Romans 10 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: Abba

When my daughter Jenna was twelve, I took her to Jerusalem.  As we were exiting the Jaffa gate, an orthodox Jewish family was in front of us—a father and his three small girls.  One of the daughters fell a few steps behind and couldn’t see her father.  “Abba!” she called to him.  “Abba!” she called again.  He spotted her and immediately extended his hand.  As they continued, I wanted to see the actions of an abba.  He held her hand tightly in his.  When he stopped at a busy street, she stepped off the curb, so he pulled her back.  When the signal changed, he carried her and led her sisters through the intersection.

Isn’t that what we all need?  An abba who’ll hear when we call?  An abba who’ll swing us up into his arms and carry us home?  Don’t we all need an Abba Father?

from The Great House of God

Romans 10
New International Version (NIV)
10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[f]

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[g]

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”[h] 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”[i]
19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”[j]
20 And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”[k]
21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”[l]




Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 14:15-27

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Now I See

April 23, 2013 — by David C. McCasland

The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. —John 14:26

Deborah Kendrick loves to attend Broadway musicals even though she is blind and always struggles to understand the setting and the movements of the characters onstage. Recently, however, she attended a play that used D-Scriptive, a new technology that conveys the visual elements of the stage production through a small FM receiver. A recorded narration, keyed to the show’s light and sound boards, describes the set and the action as it unfolds onstage. Writing in The Columbus Dispatch, Deborah said, “If you ask me if I saw a show last week in New York, my answer is yes . . . I genuinely, unequivocally mean that I saw the show.”

Her experience struck me as a vivid illustration of the Holy Spirit’s role in our understanding of God’s Word. Just before Jesus went to the cross, He told His followers that “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

As we open the Bible to read or study, the Spirit of Truth is with us to guide us into all truth (16:13). On our own we are blind, but through the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit we can see.

Break Thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me,
As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea.
Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord;
My spirit pants for Thee, O Living Word. —Lathbury
The Father gave the Spirit to teach us from the Word.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 23, 2013

Do You Worship The Work?

We are God’s fellow workers . . . —1 Corinthians 3:9

Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God. This will mean that all the other boundaries of life, whether they are mental, moral, or spiritual limits, are completely free with the freedom God gives His child; that is, a worshiping child, not a wayward one. A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit. Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him.

But the opposite case is equally true–once our concentration is on God, all the limits of our life are free and under the control and mastery of God alone. There is no longer any responsibility on you for the work. The only responsibility you have is to stay in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him. The freedom that comes after sanctification is the freedom of a child, and the things that used to hold your life down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been freed for only one thing–to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.

We have no right to decide where we should be placed, or to have preconceived ideas as to what God is preparing us to do. God engineers everything; and wherever He places us, our one supreme goal should be to pour out our lives in wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might . . .” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

When I go to the doctor, he sure is inquisitive. I tell him, "I feel sick!" And he insists on getting all the details: What's your temperature, tell me about your symptoms, what about your throat? Let's check your throat. I mean sometimes he even resorts to a blood test. How radical! And if it's serious enough, we even have to get into my mother's health and my father's health, and my family history. Actually, I'd be wise to give the doctor all the specifics I can think of. If I just walk in and say, "I'm sick", that doesn't do much. It's really tough to help someone when they're not specific about what's going on.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Specifics, No Solutions."

Our word for today from the Word of God - Luke chapter 3, I'll begin at verse 7. "John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, 'Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.' 'What should be done?' the crowd asked. John answered, 'The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.' Tax collectors also came to be baptized. 'Teacher,' they asked, 'what should we do?' 'Don't collect any more than you are required to,' he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, 'And what should we do?' He replied, 'Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely-be content with your pay.'"

Now, the picture here is of people coming to the Jordan River where John the Baptist is preaching, and they're coming to repent of their sins. But John isn't going to let them get away with general repentance. He insists on getting specific. He talks about fruit that is in keeping with repentance. He tells some of them, "I want you to repent of your selfishness about your food and about your clothes." He tells a different group, "I want you to repent of your cheating in your business." And then he tells some others, "I want you to repent of lying about people and of complaining."

Many people never really break free of a specific sin because they never come to God and specifically repent of that sin. We kind of like the safety of being general don't we? "Lord, forgive my many sins, like whatever they may be." Do you ever name them? I think God might be saying, "Like what? Which one are you repenting of? Name the sin."

It's important to come to Jesus' cross with the particulars of the sins that need forgiving. "Lord, I come to your cross with that lie I told this morning. I come to you with the lustful thoughts I've had toward _____ (fill in the blank). I come to you with that harsh response I gave to my son, my daughter, my husband, my wife last night. I come to repent of that night of sexual sin; of those magazines, those websites that are poisoning me spiritually; of the neglect of my family's needs."

