(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Just Be Normal
You don’t have to lower your standards. Or saddle a high horse. Just be nice. Normal and nice. Discipleship is sometimes defined by being normal! You don’t have to be weird to follow Jesus. You don’t have to stop liking your friends to follow Him. Just the opposite. A few introductions would be nice. Do you know how to grill a steak?
A woman in a small Arkansas community was a single mom with a frail baby. Her neighbor would stop by every few days and keep the child so she could do her shopping. After some weeks her neighbor shared more than time; she shared her faith, and the woman followed Christ. The friends of the young mother objected. “Do you know what those people teach?” they contested. “Here is what I know,” she told them. “They held my baby.”
I think Jesus likes that kind of answer, don’t you?
from Next Door Savior
Micah 3
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
3 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;
3 who eat my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them
because of the evil they have done.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,
they proclaim ‘peace’
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets,
and the day will go dark for them.
7 The seers will be ashamed
and the diviners disgraced.
They will all cover their faces
because there is no answer from God.”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;
10 who build Zion with bloodshed,
and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 4:35-41
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Peace, Be Still
May 29, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” —Mark 4:39
My friend Elouise has a wonderful way of putting life into clever perspectives. Once when I asked her, “How are you today?” I expected the usual “fine” response. Instead, she said, “I’ve got to wake Him up!” When I asked what she meant, she kiddingly exclaimed, “Don’t you know your Bible?!” Then she explained: “When the disciples faced trouble, they ran to wake up Jesus. I’m going to run to Him too!”
What do we do when we are stuck in a troubling situation with nowhere to run? Maybe, like the disciples who were stuck in a life-threatening storm, we run to Jesus (Mark 4:35-41). Sometimes, however, we may try to bail ourselves out of trouble by seeking revenge, slandering the one who has caused our problem, or just cowering fearfully in the corner as we sink into despair.
We need to learn from the disciples who fled to Jesus as their only hope. He may not bail us out immediately, but remembering that He is in our boat makes a difference! Thankfully, He is always with us in the storms of life, saying things like “Peace, be still!” (v.39). So, look for Him in your storm and let Him fill you with the peace that comes from knowing He is near.
Lord, teach us to run to You in the midst of trouble.
Forgive us for trying to bail ourselves out, and lead
us to the peace of trusting Your wisdom and ultimate
deliverance. Thank You that You will help us!
Make Jesus your first option when the storms of life threaten you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 29, 2013
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Looking Back Attack - #6883
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Most of the major milestones in college revolve around a little four-letter word. Maybe you remember; maybe you're experiencing it now. The word - exam. My wife and I ended up in some classes together while we were in college before we were married, and that meant we ended up being stressed out at exactly the same time, sharing the same questions, the same challenges. But it was after the exam that the differences we had really surfaced because we handled the exam aftermath differently.
I'd come away rehearsing questions and thinking, "Well, how did I do on that one?" "What did you write for that one?" And, "Oh no, I forgot to write about that point." I thought about what I might have aced or what I might have missed; generally, I'd relive the exam. Now, my wife on the other hand; she had no desire to look back. When that exam was over, it was over and none too soon! She didn't want to go back and go over and over what was already history. I think she had the better idea.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking Back Attack."
Our word for today from the Word of God is from Philippians chapter 3, and I'll begin reading at verse 12. Paul says, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
The imagery here is of a track runner. I happen to think that maybe Paul was a sports fan; he seemed to refer to the Olympics pretty often. And here's this runner going for the gold, and his first step to victory is to forget what's behind you. Let history be history; let the ground covered be the ground covered. You can't do a thing about it! You can't change the past. You can't do anything about the ground you already covered. In simple language, "Don't look back."
Too often we're like that college "me." We rehearse again and again what is unchangeable history. I kept thinking about the exam and kept thinking about the questions; couldn't change a thing by thinking about them. And oftentimes we get to the point where we're not focusing on today, on the race that we've still got to run. It's good to learn from the past, but not good to dwell on it.
Maybe you're having a looking back attack right now. Maybe it's a past hurt, and you just replay it over and over again. That replay is leading to resentment. If you don't go to the cross and find that grace to forgive that hurt, to release that hurt, you're going to stumble every time you try to run. It's time to focus on forgiving; a new beginning in that relationship. Maybe you're looking back at a past failure and you're paralyzed by it. You're replaying what you did wrong. Learn from it! Accept Christ's erasing and press on for the prize. Don't look back!
Maybe you're reliving past history, but it doesn't really mean anything today. It's time to make some new victories, some new memories, gain some new ground for Jesus instead of cruising on the glories of the past. You run so much better if you keep your eyes like Paul said, "On the prize" rather than on the past. The steps that you already took just don't matter that much anymore. What matters is going for the gold today.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Micah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: He’s Been There
Whatever you are facing, Jesus knows how you feel! He’s been there.
Several years ago, twenty-thousand of us ran through the streets of San Antonio raising money for breast cancer research. Most of us ran out of kindness, a few ran in memory of a loved one, others in honor of a cancer survivor. We ran for different reasons.
But no runner was more passionate than the woman I spotted. A bandana covered her bald head, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. She had cancer. While we ran out of kindness, she ran out of conviction. She knows how cancer victims feel. She’s been there.
So has Jesus. Scripture says, He is able—to run to the cry of those who’re being tempted and tested and tried. When you turn to Him for help, Jesus runs to you to help. Why? Because he knows how you feel. He’s been there! (Hebrews 4:15).
from Next Door Savior
Micah 2
Human Plans and God’s Plans
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by lot.
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good
to the one whose ways are upright?
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:1-10
Life Through the Spirit
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness.
Displaying God’s Glory
May 28, 2013 — by Dave Branon
Those who live according to the Spirit, [live according to] the things of the Spirit. —Romans 8:5
I love baseball and have been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid. I especially enjoy following the Detroit Tigers. But during a recent season, the Tigers’ poor play and losing record early in the season frustrated me greatly. So for my own personal well-being, I took a break. I spent 4 days avoiding anything to do with my favorite team.
During those 4 Tiger-less days, I began to contemplate how difficult it is to give up things we’ve grown accustomed to. Yet there are times when God may want us to.
For instance, we may be involved in an activity that has become all-encompassing—and we know it would be best to limit it (see 1 Cor. 6:12). Or we may have a habit or practice that we know misses the mark of pleasing God, and we realize that we need to let it go because we love Him and want Him to be glorified through us (15:34).
When we do find things that interfere with our relationship with the Lord, with His help we can stop. God has given us the provision (1 Cor. 10:13), and the Spirit provides the power (Rom. 8:5).
Let’s ask Him to help us not let anything block His glory from shining through.
You are perfect, Lord, and we are so far from
perfect. Please chip away at our imperfections
through the work of Your Holy Spirit. Help us
each day to grow more and more like You.
