s circle isn’t reserved for a handful of the elite but for a heaven full of God’s children.

Isaiah 19

A Prophecy Against Egypt

19 A prophecy against Egypt:

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.
2 “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
    brother will fight against brother,
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.
3 The Egyptians will lose heart,
    and I will bring their plans to nothing;
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    the mediums and the spiritists.
4 I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
5 The waters of the river will dry up,
    and the riverbed will be parched and dry.
6 The canals will stink;
    the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.
The reeds and rushes will wither,
7     also the plants along the Nile,
    at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field along the Nile
    will become parched, will blow away and be no more.
8 The fishermen will groan and lament,
    all who cast hooks into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
    will pine away.
9 Those who work with combed flax will despair,
    the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.
10 The workers in cloth will be dejected,
    and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.
11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools;
    the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the wise men,
    a disciple of the ancient kings”?
12 Where are your wise men now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan have become fools,
    the leaders of Memphis are deceived;
the cornerstones of her peoples
    have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has poured into them
    a spirit of dizziness;
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
    as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.
16 In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the Lord Almighty is planning against them.

18 In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.[d]

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing[e] on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion



Read: Romans 3:10-18

 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”[a]
13 “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”[b]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[c]
14     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[d]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[e]
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[f]

A Good Man

March 2, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper

By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. —Ephesians 2:8

“Jerry was a good man,” the pastor said at Jerald Stevens’ memorial service. “He loved his family. He was faithful to his wife. He served his country in the armed services. He was an excellent dad and grandfather. He was a great friend.”

But then the pastor went on to tell the friends and family gathered that Jerry’s good life and good deeds were not enough to assure him a place in heaven. And that Jerry himself would have been the first to tell them that!

Jerry believed these words from the Bible: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death” (6:23). Jerry’s final and eternal destination in life’s journey was not determined by whether he lived a really good life but entirely by Jesus dying in his place to pay sin’s penalty. He believed that each of us must personally accept the free gift of God, which is “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23).

Jerry was a good man, but he could never be “good enough.” And neither can we. It is only by grace that we can be saved through faith. And that has absolutely nothing to do with our human efforts. “It is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).

Christ’s work for my salvation is complete!
No work of mine can add to what He’s done;
I bow to worship at the Master’s feet,
And honor God the Father’s only Son. —Hess
We are not saved by good works, but by God’s work.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 2, 2013

Have You Felt the Pain Inflicted by the Lord?

He said to him the third time, ’. . . do you love Me?’ —John 21:17

Have you ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being, deep down in the most sensitive area of your life? The devil never inflicts pain there, and neither can sin nor human emotions. Nothing can cut through to that part of our being but the Word of God. “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ’Do you love Me?’ ” Yet he was awakened to the fact that at the center of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus. And then he began to see what Jesus’ patient questioning meant. There was not the slightest bit of doubt left in Peter’s mind; he could never be deceived again. And there was no need for an impassioned response; no need for immediate action or an emotional display. It was a revelation to him to realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he simply said, “Lord, You know all things . . . .” Peter began to see how very much he did love Jesus, and there was no need to say, “Look at this or that as proof of my love.” Peter was beginning to discover within himself just how much he really did love the Lord. He discovered that his eyes were so fixed on Jesus Christ that he saw no one else in heaven above or on the earth below. But he did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord were asked. The Lord’s questions always reveal the true me to myself.

Oh, the wonder of the patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the perfect time. Rarely, but probably once in each of our lives, He will back us into a corner where He will hurt us with His piercing questions. Then we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than our words can ever say.

Isaiah 18 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Because of What He Did

Few things can weary you more than the fast pace of the human race.  Too many sprints for success. Too many days of doing whatever it takes eventually take their toll.  You’re left gasping for air, holding your sides on the side of the track. You’re asking yourself, “When I get what I want, will it be worth the price I paid?”

It’s this weariness that makes the words of Jesus so compelling. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).