The point is that God calls us to specific repentance. We may have to go back and clean up a sin that we buried instead of dealing with it, maybe a long time ago. Until you've really brought it to the cross, you should not forget it. Once you have brought it to the cross, you shouldn't remember it, because God has forgotten it forever at that point.

I can't just go to the doctor and say, "Help my sickness." I have to give him the specifics if I want to be well. I can't just go to God and say, "Forgive my sins. I'm sorry for my sins."

If I really want to beat one sin in particular, I need to be specific in dealing with that sin. It's this simple: no specifics, no solutions.

Isaiah 55 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)

Max Lucado Daily: Chocolate Ice Cream or Okra?

Jesus said:  “The way you give to others is the way God will give to you.” (Luke 6:38).

It’s as if God sends you to purchase your neighbor’s groceries.  “Whatever you get your neighbor, get also for yourself.”  I’m crazy about double-chocolate ice cream, so I buy my neighbor double-chocolate ice cream.  But suppose your neighbor’s trash blows into your yard.  He’s in no rush—says he’ll get to it next week.

You’re just about to have a talk when God reminds you, “Time to go to the market and buy your neighbor’s groceries.” You march right past the double-chocolate ice cream toward the okra and rice. You drive back and drop the sack in the lap of your lazy, good-for-nothing neighbor. “Have a good dinner.”

The next time you go to your pantry, guess what you find? What will you be eating?  Chocolate ice cream or okra?  It’s up to you.

from The Great House of God

Isaiah 55

Invitation to the Thirsty

55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
    a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
    and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.”
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Genesis 2:1-7

New International Version (NIV)
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Adam and Eve

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Dust Art

April 22, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link

The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. —Genesis 2:7

When God chose dust as His artistic medium to create Adam (Gen. 2:7), He didn’t have to worry about running out of material. According to Hannah Holmes, author of The Secret Life of Dust, “Between 1 and 3 billion tons of desert dust fly up into the sky annually. One billion tons would fill 14 million boxcars in a train that would wrap six times around the Earth’s equator.”

No one has to buy dust, for we all have more than we want. I ignore it as long as I can in my house. My reasoning is this: If I don’t disturb it, it’s not as noticeable. But eventually it accumulates to the point that I can no longer pretend it’s not there. So I haul out my cleaning supplies and start removing it from wherever it has found a resting place.

As I remove the dust, I see myself reflected in the smooth surface. Then I see another thing: I see that God took something worthless, dust, and made it into something priceless—you and me and every other person (Gen. 2:7).

The fact that God used dust to create humans makes me think twice about labeling someone or something worthless. Perhaps the very thing that I want to get rid of—a person or problem that annoys me—is the artistic medium God has given to display His glory.

Lord, too often I want to quickly ignore
or dismiss difficult people and circumstances.
Help me to be open to learn from
You through them and to see Your glory.
Being all fashioned of the self-same dust, let us be merciful as well as just. —Longfellow


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 22, 2013

The Light That Never Fails

We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . . —2 Corinthians 3:18

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “. . . no one stood with me, but all forsook me . . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . .” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “. . . Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).

We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Women in Combat - #6856

Monday, April 22, 2013

So, the Defense Department has approved women being in combat roles. Well, women being in combat might be new for the military, but they're not new.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Women in Combat."

I've been there when my wife brought a new life into the world. Believe me, she was a warrior. I've been close by when our daughter and daughters-in-law birthed our grandchildren. A battle they fought and won, big-time. I've joked that if men had to have the babies, the human race would probably be extinct in a generation.

I know women who refuse to cave in to the "everybody's doing it" pressure to give up one of their greatest treasures - their virginity. They insist - against the tide - that they will keep sex special for the man they will commit their life to. In many cases, that's a lonely stand - one that merits a moral Medal of Honor. Some will call them weird. I say they're rare - and, like collectibles, the less there are of them, the more valuable they become.

There are the women warriors who fight for their marriage when others would have given up. They believe, as God does, that marriage is for life - while their world bombards them with the notion that marriage is until it gets hard. I just checked my Bible. It still says, "They are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" (Mark 10:8, 9). No matter what the latest opinion poll says, it's nice to know you've got God on your side.

Can raising a whole and healthy child in this culture be considered anything less than a battle? Today our kids are navigating a spiritual minefield, and it's littered with moral IED's that can blow up a life. But between many a child and those destructors stands a Mom who's fighting for them. Countering the lies of a deceived and deceiving culture with winsome truth about what's really right and what really matters. Lovingly listening as a son or daughter grapples with the inconsistency between the lies they hear at school and the truth they hear at home.

This woman winsomely sows - and models day and night - God's ways from the Bible. Because it's "a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" the Bible says (Psalm 119:111). The child who makes God's ways their way can say with the psalmist, "I run in the path of Your commands." Oh wait, you mean all bound by rules, right? Hardly. It goes on to say, "For You have set my heart free" (Psalm 119:32).