Drawing close to Christ produces a growing Christlikeness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2013
Unquestion Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Lost and Found - #6882
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
"We have a little boy here!" That was the announcement we heard when we were down on the boardwalk at the New Jersey shore. We'd been biking along the boardwalk, and it was a great sunny day; thousands of people were milling around the boardwalk. Then came that announcement over the sound system; you could hear it all down the boardwalk. "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost. He's about five years old. He's wearing red shorts and holding a little red truck." All of a sudden my bike ride wasn't as cheerful as it had been. I began to wonder why they didn't at least give out his name. I found out later it was because he was crying so hard he couldn't give it!
Twenty-five minutes later I came back down the boardwalk on my bike. They were still making the announcement, "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost!" Well, I had to leave before I heard the final outcome and man, I've got to tell you, I felt bad for that little guy, feeling so lost and alone. Actually, there's some of that little boy in you and me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lost and Found."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:10. Jesus himself is speaking. He says of Himself, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Now, that's a word the Bible uses to describe you and me quite often-lost. No matter how religious you are, no matter how respected, no matter how powerful, no matter how intelligent you are, you are L O S T like that little boy on the boardwalk-lost. You say, "Well, how do you know all of us are, Ron?"
In Isaiah 53:4, it says, "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows." And it goes on to say in verse 6, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray." "We all" is what God says. "Each of us has turned to our own way." In a lot of ways we're like that little boy. First of all, I don't think you mean to get away from your father. I'm sure that little boy didn't mean to get lost. Few of us have deliberately said, "I need to get away from God." We just keep making choices, taking steps that ease Him out. He ends up on the margins of our life instead of in the center where the Creator of us belongs. We end up with a wall of sin between God and us. Maybe you can tell that. You know there's a wall between you and God; you can feel it.
Some people, like that lost little boy, at first don't know they're lost. They're just enjoying the boardwalk; it's fun, it's exciting. Then you realize how empty you are, how alone you are. Often it's late at night or when a person or a dream comes to mind. Even if you get what you wanted, you still feel empty. But that haunting voice says, "Someone's missing" and you don't know how to find Him.
I'm afraid after being lost, by the time you realize you're lost, you don't know how to find your Father. "How did I get this far from God? How can I find Him?" Well, like that little boy, your only hope of getting home is if your Father comes looking for you. And He did! The Bible says, "Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost." See, Jesus is God come looking for you. He had to go all the way to the cross to do it though. It says, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (or the wrong doing) of us all." That's the end of the verse that says "we all wandered away." He took all the payment for all my wandering and yours. And He's seeking you right now through this visit. What if that little boy's father finds him and the little boy says, "Go away!" I can't imagine that! Think how many of us have done that to God.
He's come to you; He's knocking on the door of your life and maybe you've said, "Not now. Go away, Father. Not today." Hasn't it been too long you've been away from the love only the Father can give you, the peace, the security, the forgiveness, the heaven only He can give you? He's coming to you today. Reach out and say, "Daddy, take me home. Bring me home to a relationship with You," as only He can through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Our whole reason for our website is to help you be sure you belong to Him. Go there today, please - YoursForLife.net - and let this be the day you go from lost to found.
Max Lucado Daily: He’s Been There
Whatever you are facing, Jesus knows how you feel! He’s been there.
Several years ago, twenty-thousand of us ran through the streets of San Antonio raising money for breast cancer research. Most of us ran out of kindness, a few ran in memory of a loved one, others in honor of a cancer survivor. We ran for different reasons.
But no runner was more passionate than the woman I spotted. A bandana covered her bald head, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. She had cancer. While we ran out of kindness, she ran out of conviction. She knows how cancer victims feel. She’s been there.
So has Jesus. Scripture says, He is able—to run to the cry of those who’re being tempted and tested and tried. When you turn to Him for help, Jesus runs to you to help. Why? Because he knows how you feel. He’s been there! (Hebrews 4:15).
from Next Door Savior
Micah 2
Human Plans and God’s Plans
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by lot.
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good
to the one whose ways are upright?
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:1-10
Life Through the Spirit
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness.
Displaying God’s Glory
May 28, 2013 — by Dave Branon
Those who live according to the Spirit, [live according to] the things of the Spirit. —Romans 8:5
I love baseball and have been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid. I especially enjoy following the Detroit Tigers. But during a recent season, the Tigers’ poor play and losing record early in the season frustrated me greatly. So for my own personal well-being, I took a break. I spent 4 days avoiding anything to do with my favorite team.
During those 4 Tiger-less days, I began to contemplate how difficult it is to give up things we’ve grown accustomed to. Yet there are times when God may want us to.
For instance, we may be involved in an activity that has become all-encompassing—and we know it would be best to limit it (see 1 Cor. 6:12). Or we may have a habit or practice that we know misses the mark of pleasing God, and we realize that we need to let it go because we love Him and want Him to be glorified through us (15:34).
When we do find things that interfere with our relationship with the Lord, with His help we can stop. God has given us the provision (1 Cor. 10:13), and the Spirit provides the power (Rom. 8:5).
Let’s ask Him to help us not let anything block His glory from shining through.
You are perfect, Lord, and we are so far from
perfect. Please chip away at our imperfections
through the work of Your Holy Spirit. Help us
each day to grow more and more like You.
Drawing close to Christ produces a growing Christlikeness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2013
Unquestion Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Lost and Found - #6882
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
"We have a little boy here!" That was the announcement we heard when we were down on the boardwalk at the New Jersey shore. We'd been biking along the boardwalk, and it was a great sunny day; thousands of people were milling around the boardwalk. Then came that announcement over the sound system; you could hear it all down the boardwalk. "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost. He's about five years old. He's wearing red shorts and holding a little red truck." All of a sudden my bike ride wasn't as cheerful as it had been. I began to wonder why they didn't at least give out his name. I found out later it was because he was crying so hard he couldn't give it!
Twenty-five minutes later I came back down the boardwalk on my bike. They were still making the announcement, "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost!" Well, I had to leave before I heard the final outcome and man, I've got to tell you, I felt bad for that little guy, feeling so lost and alone. Actually, there's some of that little boy in you and me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lost and Found."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:10. Jesus himself is speaking. He says of Himself, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Now, that's a word the Bible uses to describe you and me quite often-lost. No matter how religious you are, no matter how respected, no matter how powerful, no matter how intelligent you are, you are L O S T like that little boy on the boardwalk-lost. You say, "Well, how do you know all of us are, Ron?"
In Isaiah 53:4, it says, "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows." And it goes on to say in verse 6, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray." "We all" is what God says. "Each of us has turned to our own way." In a lot of ways we're like that little boy. First of all, I don't think you mean to get away from your father. I'm sure that little boy didn't mean to get lost. Few of us have deliberately said, "I need to get away from God." We just keep making choices, taking steps that ease Him out. He ends up on the margins of our life instead of in the center where the Creator of us belongs. We end up with a wall of sin between God and us. Maybe you can tell that. You know there's a wall between you and God; you can feel it.