Come to Me.  Why Him?  He offers the invitation as a penniless rabbi in an oppressed nation.  He has no political office.  He hasn’t written a best-seller or earned a diploma.  Yet they called Him Lord. They called Him Savior. Not so much because of what He said, but because of what He did. What He did—on the Cross!  He did it for the weary people of this world.

from Six Hours One Friday

Isaiah 18

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woe to the land of whirring wings[b]
    along the rivers of Cush,[c]
2 which sends envoys by sea
    in papyrus boats over the water.
Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.
3 All you people of the world,
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet sounds,
    you will hear it.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place,
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,
    like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey
    and to the wild animals;
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.
7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,
    from a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers—
the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Hebrews 11:32-40

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,[a] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Expect Great Things

March 1, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher

Who through faith . . . out of weakness were made strong. —Hebrews 11:33-34

William Carey was an ordinary man with an extraordinary faith. Born into a working-class family in the 18th century, Carey made his living as a shoemaker. While crafting shoes, Carey read theology and journals of explorers. God used His Word and the stories of the discovery of new people groups to burden him for global evangelism. He went to India as a missionary, and not only did he do the work of an evangelist but he learned Indian dialects into which he translated the Word of God. Carey’s passion for missions is expressed by his words: “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” Carey lived out this maxim, and thousands have been inspired to do missionary service by his example.

The Bible tells of many whose faith in God produced amazing results. Hebrews tells of those “who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong” (11:33-34).

The list of heroes of the faith has grown through the ages, and we can be a part of that list. Because of God’s power and faithfulness, we can attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.

If God can hang the stars on high,
Can paint the clouds that drift on by,
Can send the sun across the sky,
What can His power do through you? —Jones
When God is your partner, you can make your plans large!


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 1, 2013

The Piercing Question

Do you love Me? —John 21:17

Peter’s response to this piercing question is considerably different from the bold defiance he exhibited only a few days before when he declared, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:35 ; also see Matthew 26:33-34). Our natural individuality, or our natural self, boldly speaks out and declares its feelings. But the true love within our inner spiritual self can be discovered only by experiencing the hurt of this question of Jesus Christ. Peter loved Jesus in the way any natural man loves a good person. Yet that is nothing but emotional love. It may reach deeply into our natural self, but it never penetrates to the spirit of a person. True love never simply declares itself. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men [that is, confesses his love by everything he does, not merely by his words], him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8).

Unless we are experiencing the hurt of facing every deception about ourselves, we have hindered the work of the Word of God in our lives. The Word of God inflicts hurt on us more than sin ever could, because sin dulls our senses. But this question of the Lord intensifies our sensitivities to the point that this hurt produced by Jesus is the most exquisite pain conceivable. It hurts not only on the natural level, but also on the deeper spiritual level. “For the Word of God is living and powerful . . . , piercing even to the division of soul and spirit . . .”— to the point that no deception can remain (Hebrews 4:12). When the Lord asks us this question, it is impossible to think and respond properly, because when the Lord speaks directly to us, the pain is too intense. It causes such a tremendous hurt that any part of our life which may be out of line with His will can feel the pain. There is never any mistaking the pain of the Lord’s Word by His children, but the moment that pain is felt is the very moment at which God reveals His truth to us.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Lance, Lies, and A Look In The Mirror - #6820

Friday, March 1, 2013

Spiders build webs, and a lot of bugs get stuck in them. Well, that's because they know where the sticky spots are, so spiders don't get trapped in the webs they weave, but humans do.

I saw it when I watched Oprah Winfrey's interview with Lance Armstrong. "One big lie" - that's how he described what's happened in his record-breaking sports career. It was all built on brilliantly concealed "doping" and a cascading series of cover-up lies. Lots of folks get caught in the web, from bicycle racing officials to teammates to a world of admirers.

Actually, the Latin root of the word "deceive" means "to ensnare." First of all, lying ensnares those being deceived. Ultimately, you guessed it, it ensnares the one doing the deceiving. Trust gets lost. Reputation is lost. Self-respect is lost. You get lost.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lance, Lies - And A Look In The Mirror."

I'm sure a lot of people look at Lance Armstrong and say, "How could he do such a thing?" Maybe we need to be looking in the mirror and asking, "How could I do such a thing?" Because here's what God says about the entire human race, "Their tongues practice deceit" (Romans 3:13).

The spotlight exposing Lance Armstrong's lies actually spills over and I think it exposes some of our own dishonest ways of getting through life. Especially if you identify what lying really is. It is any intention to deceive; to mislead - to leave people believing something other than what's really true. By exaggerating, "spinning" the facts a little bit, covering up, leaving things out, making false promises, or telling people what they want to hear.