And though the battle that rages for a child's life can be scary, the medal-deserving Mom doesn't succumb to that paralysis of fear. She knows "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). She refuses to just play defense, hoping she'll raise a "survivor." She plays offense, determined to raise a game-changer.

The ultimate woman warrior is not the one with the M-16 and the body armor. She knows the ultimate weapon for winning the battle for a life. She's a woman, on her knees, crying out to her all-powerful God for someone she's fighting for. Here's our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Chronicles 20:15, "the battle is not yours, but God's."

This woman knows that prayer unleashes God's power to (in the Bible's words) "demolish strongholds", to "destroy the Devil's work", to "remove a heart of stone" and "give you a new heart" (2 Corinthians 10:4; 1 John 3:8; Ezekiel 36:26). She releases the ones she loves to the One who loves them so much more.

Yes, women have been fighting life's most decisive battles for a long time. And those who have embraced Jesus as the great love of their life fight their battles with His death-reversing, resurrection power on their side.

So if you know one of these women, honor her. Thank her. Treasure her. And pray for her. She (in the words of Scripture) "fights the Lord's battles" (1 Samuel 25:28).

Isaiah 54 Bible readings and devotionals

Click here to listen to God's love letter to you.
Max Lucado Daily: Back From The Dead

“Thomas said, ‘I will not believe it until I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were.’”  John 20:25

Jesus gave Thomas exactly what he requested. He extended his hands one more time. And was Thomas ever surprised. He did a double take, fell flat on his face, and cried, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

Jesus must have smiled. He knew he had a winner in Thomas . . . Legend has him hopping a freighter to India where they had to kill him to get him to quit talking about his friend who came back from the dead.

Isaiah 54

The Future Glory of Zion

54 “Sing, barren woman,
    you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
    you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
    than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
    stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
    strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
    your descendants will dispossess nations
    and settle in their desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
    Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
    and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
    the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
    he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The Lord will call you back
    as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
    only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
    I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
    I will have compassion on you,”
    says the Lord your Redeemer.
9 “To me this is like the days of Noah,
    when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
    never to rebuke you again.
10 Though the mountains be shaken
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
    I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,[i]
    your foundations with lapis lazuli.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
    your gates of sparkling jewels,
    and all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children will be taught by the Lord,
    and great will be their peace.
14 In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
    you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
    it will not come near you.
15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
    whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith
    who fans the coals into flame
    and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;
17     no weapon forged against you will prevail,
    and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
    and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Acts 8:26-35

Philip and the Ethiopian

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

One By One

April 21, 2013 — by David H. Roper

Philip . . . preached Jesus to him. —Acts 8:35

Edward Payson was a famous preacher in a bygone era. One stormy Sunday, he had only one person in his audience. Some months later, his lone attendee called on him: “I was led to the Savior through that service,” he said. “For whenever you talked about sin and salvation, I glanced around to see to whom you referred, but since there was no one there but me, I had no alternative but to lay every word to my own heart and conscience!”

God saves us one by one. If you have access to one, that is your mission field. “Every soul with Christ is a missionary; every soul without Christ is a mission field,” the slogan goes. One person cannot reach the entire world, but we can love our neighbor. “Who is my neighbor?” we ask. The next person we meet along the way.

The Spirit brought Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading the Scriptures and needed someone to explain them to him (Acts 8:26-35). The Spirit gave Philip the right words to say, and the eunuch confessed his faith in Christ (v.37).

Ask God to bring you to the one He has prepared. He’ll get you to the right place at the right time to speak to that individual. He will speak through your lips, work through your hands, and fulfill in you the great purpose of His will.

Father, we’ve been called to witness—
Called to speak of Your dear Son;
Holy Spirit, grant discernment;
Lead us to some seeking one. —D. DeHaan
You are a success in God’s kingdom if you are faithful where He has placed you.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 21, 2013

Don’t Hurt the Lord

Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9

Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us-astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be-it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask-”Lord, show us the Father . . .” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.

“Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? . If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.

Isaiah 53 Bible Reading and Devotionals.

Click here to listen to God's teaching.
Max Lucado Daily: We’re God’s Idea

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

We’re God’s idea.  His face.  His eyes.  His hands.  His touch.  We are him!

Look deeply into the face of every human being on earth and you’ll see his likeness.  Though some appear to be distant relatives, they’re not.  God has no cousins, only children.

You aren’t an accident or an incident; you’re a gift to the world.  A divine work of art—signed by God.

One of the best gifts I ever received is a football jersey signed by thirty former professional quarterbacks.  For all I know it was bought at a discount sports store.  What makes it unique are the signatures.

The same is true with us.  What makes us special is not our body, but the signature of God on our lives.  We’re his works of art, created in his image.

Significant, not because of what we do, but because of whose we are!