Some people, like that lost little boy, at first don't know they're lost. They're just enjoying the boardwalk; it's fun, it's exciting. Then you realize how empty you are, how alone you are. Often it's late at night or when a person or a dream comes to mind. Even if you get what you wanted, you still feel empty. But that haunting voice says, "Someone's missing" and you don't know how to find Him.
I'm afraid after being lost, by the time you realize you're lost, you don't know how to find your Father. "How did I get this far from God? How can I find Him?" Well, like that little boy, your only hope of getting home is if your Father comes looking for you. And He did! The Bible says, "Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost." See, Jesus is God come looking for you. He had to go all the way to the cross to do it though. It says, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (or the wrong doing) of us all." That's the end of the verse that says "we all wandered away." He took all the payment for all my wandering and yours. And He's seeking you right now through this visit. What if that little boy's father finds him and the little boy says, "Go away!" I can't imagine that! Think how many of us have done that to God.
He's come to you; He's knocking on the door of your life and maybe you've said, "Not now. Go away, Father. Not today." Hasn't it been too long you've been away from the love only the Father can give you, the peace, the security, the forgiveness, the heaven only He can give you? He's coming to you today. Reach out and say, "Daddy, take me home. Bring me home to a relationship with You," as only He can through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Our whole reason for our website is to help you be sure you belong to Him. Go there today, please - YoursForLife.net - and let this be the day you go from lost to found.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Micah 1 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Untying Knots
Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. And, oh the advice. Everyone had a different approach. Can’t anyone agree? On only one thing. You need to know how!
My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench each morning. One day he noticed a little fellow struggling to board the bus. He was leaning down, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment—eyes darting back and forth between the shoe and the ride. All of a sudden the door closed. The boy fell back and sighed. That’s when he saw Roy. With tear-filled eyes he asked, “Do you untie knots?”
Jesus loves that request. Life gets tangled. People mess up. You never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” Look who shows up. Jesus, our next door Savior.
“Do you untie knots?” He answers emphatically, “Yes!”
from Next Door Savior
Micah 1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you,
listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces;
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Weeping and Mourning
8 Because of this I will weep and wail;
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague is incurable;
it has spread to Judah.
It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,
because disaster has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Akzib[f] will prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.[g]
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.
16 Shave your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 5:1-11
Peace and Hope
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
True Sacrifice
May 27, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. —John 15:13
Eric was one of the good guys. As a police officer, he saw his work as service to his community and was fully committed to serving at all costs. Evidence of this desire was seen on the door of Eric’s locker at the police station, where he posted John 15:13.
In that verse, our Lord said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Those words, however, were not merely noble ideals. They expressed Eric’s commitment to his duty as a police officer—a commitment that demanded the ultimate price when he was killed in the line of duty. It was a real-life display of the heart of true sacrifice.
Jesus Christ lived out the powerful words of John 15:13 within hours of stating them. The upper room event where Jesus spoke of such sacrifice was followed by communion with the Father at Gethsemane, a series of illegal trials, and then crucifixion before a mocking crowd.
As the Son of God, Jesus could have avoided the suffering, torture, and cruelty. He was utterly without sin and did not deserve to die. But love, the fuel that drives true sacrifice, drove Him to the cross. As a result, we can be forgiven if we will accept His sacrifice and resurrection by faith. Have you trusted the One who laid down His life for you?
’Twas not a martyr’s death He died,
The Christ of Calvary;
It was a willing sacrifice
He made for you—for me. —Adams
Only Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, can declare guilty people perfect.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2013
The Life To Know Him
. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Strange Credentials - #6881
Monday, May 27, 2013
We were scheduled to fly to a national staff conference for a youth ministry I was with, when one of the women on our staff came to me and said, "Ron, I'm afraid to fly." Well, the conference was so far away we didn't have much choice. She said, "I want to talk to somebody on the staff about flying, and I decided I would talk to you." And I said, "Well, how did I become the lucky winner here?" She said, "Well, you go up and come down so many times in those things, I figured you'd understand." She was seeking out someone who's done it a lot. Well, I mean, we have 23 people on the staff she could have talked to, but she said, "I'm going to go to the person who's done it a lot. I want to hear from someone who's been there."
You know what? I've found that's especially true of people who are, let's say, trying to lose weight. You try to talk to people who've been there, done that. Have you noticed the weight loss products that are sold on television about every ten minutes? They don't always have a doctor come on and some very thin person. Now, maybe a thin person who had benefitted from the product. They usually have someone who has lost weight using the product, who traded in their larger sized clothes for a smaller size, and they're the ones who come on and pitch it. Advertisers know that the best salesmen for a product is someone who's been there.
Being overweight - take it from me, I've had experience - it's not fun. But a lot of people want to know how you lost it if you used to be there. And even though it wasn't fun, it gives you credentials with people who are struggling with it now. It's interesting: yesterday's misery can become today's credentials.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Strange Credentials."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 9. I'm going to begin at verse 24. Jesus healed a man who had been blind from his birth. The Jewish leaders didn't understand what Jesus had done and when He had done it, so they are really interrogating this guy. It says, "The second time they summoned the man who had been blind. 'Give glory to God,' they said. 'We know this Man," speaking of Jesus, "is a sinner.' He replied, 'Whether He's a sinner or not I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!'"
Blindness had been his lifelong burden; it had been his personal tragedy. And then Jesus came, and suddenly all those years of being blind became this man's credentials for speaking to other people. God loves to do things like that, taking the garbage of the past, no matter how ugly and how awful it has been and then He recycles it into ministry to other people; people who are where you were. Paul's crimes of the past became his credentials to speak about how Christ could change a life, even a life like his. He said in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, "We comfort others with the comfort we have received." The tragedies of our life become credentials to minister to other people in their tragedies.
Sin is ugly; sin is destructive. It's so destructive it took Christ's death to pay for it. But God's so majestic that He can take the things you did against Him, forgive you, restore you, change you, and then use those sins to sensitize you to others who are still trapped. Today's frustration, today's agony, today's illness, today's hurt takes on meaning when you bring it to the Lord and say, "Lord, sanctify this experience. Teach me new sensitivities. Teach me new things about You. I want this tragedy to count, to help other people." It's the same with sins that have been sinned against you; the abuse, the mistreatment, the criticism. You know how it feels, and it's not a waste. It becomes equipment for ministry to other wounded people.
It's terrific! God uses the apparent junk of our lives to build radar in you for ministry to others like you. You talk about amazing grace? How God can recycle that garbage into something He can use to change lives - it's amazing. In God's hands, the misery of today can become tomorrow's strange credentials.