Oh, we have our reasons. Lance Armstrong said lying was part of doing "anything to control the outcome." We lie to get our way, to get out of a jam, to get people to like us, to get ahead. We deceive our husband or wife, our family, people at work, our pastor, or the people at church, maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend, the teacher. We lie to the doctor. We lie to people we want to impress.

More than we want to admit, the truth is often optional in how we do life, or at least bendable. And ultimately, we start to lose touch with reality and can't even hear our own lies. Inevitably, we'll get caught in the web that we have woven.

We may think lying is no big deal. It is to God, and we're going to answer to Him some day. On the Bible list of "six things the Lord hates," lying is the only one that appears twice in Proverbs 6:16-19. And in our word today from the Word of God in Psalm 101:7, He bluntly declares that "no one who practices deceit will dwell in My house." God is a God of truth. Lying sets God against me. Dishonesty is a very big deal.

God hears lies when everyone else - maybe even the liar - thinks it's the truth. He says the one who "may dwell in (His) sanctuary" is the one "who speaks truth from his heart" (Psalm 15:1, 2). That probing Scripture has given me a "lie detector" question to ask myself throughout the day: "Does what's coming out of my mouth match what's in my heart?" If it doesn't, it's a lie. Jesus tells me that the devil "is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). And I'll tell you, that makes lying even scarier.

Years ago, I started praying a prayer that God has been more than faithful to answer. "Lord, set off an alarm in my soul any time I'm saying something that's less than the truth"; asking the Lord for instant conviction of any statement that might be intended to deceive, followed by instant correction of that statement so I'm speaking the truth from my heart. It's called walking in the truth where you have nothing to hide.

I'm grateful that when "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:4), He paid for every lying thing, selfish thing, hurtful thing we've ever done. Which puts total forgiveness within our reach - a clean slate - if we'll reach for Jesus.

Look, if you've never begun your personal relationship with Him and had that forgiveness applied to your sin, would you go to our website and find your way home? It's YoursForLife.net. This is the day you can be clean.

Isaiah 17 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Know Your Strengths

When you teach, do people listen? When you lead, do people follow? Identify your strengths, and —this is important—major in them.  Singing for others would give me wonderful satisfaction. The problem is, it wouldn’t give the same satisfaction to my audience.  I’m what you might call a prison singer—I never have the key, and I’m always behind a few bars.

Paul gives good advice in Romans 12:3: “Have a sane estimate of your capabilities.”

Be aware of your strengths. Take a few irons out of the fire so one can get hot. Failing to focus on our strengths may prevent us from accomplishing the unique task God has called us to do. We cannot meet every need in the world. But some of us try. In the end, we run out of fuel. So, have a sane estimate of your abilities—and stick to them.

From Just Like Jesus

Isaiah 17

A Prophecy Against Damascus

17 A prophecy against Damascus:

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
    but will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted
    and left to flocks, which will lie down,
    with no one to make them afraid.
3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
    and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory of the Israelites,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
4 “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade;
    the fat of his body will waste away.
5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
    gathering the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain
    in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,
    as when an olive tree is beaten,
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
    four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In that day people will look to their Maker
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8 They will not look to the altars,
    the work of their hands,
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a]
    and the incense altars their fingers have made.
9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.

10 You have forgotten God your Savior;
    you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
    and plant imported vines,
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
    and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest will be as nothing
    in the day of disease and incurable pain.
12 Woe to the many nations that rage—
    they rage like the raging sea!
Woe to the peoples who roar—
    they roar like the roaring of great waters!
13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters,
    when he rebukes them they flee far away,
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills,
    like tumbleweed before a gale.
14 In the evening, sudden terror!
    Before the morning, they are gone!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    the lot of those who plunder us.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Matthew 5:1-14

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

God’s Lighthouse

February 24, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. —Matthew 5:14

The Mission Point Lighthouse was built in 1870 on a peninsula in Northern Michigan to warn ships of sand bars and rocky shores along Lake Michigan. That lighthouse got its name from another kind of lighthouse, a mission church, which was built 31 years earlier.

In 1839, Rev. Peter Dougherty answered the call to become pastor of a church in Old Mission that was made up of Native Americans who lived farther south on the same peninsula. Under his leadership, a thriving community of farmers, teachers, and craftsmen worked side by side to build a better life for the community.

When believers in Christ work together in unity, their fellowship of faith provides spiritual light in the world’s darkness (Phil. 2:15-16). Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16).