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

Isaiah 53

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 139:13-18

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

Wonderfully Made

April 20, 2013 — by Bill Crowder

Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. —Psalm 139:14

While getting an eye exam recently, my doctor hauled out a piece of equipment that I hadn’t seen before. I asked him what the device was, and he responded, “I’m using it to take a picture of the inside of the back of your eye.”

I was impressed that someone had invented a camera that could do that. But I was even more impressed by what my doctor could learn from that picture. He said, “We can gather a lot of details about your current general health simply by looking at the back of your eye.”

My doctor’s comment amazed me. It is remarkable that a person’s overall health can be measured by the health of the eye. What care the Lord has taken to place these details in the bodies He has created! It immediately brings to my mind the words of David, the psalmist, who reveled in God’s creativity: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Ps. 139:14).

The enormous complexities of our bodies reflect the genius and wisdom of our great Creator. The wonder of His design is more than breathtaking—it gives us countless reasons to worship Him!

Lord, we are in awe of You! Thank You that You
created us with such complexity and care
and that You know us with such intimacy.
We love You and trust You with our lives.
All life is created by God and bears His autograph.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 20, 2013

Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?

All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . . —2 Corinthians 1:20

Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30  was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.

The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.

Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.

Romans 9:16-33 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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

Max Lucado Daily: Resentment

Resentment is a prison.  When you’ve put someone in your jail cell of hatred, you are stuck guarding the door.  If you’re out to settle a score, you are never going to rest.  How can you?  For one thing, your enemy may never pay up.

As much as you think you deserve an apology, your debtor may not agree.  The racist may never repent.  The chauvinist may never change. As justified as you are in your quest for vengeance, you may never get a penny’s worth of justice.  And if you do, will it be enough?

You see, resentment is a prison.  Jesus doesn’t question the reality of your wounds.  He just doubts whether resentment is going to heal you.  What are you going to do?  Spend your life guarding the prison jail cell?  Or entrust your wounds to Jesus?

from The Great House of God

Romans 9:16-33
New International Version (NIV)
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[a] 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[b] 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”[c]
26 and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”[d]
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
    only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[e]
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”[f]
Israel’s Unbelief

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[g]


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Peter 5:1-11

To the Elders and the Flock

5 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”[a]
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Strengthened Through Suffering

April 19, 2013 — by C. P. Hia

May the God of all grace, . . . after you have suffered a while, . . . strengthen, and settle you. —1 Peter 5:10

Church services often end with a benediction. A common one is taken from Peter’s concluding remarks in his first epistle: “May the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10). Sometimes omitted in the benediction is the phrase “after you have suffered a while.” Why? Perhaps because it is not pleasant to speak of suffering.

It should not surprise us, however, when suffering comes our way. The apostle Paul, who knew well what it was to suffer, wrote: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

If we live a life of submission to God (1 Peter 5:6) and resisting the devil (v.9), we can expect to be maligned, misunderstood, and even taken advantage of. But the apostle Peter says that there is a purpose for such suffering. It is to “restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast” (v.10 niv).

God’s path for our Christian growth often leads us through difficulties, but they fortify us to withstand life’s future storms. May God help us to be faithful as we seek to boldly live a life that honors Him.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should be
Afraid of persecution’s frown;
For Thou hast promised faithful ones
That they shall wear the victor’s crown. —Bosch
When God would make us strong He schools us through hardships.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 19, 2013

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom —1 Kings 2:28

Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.

“. . . kept by the power of God . . .”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Charlie Brown Valentines - #6855

Friday, April 19, 2013

Poor ol' Charlie Brown; staring into his mailbox on Valentine's Day, hoping to find a Valentine. He never does. And when he yells "hello" into the mailbox, the only answer he gets back is his own echo. "Happy Valentine's Day!" Man, that's an oxymoron for Charlie, and for lots of real-life folks.

Like our friend Holly, for example, when she went through her first Valentine's Day a while back without Jack. It all happened so fast. He got the headaches, and then there was the emergency flight to better medical facilities, the hospital vigil and the final goodbyes. And that first morning of waking up and realizing your status has suddenly changed to "widow."

Three times in my life I have come painfully close to losing my lifetime love. Thank God, He's given her back to me each time. But the undeniable reality is that some day one of us will be gone and the other one left. Cherish each day, Ron.

No doubt Valentine's Day is special and romantic for lots of people. Just ask the local florist. And at that point, even Mr. "Nomance" at least coughs up some coins for a card or some candy. Maybe even a candlelight dinner at McDonald's.

But for too many, a holiday about love is a taunting reminder that there's no one there to send you a Valentine. Maybe because they're gone, maybe because they left, or maybe because there just isn't anyone at this point.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Charlie Brown Valentines."

Love is wonderful, but there's a problem with it. It's "loseable": desertion, a divorce, dying. One way or another, every love sooner or later leaves.