Max Lucado Daily: Untying Knots
Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. And, oh the advice. Everyone had a different approach. Can’t anyone agree? On only one thing. You need to know how!
My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench each morning. One day he noticed a little fellow struggling to board the bus. He was leaning down, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment—eyes darting back and forth between the shoe and the ride. All of a sudden the door closed. The boy fell back and sighed. That’s when he saw Roy. With tear-filled eyes he asked, “Do you untie knots?”
Jesus loves that request. Life gets tangled. People mess up. You never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” Look who shows up. Jesus, our next door Savior.
“Do you untie knots?” He answers emphatically, “Yes!”
from Next Door Savior
Micah 1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you,
listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces;
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Weeping and Mourning
8 Because of this I will weep and wail;
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague is incurable;
it has spread to Judah.
It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,
because disaster has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Akzib[f] will prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.[g]
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.
16 Shave your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 5:1-11
Peace and Hope
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
True Sacrifice
May 27, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. —John 15:13
Eric was one of the good guys. As a police officer, he saw his work as service to his community and was fully committed to serving at all costs. Evidence of this desire was seen on the door of Eric’s locker at the police station, where he posted John 15:13.
In that verse, our Lord said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Those words, however, were not merely noble ideals. They expressed Eric’s commitment to his duty as a police officer—a commitment that demanded the ultimate price when he was killed in the line of duty. It was a real-life display of the heart of true sacrifice.
Jesus Christ lived out the powerful words of John 15:13 within hours of stating them. The upper room event where Jesus spoke of such sacrifice was followed by communion with the Father at Gethsemane, a series of illegal trials, and then crucifixion before a mocking crowd.
As the Son of God, Jesus could have avoided the suffering, torture, and cruelty. He was utterly without sin and did not deserve to die. But love, the fuel that drives true sacrifice, drove Him to the cross. As a result, we can be forgiven if we will accept His sacrifice and resurrection by faith. Have you trusted the One who laid down His life for you?
’Twas not a martyr’s death He died,
The Christ of Calvary;
It was a willing sacrifice
He made for you—for me. —Adams
Only Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, can declare guilty people perfect.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2013
The Life To Know Him
. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Strange Credentials - #6881
Monday, May 27, 2013
We were scheduled to fly to a national staff conference for a youth ministry I was with, when one of the women on our staff came to me and said, "Ron, I'm afraid to fly." Well, the conference was so far away we didn't have much choice. She said, "I want to talk to somebody on the staff about flying, and I decided I would talk to you." And I said, "Well, how did I become the lucky winner here?" She said, "Well, you go up and come down so many times in those things, I figured you'd understand." She was seeking out someone who's done it a lot. Well, I mean, we have 23 people on the staff she could have talked to, but she said, "I'm going to go to the person who's done it a lot. I want to hear from someone who's been there."
You know what? I've found that's especially true of people who are, let's say, trying to lose weight. You try to talk to people who've been there, done that. Have you noticed the weight loss products that are sold on television about every ten minutes? They don't always have a doctor come on and some very thin person. Now, maybe a thin person who had benefitted from the product. They usually have someone who has lost weight using the product, who traded in their larger sized clothes for a smaller size, and they're the ones who come on and pitch it. Advertisers know that the best salesmen for a product is someone who's been there.
Being overweight - take it from me, I've had experience - it's not fun. But a lot of people want to know how you lost it if you used to be there. And even though it wasn't fun, it gives you credentials with people who are struggling with it now. It's interesting: yesterday's misery can become today's credentials.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Strange Credentials."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 9. I'm going to begin at verse 24. Jesus healed a man who had been blind from his birth. The Jewish leaders didn't understand what Jesus had done and when He had done it, so they are really interrogating this guy. It says, "The second time they summoned the man who had been blind. 'Give glory to God,' they said. 'We know this Man," speaking of Jesus, "is a sinner.' He replied, 'Whether He's a sinner or not I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!'"
Blindness had been his lifelong burden; it had been his personal tragedy. And then Jesus came, and suddenly all those years of being blind became this man's credentials for speaking to other people. God loves to do things like that, taking the garbage of the past, no matter how ugly and how awful it has been and then He recycles it into ministry to other people; people who are where you were. Paul's crimes of the past became his credentials to speak about how Christ could change a life, even a life like his. He said in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, "We comfort others with the comfort we have received." The tragedies of our life become credentials to minister to other people in their tragedies.
Sin is ugly; sin is destructive. It's so destructive it took Christ's death to pay for it. But God's so majestic that He can take the things you did against Him, forgive you, restore you, change you, and then use those sins to sensitize you to others who are still trapped. Today's frustration, today's agony, today's illness, today's hurt takes on meaning when you bring it to the Lord and say, "Lord, sanctify this experience. Teach me new sensitivities. Teach me new things about You. I want this tragedy to count, to help other people." It's the same with sins that have been sinned against you; the abuse, the mistreatment, the criticism. You know how it feels, and it's not a waste. It becomes equipment for ministry to other wounded people.
It's terrific! God uses the apparent junk of our lives to build radar in you for ministry to others like you. You talk about amazing grace? How God can recycle that garbage into something He can use to change lives - it's amazing. In God's hands, the misery of today can become tomorrow's strange credentials.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Romans 16 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: He Leads Us
“We will find grace to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16, NLT
God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene . . . so you might as well quit looking for it. He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know he leads us and “we will find grace to help us when we need it.”
Romans 16
New International Version (NIV)
Personal Greetings
16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon[a][b] of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla[c] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among[d] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the churches of Christ send greetings.
17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
21 Timothy, my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.
22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.
Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. [24] [e]
25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from[f] faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:12-17
12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!
A Debtor
May 26, 2013 — by Anne Cetas
The love of Christ compels us. —2 Corinthians 5:14
As a young man, Robert Robinson (1735–1790) enjoyed getting into trouble with his friends, so the stories go. At age 17, though, he heard a sermon by George Whitefield from Matthew 3:7, and realized his need for salvation in Christ. The Lord changed Robinson’s life, and he became a preacher. He also wrote several hymns, including his best-known “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”
Lately I’ve been pondering God’s amazing grace toward us and the last stanza of that hymn: “O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!” The hymn brings to mind the apostle Paul’s words: “The love of Christ compels [or constrains] us . . . that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
We can’t earn God’s love and grace. But because He has lavished it on us, how can we help but love Him in return by living for Him! I’m not exactly sure what that looks like, but it must include drawing near to Him, listening to His Word, serving Him, and obeying Him out of gratitude and love.
As debtors, we are called to live each day for Jesus who gave Himself for us.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise. —Robinson
Those who know God’s grace show God’s grace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 26, 2013
Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught
Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing . . .”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “. . . everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But . . . , but . . . .” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Hosea 14 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Follow Me
“‘Follow Me,’” [Jesus] told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” Matthew 2:9, NIV
You gotta wonder what Jesus saw in Matthew . . .