The Mission Point Lighthouse warned ships of danger, but the original Old Mission Church provided spiritual direction to all who would listen. Believers do the same individually and through our churches. We are God’s lighthouse because Jesus lives in us.

You are called with a holy calling
The light of the world to be;
To lift up the lamp of the Savior
That others His light may see. —Anon.
Believers help the lost to find their way home when their life shines brightly.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 28, 2013

“Do You Now Believe?”

’By this we believe . . . .’ Jesus answered them, ’Do you now believe?’ —John 16:30-31

Now we believe. . . .” But Jesus asks, “Do you . . . ? Indeed the hour is coming . . . that you . . . will leave Me alone” (John 16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). This is not deliberate sin and there is no punishment attached to it. But once a person realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and caused uncertainties, sorrows, and difficulties for himself, it is with shame and remorse that he has to return.

We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them; it is not in His realm to do so, and those decisions are severed from reality. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to “walk in the light” of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to “walk in the light asHe is in the light. . .” (1 John 1:7). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation-just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

A Parent You Can Be Proud Of - #6819

Thursday, February 28, 2013

I guess parental pride comes with your baby's birth certificate. You know, you brag about their first word, their first steps. We show off pictures of our babies, and then if they're ever selected for a solo or starting position later in life, or they get a part in something, or an award, we'll be there with our camera, our video camera, whatever loaded. A parent has a special glow when his son or daughter makes him proud. Of course, it's supposed to work the other way, too.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Parent You Can Be Proud Of."

Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Proverbs 17:6. It says, "Children's children are a crown to the aged...and parents are the pride of their children." Now, it doesn't talk about children being the pride of their parents. This is the other way around. Parents are supposed to make their kids proud according to God's Word.

Not so much that the kids are running around showing off pictures of Mom or Dad, or taking lots of photos at some public event where Mom and Dad are on the platform. No, see, parents tend to be proud of their children's achievements; kids tend to be proud of their parent's character. It's not so much what Mom or Dad do that makes a young person proud, it's what they are.

You see, our kids know the realities behind the image everybody else sees, and they're proud of us if the reality - that is the real person that they know they are in a day-in and day-out basis when nobody's looking - if that person is a person of quality, consistency, compassion, selflessness and character. Now, what kind of a parent fulfills this Proverbs profile and makes their son or daughter proud?

First of all, I think it's one who treats their friends with respect. You may or may not like all the choices of friends that your child makes, but you make them proud when as their friends come and go, their friends are treated specially, they're given good treatment; they're given royal treatment. They get a sense of how valuable they are to God. By the way, if you want to have influence over your child's friends, well you win the right to comment on their friends as you treat them special when they're with you.

I think another way to be a parent they can be proud of is to treat them with respect in public. Discipline them, correct them in private; praise, brag about them, build them up when you're in public.

Thirdly, I think you can be a parent to be proud of when you treat their views with respect. Hear them out; don't respond like you know what they're going to say or you don't value it. Hear the whole paragraph, the whole page, not just a sentence. And respect their privacy. I think a parent to be proud of has a positive attitude, you're not a complainer, a whiner or a critic. And you respect other views, but you take a stand for your own.

When my daughter was in college, she was homesick one time, and somebody said, "Why?" She said, "Because I miss talking to my best friend." They said, "Who's that?" She said, "Oh, that's my Mom." See, it may not be cool to advertise that your best friend is your Mother. My daughter has in her Mother a parent to be proud of. I can only hope the same is true for my sons with their Father.

God intends that your character, your attitude of respect and love, be a source of pride to your son and daughter. So, I hope your child has a parent to be proud of.

Ephesians 3 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: What Do You Love to Do?

What do you love to do?  What gives you a sense of satisfaction? Some long to feed the poor. Others relish singing or teaching or holding the hands of the sick or counseling the confused.  Each of us has been made to serve God in a unique way.

Ephesians 2:10 says: “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” You are a custom design; you are tailor-made. Regardless of the circumstances that surrounded your arrival, you are not an accident.

The longings of your heart are not incidental; they are critical messages. The desires of your heart are not to be ignored; they are to be consulted. As the wind turns the weather vane, so God uses your passion to turn your life. God is too gracious to ask you to do something you hate.