Well, not every. In those moments when I wondered if the love of my life would be here tomorrow, I had an anchor from someone who has promised me, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Someone who has never broken that promise; someone who backed up His promise with His life.

Yes, Jesus made that promise (Hebrews 13:5). Not just to me, but to everyone who belongs to Him. We watched the video of the memorial service for our friend Jack. And while it was evident he will be greatly missed, hope was all over the place. All over the people he loved, because as they testified, they were being carried by that greater love.

You can find love and romance and companionship lots of places. But there's only one place you can find a love that you cannot lose. The love you were made for, and that is in the arms of Jesus Christ. Of whom the Bible says in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:39, "Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord".

I know He will never leave me, because if He was ever going to, it would have been when His love for me meant being nailed to a cross. But He went the distance. Because there was no other way I could ever know God; no way I could ever escape the hellish penalty for hijacking my life from God. And no other way I could be with Him in His heaven forever.

In the greatest act of love in human history, the Bible says, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). He didn't deserve that cross. I didn't deserve to have God's Son dying in my place. But He did. Then, three days later, He walked out of His grave. And when I invited Him, He walked into my life and He will never walk out.

This may be the love you've spent your whole life looking for. This could be the day you experience that love for yourself. You open up to Him and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I want to invite you to join me at our website as soon as you can get to it today and find out how you can be sure you belong to Jesus yourself. YoursForLife.net. Please join me there.

There is an unloseable love, but only one. A love that will never desert you, never divorce you, never die on you. His name is Jesus.

Isaiah 52 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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

Max Lucado Daily: Dealing with Debt

Doesn’t someone owe you an apology?  A second chance?  An explanation? A thank you?  A childhood?  A marriage?  Your parents should have been more protective. Your children should have been more appreciative. Your spouse should be more sensitive. What are you going to do?  Few questions are more important.

Dealing with debt is at the heart of your happiness. Jesus speaks of the grace we should share.  He says: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14).

It reminds me of the story of a huge grizzly bear in the center of Yellowstone Park feeding on discarded camp food.  No one dared draw near. Except a skunk who walked toward the food and took his place next to the grizzly.  The bear didn’t object.  He knew the high cost of getting even! We’d be wise to learn the same thing.

from The Great House of God

Isaiah 52

Awake, awake, Zion,
    clothe yourself with strength!
Put on your garments of splendor,
    Jerusalem, the holy city.
The uncircumcised and defiled
    will not enter you again.
2 Shake off your dust;
    rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
    Daughter Zion, now a captive.
3 For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,
    and without money you will be redeemed.”
4 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“At first my people went down to Egypt to live;
    lately, Assyria has oppressed them.
5 “And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord.

“For my people have been taken away for nothing,
    and those who rule them mock,[b]”
declares the Lord.
“And all day long
    my name is constantly blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people will know my name;
    therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
    Yes, it is I.”
7 How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
    together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
    they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Burst into songs of joy together,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people,
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm
    in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
    the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there!
    Touch no unclean thing!
Come out from it and be pure,
    you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.
12 But you will not leave in haste
    or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,
    the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

13 See, my servant will act wisely[c];
    he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him[d]—
    his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
    and his form marred beyond human likeness—
15 so he will sprinkle many nations,[e]
    and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
    and what they have not heard, they will understand.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Job 42:10-17

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[a] and a gold ring.

12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

From Bleak To Beautiful

April 18, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link

The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. —Job 42:12

Spring is the time of year when God reminds us that things are not always as they seem. Over the course of a few short weeks, what appears hopelessly dead comes to life. Bleak woodlands are transformed into colorful landscapes. Trees whose naked arms reached to heaven all winter, as if pleading to be clothed, suddenly are adorned with lacy green gowns. Flowers that faded and fell to the ground in surrender to the cold rise slowly from the earth in defiance of death.

In Scripture, we read about some apparently hopeless situations. One example is that of a wealthy man named Job whom God described as having integrity (Job 2:3). Disaster struck and Job lost everything important to him. In misery, he said, “My days are . . . spent without hope” (7:6). What appeared to Job and his friends as evidence that God had turned against him was just the opposite. God was so confident of Job’s integrity that He trusted him in this battle with Satan. Later, Job’s hope and life were renewed.

The faithful arrival of spring every year comforts me when I’m in a situation that seems hopeless. With God, there is no such thing. No matter how bleak the landscape of life may look, God can transform it into a glorious garden of color and fragrance.

Dear God, we pray for faith anew,
For greater trust in all we do,
For hope that never knows defeat,
For victory at Thy mercy seat. —Brandt
With God, there is hope even in the most hopeless situation.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 18, 2013

Readiness

God called to him . . . . And he said, ’Here I am’ —Exodus 3:4

When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.

Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).

Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

A Whiplash World - #6331

For some reason, this drunk driver decided that he liked my side of the road better than his side. He suddenly crossed the center line and he plowed headlong into our car. Well, I had the whole family with me, and our car was totaled. But thankfully, none of us was totaled. Our injuries were miraculously minor in light of what happened to our car. Now, a friend offered to drive me to the youth retreat where I was speaking that weekend. Well, that night of the accident, the doctor put me in a neck brace for a few days, so I got a lot of sympathy at that retreat! I almost decided to wear it permanently! But I had a little whiplash, actually, from the force of the hit that we took. That's the damage to your neck when you get whipped around violently and suddenly.

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

Now, these days, you can get whiplash just watching the evening news. Events are exploding across the country, around the world. Most recently, we've seen upheaval and change in the Middle East - most of it without warning; some uprisings in places we thought we'd never see them.

And we might as well fasten our seat belts for a crazy ride ahead; this isn't going to change. A couple of years ago, America's financial world was rocked to its core. We've had two radical swings of the political pendulum in just two years. There are well-armed nations that seem beyond any restraint from the rest of the world - dangerous wild cards in our world.

But I'm OK, no matter what bombshell flashes on the "breaking news" today or any day. Here's the big picture behind whatever disturbing news - personal news, world news - that explodes today: "The nations are in chaos," the Bible says, "and their kingdoms crumble! God's voice thunders, and the earth melts! The Lord of Heaven's Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress" That's our word for today from the New Living Bible, Psalm 46 , verses 6 and 7.

You know, for thousands of years, the prophecies of the Bible have predicted a world like ours. Just before the King of all kings returns to take charge. Here's the words of Jesus: "There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again" (Matthew 24:21 ). "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...Nations will be in anguish and perplexity...Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming in the world..." (Luke 21:10 , 25-26).

Now, that's the bad news. You ready for some good news? Well, it's great news! Listen, here's what Jesus said right after that, "At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27 ). Jesus said when you see a whiplash world and everything is going crazy, He said it's into that kind of world I am going to return. I will come back; I will take charge; I will keep My promises. Wow!

I'll tell you, any time's a good time to belong to Jesus. But this time is a really good time to belong to Him. Because behind all the exploding events of our time, there is a plan. There is a God; there is a Savior; there is a King. There is a divinely orchestrated, humanly untouchable countdown to the coming of King Jesus.

I guess the question is has there ever been a day when He's come into your life and into your heart, because that's where the anchor is for times like ours. If you never have, this might be the day for you to say, "Jesus, I want to be sure I belong to You; I'm anchored to You. I believe that some of those sins You died for on that cross were sins I have done - the wrong things I have done. And today I accept the forgiveness that You bought on the cross for me. Beginning today I'm Yours."

I hope you'll go to our website today. And if you're at this point of saying, "I really need to get this settled. I need something solid to hang onto in this kind of a world. Things have been happening so fast." Well, you can go to our website. It's YoursForLife.net, and I've laid out there as simply as I can how you can be sure you belong to Him.

The bottom line in the Bible is this: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe" (Proverbs 18:10 ). I'm there, and I pray you are.

Isaiah 51 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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

Max Lucado Daily: It is Finished

Picture if you will, a blank check.   The amount of the check is “sufficient grace.”  The signer of the check is Jesus.  The only blank line is for the payee.  That part is for you!  May I urge you to spend a few moments with your Savior receiving this check?  Reflect on the work of God’s grace. The nails that once held a Savior to the cross.  His sacrifice was for you.  Express your thanks for His grace.  Whether for the first time or the thousandth, let Him hear you whisper, “Forgive us our debts.” And let Him answer your prayer as you imagine writing your name on the check.

No more deposits are necessary.  So complete was the payment that Jesus used a banking term to proclaim your salvation.  “It is finished!”  (John 19:30)  Perhaps I best slip out now and leave the two of you to talk.

from The Great House of God

Isaiah 51

Everlasting Salvation for Zion

51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
    and who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
    and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2 look to Abraham, your father,
    and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
    and I blessed him and made him many.
3 The Lord will surely comfort Zion
    and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
    her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
4 “Listen to me, my people;
    hear me, my nation:
Instruction will go out from me;
    my justice will become a light to the nations.
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
    my salvation is on the way,
    and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
    and wait in hope for my arm.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment
    and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
    my righteousness will never fail.
7 “Hear me, you who know what is right,
    you people who have taken my instruction to heart:
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
    or be terrified by their insults.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;
    the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
    my salvation through all generations.”
9 Awake, awake, arm of the Lord,
    clothe yourself with strength!
Awake, as in days gone by,
    as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
    who pierced that monster through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
    so that the redeemed might cross over?
11 Those the Lord has rescued will return.
    They will enter Zion with singing;
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you.
    Who are you that you fear mere mortals,
    human beings who are but grass,
13 that you forget the Lord your Maker,
    who stretches out the heavens
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14     The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;
they will not die in their dungeon,
    nor will they lack bread.
15 For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth
    and covered you with the shadow of my hand—
I who set the heavens in place,
    who laid the foundations of the earth,
    and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