Whatever it was, it must’ve been something. Matthew heard the call and never went back. He spent the rest of his life convincing folks that the carpenter was the King. Jesus gave the call and never took it back. He spent his life dying for people like Matthew, convincing a lot of us that if he had a place for Matthew, he just might have a place for us.
Hosea 14
Repentance to Bring Blessing
14 [f]Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[g]
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
6 his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, what more have I[h] to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
9 Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 107:23-32
New International Version (NIV)
23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea[a] were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.
Navigating The Storm
May 25, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
He commands and raises the stormy wind, . . . and He brings them out of their distresses. —Psalm 107:25,28
The ancient people of the nation of Axum (located on the Red Sea in modern Ethiopia) discovered that the stormy winds of the monsoon season could be harnessed by sail for speedy navigation. Rather than dreading the high winds and rains, they learned how to navigate their way through the storm.
Psalm 107 provides a wonderful word picture of how God allows storms to come our way, and then provides help for us to navigate through them. “He commands and raises the stormy wind, . . . and He brings them out of their distresses” (Ps. 107:25,28).
Trusting God for guidance in troubled times is a biblical theme. Hebrews 11 lists many who used their problems as an opportunity to exercise faith and to experience God’s grace, provision, and deliverance: “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, [and] out of weakness were made strong” (vv.33-34).
Stormy circumstances are inevitable. Although our first reaction may be to run from the problem, we can instead ask God to teach us how to trust Him to navigate us through the storm.
When life feels like a storm-tossed sea
With crashing waves of pain and grief,
Turn to the Lord and trust in Him,
He’ll give you peace and bring relief. —Sper
Better to go through the storm with Christ than to have smooth sailing without Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 25, 2013
The Good or The Best?
If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left —Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice.
Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing.
Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “. . . walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).
Max Lucado Daily: Follow Me
“‘Follow Me,’” [Jesus] told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” Matthew 2:9, NIV
You gotta wonder what Jesus saw in Matthew . . .
Whatever it was, it must’ve been something. Matthew heard the call and never went back. He spent the rest of his life convincing folks that the carpenter was the King. Jesus gave the call and never took it back. He spent his life dying for people like Matthew, convincing a lot of us that if he had a place for Matthew, he just might have a place for us.
Hosea 14
Repentance to Bring Blessing
14 [f]Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[g]
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
6 his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, what more have I[h] to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
9 Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 107:23-32
New International Version (NIV)
23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea[a] were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.
Navigating The Storm
May 25, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
He commands and raises the stormy wind, . . . and He brings them out of their distresses. —Psalm 107:25,28
The ancient people of the nation of Axum (located on the Red Sea in modern Ethiopia) discovered that the stormy winds of the monsoon season could be harnessed by sail for speedy navigation. Rather than dreading the high winds and rains, they learned how to navigate their way through the storm.
Psalm 107 provides a wonderful word picture of how God allows storms to come our way, and then provides help for us to navigate through them. “He commands and raises the stormy wind, . . . and He brings them out of their distresses” (Ps. 107:25,28).
Trusting God for guidance in troubled times is a biblical theme. Hebrews 11 lists many who used their problems as an opportunity to exercise faith and to experience God’s grace, provision, and deliverance: “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, [and] out of weakness were made strong” (vv.33-34).
Stormy circumstances are inevitable. Although our first reaction may be to run from the problem, we can instead ask God to teach us how to trust Him to navigate us through the storm.
When life feels like a storm-tossed sea
With crashing waves of pain and grief,
Turn to the Lord and trust in Him,
He’ll give you peace and bring relief. —Sper
Better to go through the storm with Christ than to have smooth sailing without Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 25, 2013
The Good or The Best?
If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left —Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice.
Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing.
Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “. . . walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).
Friday, May 24, 2013
Hosea 13 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: At Once, Man and God
Christ—at once, man and God. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body.” Jesus was not a godlike man, nor a manlike God. He was God-man. What do we do with such a person? One thing is certain, we can’t ignore Him. He is the single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP; He is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street.
Dismiss Him? We can’t. Resist Him? Equally difficult.
Don’t we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A Savior found by millions to be irresistible.
As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:8, nothing compares to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
from Next Door Savior
Hosea 13
The Lord’s Anger Against Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
2 Now they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss[d] calf-idols!”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
like smoke escaping through a window.
4 “But I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Savior except me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion I will devour them—
a wild animal will tear them apart.
9 “You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.
10 Where is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?
“I will have no compassion,
15 even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open.”[e]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 11:8-16
New International Version (NIV)
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Heavenly Country
May 24, 2013 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Our citizenship is in heaven. —Philippians 3:20
During high school, my closest friend and I took a pair of horses out for an afternoon ride. We slowly roamed through fields of wildflowers and wooded groves. But when we nosed the horses in the direction of the barn, they took off toward home like twin rockets. Our equine friends knew that it was time for dinner and a good brushing, and they could hardly wait.
As Christians, our true home is heaven (Phil. 3:20). Yet sometimes our desires tether us to the here and now. We enjoy God’s good gifts—marriage, children, grandchildren, travel, careers, friends. At the same time, the Bible challenges us to focus on “things above” (Col. 3:1-2). Things above may include the unseen benefits of heaven: God’s enduring presence (Rev. 22:3-5), unending rest (Heb. 4:9), and an everlasting inheritance (1 Peter 1:4).
Recently I read, “Believers desire the heavenly inheritance; and the stronger the faith is, the more fervent [the desire].” Several Old Testament believers mentioned in Hebrews 11 had strong faith in God that enabled them to embrace His promises before receiving them (v.13). One such promise was heaven. If we too put our faith in God, He will give us a desire for that “heavenly country” (v.16) and will loosen our grip on this world.
When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory. —Hewitt
For the Christian, heaven is spelled H-O-M-E.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 24, 2013
The Delight of Despair
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead —Revelation 1:17
It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.
“He laid His right hand on me . . .” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?
Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells . . .” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Sign On Your Life - #6880
Friday, May 24, 2013
I remember the last time I bought a house. It was a while ago, but I still remember that nervous feeling of stepping out on a limb that night to say to the owner, "We'll buy it." I was thinking, "Where in the world are we going to get the money for this?" And then the hand shake, the signature on that document that committed most of my working life to paying for it.
But the story was really told in two signs on the front yard. One was there when I came to look at the house. It said "For Sale." Then after we committed ourselves to buy it, they changed the sign. Of course it said: "Sold." I felt pretty good when I drove by there and said, "Hey, I know who that's sold to. That house is mine." And I knew that no one else was going to be able to drive up there and say, "Well, that's a nice house. I'd like this house." Nope! It was sold by right of purchase, and no one could have it but me!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sign On Your Life."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we are in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Listen to these words: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Okay, there's a sign on your life. It doesn't say like it did on the house that I bought: "Sold." The sign on your life and mine says: Bought. You are a purchased person. You belong to the person who paid for you. Are you living that way? Are you living for the One who gave His life so you could have hope, so you could have a life, so your life could have meaning, so you could have an eternity in heaven, who paid with His life for yours?