From Just Like Jesus

Ephesians 3
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Marvelous Plan for the Gentiles

3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

A Prayer for the Ephesians

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Psalm 16

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A Miktam[a] of David.

16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.[b]
4 The sorrows of those who run after[c] another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.[d]
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being[e] rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.[f]
11 You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Grandpa Snucked Out

February 27, 2013 — by Anne Cetas

My heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. —Psalm 16:9

My cousin Ken fought a courageous 4-year battle with cancer. In his final days, his wife, three children, and several grandchildren were in and out of his room, spending time with him and sharing special goodbyes. When everyone was out of the room for a moment, he slipped into eternity. After the family realized that he was gone, one young granddaughter sweetly remarked, “Grandpa snucked out.” One moment the Lord was with Ken here on earth; the next moment Ken’s spirit was with the Lord in heaven.

Psalm 16 was a favorite psalm of Ken’s that he had requested to be read at his memorial service. He agreed with the psalmist David who said that there was no treasure more valuable than a personal relationship with God (vv.2,5). With the Lord as his refuge, David also knew that the grave does not rob believers of life. He said, “You will not leave my soul in Sheol [the grave]” (v.10). Neither Ken nor anyone else who knows Jesus as Savior will be abandoned in death.

Because of Jesus’ own death and resurrection, we too will rise one day (Acts 2:25-28; 1 Cor. 15:20-22). And we will find that “at [God’s] right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“In the Beloved” accepted am I,
Risen, ascended, and seated on high;
Saved from all sin through His infinite grace,
I am accorded in heaven a place.
—Civilla Martin. © Renewal 1958. Hope Publishing.
God is our treasure now, and being with Him in heaven will bring pleasures forever.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 27, 2013

The Impoverished Ministry of Jesus

Where then do You get that living water? —John 4:11

“The well is deep”— and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.” Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, “Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing.” The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.

The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, “Of course, He can’t do anything about this.” We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, “It can’t be done.” You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Who Scores the Points? - #6818

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

If you're not an avid basketball fan, you may have never heard of Stacey King. He actually some years ago was a rookie player with the Chicago Bulls. I think you've probably heard of Michael Jordan, one of the all-time great superstars of professional basketball. One season, Michael Jordan broke a single game scoring record, and Stacey King, the rookie, had a great quote after that game. He said, "I'll always remember this as the night that Michael Jordan and I combined to score 70 points in one game." Actually, Michael Jordan scored 69 points; Stacey King scored one. I know the feeling!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who Scores the Points?"

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is out of the life of King Uzziah in the Old Testament; actually one of the greatest kings that Judah ever had. In 2 Chronicles 26:4-5, we read about some of the secret of his success. "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success."

We go on to read that he defeated some of the long-time enemies of his nation. He enlarged and improved the city of Jerusalem and built it up to a point that it had never been before. He led his nation into a season of incredible prosperity. And in the middle of all this good news, scripture strikes this ominous note in 2 Chronicles 26:15, "He was greatly helped until he became powerful." Why is that?

Well, after Uzziah became powerful, it says his pride led to his downfall. Success ruined him. Why? I think Uzziah forgot who was scoring the points. See, we're all playing Stacey King to Michael Jordan. Anything fruitful, anything powerful you've ever done in your life, God scores 69 of the points you might say and you score one. Success is not something you achieve; it's something you receive from God. You faithfully do your part, but it's a gift from Him to you. You're the instrument. You're not the musician. The instrument gets no credit. You're the glove; you're not the hand. The glove can't do anything. The hand in the glove does it all.

You know when we forget this, we'll fall down in one of two ways. Number one is, we'll start to steal the glory and we'll walk away from doing something for the Lord saying, "Aren't I something?" Instead of, "Isn't He something?" Well, at that point God withdraws His power like He did from Uzziah and he watched that glory start to die. God says, "I am the Lord. That is My name, and My glory will I not give to another."

The other mistake we'll make is on the opposite end of the spectrum. We won't attempt any risky things for God; we won't do anything for Him because we're looking at our abilities and we're saying, "I can't do that." "I don't think I'm up to it." "I'm just an average fellow." We're not looking at His ability when we say that. He scores the points. You might be missing many assignments He has for you because you're forgetting that He is your competence, He is your confidence. He is the One who gets it done. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 says, "Faithful is the one who calls you. He also will do it."

You can make some memorable plays for Christ if you'll just remember who scores the points.