17 Awake, awake!
    Rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath,
you who have drained to its dregs
    the goblet that makes people stagger.
18 Among all the children she bore
    there was none to guide her;
among all the children she reared
    there was none to take her by the hand.
19 These double calamities have come upon you—
    who can comfort you?—
ruin and destruction, famine and sword—
    who can[a] console you?
20 Your children have fainted;
    they lie at every street corner,
    like antelope caught in a net.
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
    with the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted one,
    made drunk, but not with wine.
22 This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
    your God, who defends his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
    the cup that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
    you will never drink again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
    who said to you,
    ‘Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
    like a street to be walked on.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 14:1-6

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

All The Comforts Of Home

April 17, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore

In My Father’s house are many mansions; . . . I go to prepare a place for you. —John 14:2

Once, during my tenure as a human resource officer for a construction company, we took some jobs in a neighboring state. This meant our workers were faced with a 2-hour commute each way, plus a full workday. To ease the burden, we booked motel rooms for the week, but we also arranged vans and drivers to transport those who decided to commute. Almost every worker took the vans!

One of our grumpiest workers discarded his usual demeanor as he described the thrill and surprise of his wife and four boys on the first night. He hadn’t told them he had an option to come home, so he showed up unexpectedly to surprise them. Later his wife called to thank the company owner, telling him their family was “loyal for life” to anyone who understood how important home was to workers.

Anyone who has been deprived of home, even for a short time, will understand the comfort Jesus’ disciples drew from His words when He promised that an eternal home awaited them (John 14:2). Then, to make their joy complete, Jesus told them He would prepare and guide them to that home, and, joy of joys, He would be there too (v.3).

Remember the greatest comfort of this life: Jesus promised that one day we will go home to be with Him.

Heavenly Father, we praise You for these words
from Jesus that touch the deepest longing in
our soul—the hope and comfort of home. We
want to be with You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
There is no place like home— especially when home is heaven.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 17, 2013

All or Nothing?

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment . . . and plunged into the sea —John 21:7

Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.

Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.

If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Freedom Chain - #6853

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

My daughter went on a trip some years ago to a part of the world that she brought home with her in her heart and brought into the hearts of our family. It was back when the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse, as it was known as the Communist Empire and the Iron Curtain was coming down. It was right at the beginning of that. She was on a Christian music team on a tour to Estonia and Latvia. They were actually pursuing some historic opportunities to present Christ in public settings. But what really impressed them was the Soviet believers. And that impressed them even more than the meetings that they were able to hold. And they saw in those people a hope of freedom.

About two weeks after the teams returned, those hopes of freedom were channeled into a very powerful demonstration. Now, it's 370 miles from the northern point in the Baltic States to the southern point. That's from the northern border of Estonia by the Gulf of Finland to the southern border of Lithuania. OK, there's your geography lesson for today. Amazingly, one million people formed an unbroken line (try to imagine this) hand-in-hand from one end of that 370 miles to the other, and they just passed one word from the first person in Estonia by the Gulf of Finland to that last person on the southern border of Lithuania. Each person turned to the next and simply said, "Freedom." Wow! Did you know you're in a line like that?

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 1:6, where Paul says to Timothy, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord." And then he talks to him about the freedom chain. "And the things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." Well, there's the chain.

The Freedom Chain

Paul says, "God sent me to touch your life, Timothy, with the claims of Christ. Now I want you to pass that on to reliable men. They in turn will pass it on to others."

Thank the Lord that chain has made it across the centuries and it links you and me. It's really a freedom chain. Because of what Christ has done we can say to people, "You don't have to live as a slave to sin and selfishness. There's forgiveness that will release you from your guilt. There's love to release you from a lonely lifetime. There's a personal presence of God to release you from the darkness that's in you and all around you."

Over 2,000 years one person has turned to another and said, "There's freedom in Jesus" And someone turned to you and said it. Now, who are you saying it to? That long line of people who worked, as it says in Timothy here, "Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord." They got the message to you. Whether it gets to your family, your friends, to your coworkers, your personal world now depends on you.

Haven't you been ashamed long enough, silent long enough? Let God lay on your heart one person He wants you to turn to. Ask Him to get them ready for your message and to change your silence to boldness. And then, join God's freedom chain. Someone grabbed your hand. Now, you grab someone else's and proclaim, "Freedom!" because of what Jesus did.