One way to tell: what you are doing with your body? That's a specific area that this passage highlights. You have no right to expose that body that He purchased, to devalue it, to degrade it, to neglect it. No, no, no, He paid for it. It cost Him His life to purchase you, including that body of yours. "Therefore," it says, "to glorify God in that body." Honor God with your body.
It's almost like there's another sign on you that says: "Reserved For Jesus." You know, like a table at a restaurant, you can't have that table; it's reserved for someone else. As you're tempted to look at something or listen to something today that's dirty, remember you are a purchased person. You can't allow that garbage to pollute a mind that was bought by the blood of the Son of God.
So many of our daily choices come into focus and are made a lot clearer when we remember our - okay, here's a word that I'm making up - boughtness. Our boughtness! We've been bought. It's not my money, it's not my car, it's not my house, it's not my business, it's not my body, it's not my talent. It isn't my right; I don't have the right to plan my own future. I've been purchased! You and I were purchased at the highest price in history. The Prince of Glory bled and died to buy you back from sin; to buy you back from being owned by this world; to buy you back from the Devil's plans for your life.
Don't let anyone have what Jesus paid so much for. The sign on you says: "Bought By Jesus."
Max Lucado Daily: At Once, Man and God
Christ—at once, man and God. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body.” Jesus was not a godlike man, nor a manlike God. He was God-man. What do we do with such a person? One thing is certain, we can’t ignore Him. He is the single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP; He is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street.
Dismiss Him? We can’t. Resist Him? Equally difficult.
Don’t we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A Savior found by millions to be irresistible.
As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:8, nothing compares to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
from Next Door Savior
Hosea 13
The Lord’s Anger Against Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
2 Now they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss[d] calf-idols!”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
like smoke escaping through a window.
4 “But I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Savior except me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion I will devour them—
a wild animal will tear them apart.
9 “You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.
10 Where is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?
“I will have no compassion,
15 even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open.”[e]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 11:8-16
New International Version (NIV)
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Heavenly Country
May 24, 2013 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Our citizenship is in heaven. —Philippians 3:20
During high school, my closest friend and I took a pair of horses out for an afternoon ride. We slowly roamed through fields of wildflowers and wooded groves. But when we nosed the horses in the direction of the barn, they took off toward home like twin rockets. Our equine friends knew that it was time for dinner and a good brushing, and they could hardly wait.
As Christians, our true home is heaven (Phil. 3:20). Yet sometimes our desires tether us to the here and now. We enjoy God’s good gifts—marriage, children, grandchildren, travel, careers, friends. At the same time, the Bible challenges us to focus on “things above” (Col. 3:1-2). Things above may include the unseen benefits of heaven: God’s enduring presence (Rev. 22:3-5), unending rest (Heb. 4:9), and an everlasting inheritance (1 Peter 1:4).
Recently I read, “Believers desire the heavenly inheritance; and the stronger the faith is, the more fervent [the desire].” Several Old Testament believers mentioned in Hebrews 11 had strong faith in God that enabled them to embrace His promises before receiving them (v.13). One such promise was heaven. If we too put our faith in God, He will give us a desire for that “heavenly country” (v.16) and will loosen our grip on this world.
When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory. —Hewitt
For the Christian, heaven is spelled H-O-M-E.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 24, 2013
The Delight of Despair
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead —Revelation 1:17
It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.
“He laid His right hand on me . . .” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?
Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells . . .” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Sign On Your Life - #6880
Friday, May 24, 2013
I remember the last time I bought a house. It was a while ago, but I still remember that nervous feeling of stepping out on a limb that night to say to the owner, "We'll buy it." I was thinking, "Where in the world are we going to get the money for this?" And then the hand shake, the signature on that document that committed most of my working life to paying for it.
But the story was really told in two signs on the front yard. One was there when I came to look at the house. It said "For Sale." Then after we committed ourselves to buy it, they changed the sign. Of course it said: "Sold." I felt pretty good when I drove by there and said, "Hey, I know who that's sold to. That house is mine." And I knew that no one else was going to be able to drive up there and say, "Well, that's a nice house. I'd like this house." Nope! It was sold by right of purchase, and no one could have it but me!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sign On Your Life."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we are in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Listen to these words: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Okay, there's a sign on your life. It doesn't say like it did on the house that I bought: "Sold." The sign on your life and mine says: Bought. You are a purchased person. You belong to the person who paid for you. Are you living that way? Are you living for the One who gave His life so you could have hope, so you could have a life, so your life could have meaning, so you could have an eternity in heaven, who paid with His life for yours?
One way to tell: what you are doing with your body? That's a specific area that this passage highlights. You have no right to expose that body that He purchased, to devalue it, to degrade it, to neglect it. No, no, no, He paid for it. It cost Him His life to purchase you, including that body of yours. "Therefore," it says, "to glorify God in that body." Honor God with your body.
It's almost like there's another sign on you that says: "Reserved For Jesus." You know, like a table at a restaurant, you can't have that table; it's reserved for someone else. As you're tempted to look at something or listen to something today that's dirty, remember you are a purchased person. You can't allow that garbage to pollute a mind that was bought by the blood of the Son of God.
So many of our daily choices come into focus and are made a lot clearer when we remember our - okay, here's a word that I'm making up - boughtness. Our boughtness! We've been bought. It's not my money, it's not my car, it's not my house, it's not my business, it's not my body, it's not my talent. It isn't my right; I don't have the right to plan my own future. I've been purchased! You and I were purchased at the highest price in history. The Prince of Glory bled and died to buy you back from sin; to buy you back from being owned by this world; to buy you back from the Devil's plans for your life.
Don't let anyone have what Jesus paid so much for. The sign on you says: "Bought By Jesus."
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Hosea 12 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: The Fort Knox of Faith
The Fort Knox of faith-is Christ! Fellowship with Christ. Walking with Him. Pondering Him. Exploring Him. The heart-stopping realization that in Him you are part of something ancient, endless, unstoppable and unfathomable. And the fact that He who can dig the Grand Canyon with His pinkie, thinks you're worth His death on Roman timber.
Christ is the reward of Christianity. Why else would Paul make Jesus his supreme desire? He said, "I want to know Christ." (Philippians 3:10).
Scripture says, "We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another." (2 Corinthians 3:18) As we behold Him, we become like Him.
Do you desire the same? The cache of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a healthy body or a better self-image.
The Fort Knox of faith-is Christ!
from Next Door Savior
Hosea 12
New International Version (NIV)
12 [a]1 Ephraim feeds on the wind;
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a treaty with Assyria
and sends olive oil to Egypt.
2 The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah;
he will punish Jacob[b] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
as a man he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there—
5 the Lord God Almighty,
the Lord is his name!
6 But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.
7 The merchant uses dishonest scales
and loves to defraud.
8 Ephraim boasts,
“I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin.”
9 “I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables through them.”
11 Is Gilead wicked?
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.
12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram[c];
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.
13 The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,
by a prophet he cared for him.
14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed
and will repay him for his contempt.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ezekiel 34:11-16
New International Version (NIV)
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Star Shepherd
May 23, 2013 — by David H. Roper
Why do you say, . . . “My way is hidden from the Lord”? —Isaiah 40:27
In the spring, shepherds in Idaho move their flocks from the lowlands into the mountains. Thousands of sheep move up the passes into the high country to summer pasture.
My wife and I came across a flock on Shaw Mountain last week. It was bedded down in a meadow by a quiet stream—a picturesque scene that evoked memories of Psalm 23.
But where was the shepherd? The sheep appeared to be alone—until a few broke away from the flock and began to wander toward a distant gully. Then we heard a shrill whistle from above. Looking up, we saw the shepherd sitting high on a hill above the sheep, keeping watch over his flock. A mountain dog and two Border collies stood at his side. The dogs, responding to the shepherd’s signal, bounded down the hill and herded the drifting sheep back to the flock where they belonged.
In the same way, the Good Shepherd is watching over you. Even though you cannot see Him, He can see you! He knows you by name and knows all about you. You are the sheep of His pasture (Ezek. 34:31). God promises that He will “seek out” His sheep, “feed them in good pasture,” and “bind up the broken” (vv.12,14,16).
You can trust in God’s watchful care.
I trust in God, I know He cares for me
On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea;
Though billows roll, He keeps my soul,
My heavenly Father watches over me. —Martin
The Lamb who died to save us is the Shepherd who lives to care for us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 23, 2013
Our Careful Unbelief
. . . do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on —Matthew 6:25
Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.
“. . . do not worry about your life . . . .” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (MatthewMatthew 13:22). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit.
The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
'Me Too' Won't Make It - #6879
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Albert Einstein's great-grandson doing a commercial? Yeah, well he did a few years ago. This particular auto manufacturer was showing that a new generation of drivers was choosing their make of car; not just their fathers and grandfathers. And he would go, "This is not my father's ___." No, I'm not going to name the car. They've got to pay for that. No, we don't do any commercials here.
But they also had the sons and daughters of famous people peeling out in their - shall we call it their new car X - sometimes with their father as a passenger. This is not my father's car X. Obviously some advertiser thought that they needed to develop a new market among the sons and daughters of the older generations who had bought that car. The next generation has to make their choice of how they're going to travel.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "'Me Too' Won't Make It."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 1:5. Paul was writing to his spiritual son in the faith, Timothy. He says, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you also." Okay, here's a guy with a great heritage. He has a godly grandmother who has chosen Christ. He has a godly mother who knows Christ. And now, he says, "It's reached to you, Timothy. I remember your sincere faith." Even though Timothy had a great spiritual family, a great heritage, a great environment, that wasn't enough. It took his own, personal, sincere faith in Christ to bring it into his life. He couldn't hitchhike on a godly grandmother. He couldn't hitchhike on a godly mother.
That word sincere means in Latin, "without wax." It was used on plates that you'd buy at the market, or pottery that had not been patched up with wax by the merchant to cover up the cracks. When you held it up to the sunlight, really it was what it appeared to be. It was cynacera; it was sincere. It was without wax. Well, God is saying here, "Timothy, I know about your sincere, un-fake, first-hand stand-the-test faith.
See, you need to have a personal visit to the cross. You can't get by on somebody else's. You might be able to re-write the commercial and say, "This is not my mother's Christian faith. This is not my father's Christian faith." Possibly you've been trying to get by on a "me too" faith. Maybe you wonder why your efforts to live the Christian life keep collapsing. Maybe there's no foundation. Could it be that you've never begun with Christ yourself, or made a commitment? You've been coasting on your Christian environment instead of really digging into Jesus for yourself.
See, a "me too" faith won't make it in a world that's running away from God. You've got to have a faith that's skin like part of you, not like clothes you change for every different occasion. Maybe it's time for you to step out of the false security of a nice Christian environment. You need a Christian in-vironment. You need Christ in you, not around you. You don't need to rebel against your parent's commitment just to prove your individuality, you've got to find your own commitment to Christ...personal, powerful, and stronger than your parent's.
2 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Examine yourselves. See whether or not you are in the faith." You will not be able to get into heaven on your family's faith. Can you look at your commitment and say, "This is not my parent's Christian life, or my church's. Because you're going to crash if you try to drive someone else's faith. It's time for you to say, "Jesus, you loved me. You died for me. I'm making you my Savior, my Rescuer from my sin."
If you've never done that, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website to make sure you know how you belong to Him. Go to YoursForLife.net. See, you've got to choose how you're going to travel and go from "me too" to "my personal Savior."
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Romans 15:14-33 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: The Names of God
In the three years as I came to know my wife, Denalyn, our relationship evolved. And with each change came a new name. She went from acquaintance to friend to eye-popping beauty to date to fiancée and wife. Now she is confidante, mother of my children, life-long partner. The more I know her the more names I give her.
And the more God’s people came to know him, the more names they gave him. Elohim, strong one or creator. Jehovah-raah, a caring shepherd. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. These are just a few of the names of God which describe his character. Study them, for in a given day, you may need each one of them.
God, the shepherd who leads, the Lord who provides, the voice who brings peace in the storm, the physician who heals the sick, the banner that guides. And most of all…He Is!
from The Great House of God
Romans 15:14-33
New International Version (NIV)
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”[a]
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 4:27-38
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
A Missed Lunch
May 22, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” —John 4:34
For me, food is more than a necessity—it’s a wonderfully enjoyable part of life! I enjoy sitting down to a well-prepared meal, especially when I’m feeling hungry. I imagine that the disciples were hungry for lunch when they returned to the well where Jesus was interacting with the Samaritan woman. They urged Him, “Rabbi, eat” (John 4:31). His response? “I have food to eat of which you do not know” (v.32), which made them wonder if someone had already brought Him something to eat (v.33).
I wonder if the disciples were so consumed with thinking about food that they couldn’t see past their picnic. They didn’t understand the significance of what was going on at the well. The most important thing to Jesus was “to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (v.34). He was focused on the spiritual needs of this woman who desperately needed what only He could give.
It’s easy to become preoccupied with needs of the moment. But Jesus invites us to get beyond our own interests—our own little “lunch”—to open our eyes to the souls who are searching for answers to their deepest needs.