Isaiah 50 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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

Max Lucado Daily: In Debt

Debt.  To be in debt is to owe someone something.  If that’s true, isn’t it appropriate for us to speak of debt in our prayer, for aren’t we all in debt to God? Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disobey His commands?  Rather than love our neighbor, we hurt our neighbor. Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disregard Him? He makes the universe and we applaud science.  Maybe if I wave at my neighbor or go to church next Sunday, I’ll get caught up. But how do you know when you’ve made enough? That’s the problem.  You never can.

Romans 4:5 says, “People cannot do any work that will make them right with God.”

You’re going to spend the rest of your days huffing and puffing to get to the drive-through window before the bank closes.  Just try this– trust His grace!  It is God who justifies your account!

from The Great House of God

Isaiah 50

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

50 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce
    with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
    did I sell you?
Because of your sins you were sold;
    because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 When I came, why was there no one?
    When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Was my arm too short to deliver you?
    Do I lack the strength to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea,
    I turn rivers into a desert;
their fish rot for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with darkness
    and make sackcloth its covering.”
4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
    to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
    I have not been rebellious,
    I have not turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.
7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
    and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near.
    Who then will bring charges against me?
    Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
    Who will condemn me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
    the moths will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.
11 But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
    You will lie down in torment.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: James 1:1-8

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Cape Tribulation

April 16, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. —James 1:2-3

On June 10, 1770, British navigator James Cook’s ship hit a reef off the northeast coast of Australia. He sailed the ship out into deeper water only to hit the reef again, and this time the collision almost sank the ship. This experience moved Cook to write in the ship’s log: “The north point [was named] Cape Tribulation because here began all our troubles.”

Many of us have experienced a trial that has seemed to trigger a string of other trials. The loss of a job, the death of a loved one, an unwanted divorce, or a decline in health could all be part of the list.

Even though a crisis may seem to be our “Cape Tribulation,” God is still sovereign and He most certainly is in control. It is His purpose to use tribulation to build resilience into us. James writes: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3). The word translated “patience” means to have staying power or the ability to endure.

In the midst of your life-changing trial, remember that God is still at work. He wants to use your “Cape Tribulation” experience to build your character. He has promised His grace to see you through (2 Cor. 12:9).

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
—Annie Johnson Flint. © Renewal 1969. Lillenas Publishing
Faith grows best in the winter of trial. —Rutherford


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 16, 2013

Can You Come Down From the Mountain?

While you have the light, believe in the light . . . —John 12:36

We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.

Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just doit! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.

Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

How to Burn Off Your Personal Fog - #6852

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Well, the world sure looks different on a foggy morning. In our neighborhood the neighbor's houses suddenly aren't there. There's a hill I can usually see out our back door. On a foggy morning - no hill. And on the highway, forget it! I mean, it's suddenly hard to find where you turn or to plan much beyond the car immediately in front of you.

I remember this 40-car-pile-up on a foggy morning on one of the major highways near us. The pile-up happened because people couldn't see what the car in front of them was doing. Now, on those foggy mornings it looks as if the world's going to be gray all day doesn't it? It's kind of a depressing way to start the day, but that fog seldom lasts past 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. Why? Well, the fog developed over night when there was no sun out to warm the air and evaporate all that moisture. Sometimes when the fog gets thick, well, we lose sight of the sun.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How To Burn Off Your Personal Fog."

There are three facets of Jesus that His followers should be known for, and they're all mentioned in our word for today from the Word of God in Colossians 3:15-17: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

Now, notice here it talks about the fact that you and I should be known by the peace of Christ in our relationships, by the word of Christ in our attempts to minister to people, and by the name of Christ in everything we do. So, we're to be characterized by Jesus' peace, Jesus' words, and a Jesus uniform everywhere we are. That peace, especially, appeals to me-the peace of Christ.

Did you notice that each involve the same ingredient? They all involve saying, "Thank you." With the peace of Christ, the word of Christ, and the name of Christ, there's a thank you emphasis. I wonder if we were to play back recordings of you in recent weeks, would they sound a little more negative than usual? Maybe there's a pessimistic tone there; a tone of criticism or complaining, negativity. Hey, the fog's rolling in and everything is looking gray to you.

I can describe it because I've felt it. Maybe the fog is winning right now. What you need, of course, is the sun, and the sun that burns off the fog of pessimism and negativism is called giving thanks. That means you make a decision to focus today on what is rather than what isn't; what you have rather than what you don't have. To focus on what God has been doing in your life; to concentrate on answered prayer rather than on the not yet answered prayer. To go through your day on a God-hunt, looking for where He is, where He's working in your life. If you look for Him, you'll see Him all over the place.

Paul and Silas could sing at midnight in a prison because they were praising and giving thanks. You can sing at midnight. You can give thanks in the fog.

When I stop living gratefully, a dark gray attitude starts to blanket my soul-the spiritual blahs. But the fog doesn't ever have to last long. A thank you mindset is the sun that burns off your personal fog.