So, join Jesus at the well, and let Him use you to tell others about the spiritual food only He can give.
Dear Lord, may my eyes be fixed not just on the things
I am interested in, but lift my eyes to see the
needy souls around me. Give me passion for the lost
and the joy of seeing others satisfied in You.
Be hungry to satisfy the needs of others around you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 22, 2013
. . . that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us . . . —John 17:21
If you are going through a time of isolation, seemingly all alone, read John 17 . It will explain exactly why you are where you are— because Jesus has prayed that you “may be one” with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or do you have some other goal for your life? Since you became a disciple, you cannot be as independent as you used to be.
God reveals in John 17 that His purpose is not just to answer our prayers, but that through prayer we might come to discern His mind. Yet there is one prayer which God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus— “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22). Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that?
God is not concerned about our plans; He doesn’t ask, “Do you want to go through this loss of a loved one, this difficulty, or this defeat?” No, He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy. If we will pray, regarding our own lives, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42), then we will be encouraged and comforted by John 17, knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom, accomplishing what is best. When we understand God’s purpose, we will not become small-minded and cynical. Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself, just as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far from this oneness; yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him— because Jesus prayed, “. . . that they all may be one . . . .”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Sandbag Syndrome - #6878
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
If you've ever given a child a helium balloon, you know you had better tie it to something or you're going to have a heartbroken kid pretty soon. That crazy balloon will just float away and slowly disappear into the sky, and all the while here's this crying child pointing at the sky and expecting you somehow to get up there and retrieve it. Now, when you go from a helium balloon to a hot air balloon-the kind that carries people-you don't want that balloon to just go drifting off somewhere. That's why they put those sandbags on hot air balloons. I think they call it ballast. It's to hold them down; to help control them and to keep them from drifting off. Balloons need ballasts; so do people.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sandbag Syndrome."
As we look at our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 12:7, realize that Paul has been telling us just before this about some very inflating times he has had with God. And then he says, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me." Actually that word thorn means a sharpened stake, and it's probably a better translation to say "for his flesh" than in it. So, he's saying, "God gave me, but then it was also a messenger from Satan, a stake for the flesh."
Now, that thorn-that stake-it applies not only to Paul's situation, but whatever that frustrating factor is in your life right now, that thing that is limiting you, that's holding you down, maybe even tormenting you. You say, "Well, why?" Paul wondered, "Why is this in my life when God is using me so much?" Well, in the original, the phrase that opens and closes this verse is repeated...the exact same phrase. He says, "So that I may not be exalted over much, I have this thorn in the flesh." Then again he says, "So that I may not be exalted over much."
In other words, if it weren't for this stake, I'd go drifting off on my own ambitions, in my own strength, in my own pride. It's like divine sandbags holding him from drifting off.
See, when God is working in your life and through your life, you need ballast to keep your feet on the ground. I guess we could call them the Lord's levelers. They aren't much fun; Paul's wasn't. But we really need them.
It's a pattern in Scripture: Elijah, at probably the greatest moment of his life in being used by God-Mount Carmel where he defeated 400 false prophets. Right after that, he's on the queen's most wanted list, he's being pursued by the queen's forces, and he's very depressed. See, when a thorn comes at a time like that, you say, "Oh, man, something's wrong!" No, it may very well be that everything's okay. The Lord has just allowed some sandbags to come into your life.
Maybe you're a little inflated by what God has been doing, and God doesn't want you to be flying off on your own. First Peter says that "God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time." So, that thorn, that stake, that sandbag is a constant reminder of how much you need your Lord.
Like Paul, you can learn to thank the Lord for the ballast that He gives you with those sandbags. Sure, they're heavy, but they're helpful.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Hosea 11 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: God Adopts Us
When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us! It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but he does more. He gives you his name. It would be enough if God just set you free, but he does more. He takes you home.
Adoptive parents understand this more than anyone. We biological parents know well the earnest longing to have a child. But in many cases our cribs were filled easily. We decided to have a child and a child came. In fact sometimes the child came with no decision. I’ve heard of unplanned pregnancies, but I’ve never heard of an unplanned adoption.
If anybody understands God’s ardor for his children, it’s someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home!
from The Great House of God
Hosea 11
God’s Love for Israel
11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.[e]
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed them.
5 “Will they not return to Egypt
and will not Assyria rule over them
because they refuse to repent?
6 A sword will flash in their cities;
it will devour their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn from me.
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.
8 “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come against their cities.
10 They will follow the Lord;
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
declares the Lord.
Israel’s Sin
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful Holy One.[f]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 49:13-16
Shout for joy, you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
Not Abandoned
May 21, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. —Isaiah 49:15-16
Years ago, while my husband and I were visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, we noticed a baby stroller by itself with no one nearby. We assumed that the parents had left it there because it was too bulky and were now carrying their child. But as we approached, we saw a sleeping baby inside. Where was a parent . . . a sibling . . . a babysitter? We hung around for quite some time before hailing a museum official. No one had shown up to claim that precious child! The last we saw of him, he was being wheeled away to a safe place.
That experience made me think about what it’s like to be abandoned. It’s an overwhelming feeling that no one cares anything about you. It’s a real and excruciatingly painful feeling. But even though people may abandon us, God’s love and presence is assured. The Lord promises that He will never leave us (Deut. 31:8). He will be with us wherever we go, “always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
The Lord will never falter in His commitment to His children. Even if we have been abandoned by others, we can find confidence in His promise that nothing will ever “separate us from [His] love” (Rom. 8:35-39).
Father, thank You for Your never-failing presence
in every aspect of our lives. We count on Your
promise never to abandon us. Please teach us
to rest in that truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Confidence in God’s presence is our comfort.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 21, 2013
Having God’s “Unreasonable” Faith
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you —Matthew 6:33
When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. “. . . seek first the kingdom of God . . . .” Even the most spiritually-minded of us argue the exact opposite, saying, “But I must live; I must make a certain amount of money; I must be clothed; I must be fed.” The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God but how we are going to take care of ourselves to live. Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.
“. . . do not worry about your life. . .” (Matthew 6:25). Our Lord pointed out that from His standpoint it is absolutely unreasonable for us to be anxious, worrying about how we will live. Jesus did not say that the person who takes no thought for anything in his life is blessed— no, that person is a fool. But Jesus did teach that His disciple must make his relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Don’t make food and drink the controlling factor of your life, but be focused absolutely on God.” Some people are careless about what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, having no business looking the way they do; they are careless with their earthly matters, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the greatest concern of life is to place our relationship with God first, and everything else second.
It is one of the most difficult, yet critical, disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into absolute harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Legacy of a Lifetime - #6877
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
In the past, the classic retirement scene went something like this, there was a dinner in the retiree's honor, there were some heart-warming but predictable speeches, and if you'd put in enough years, like a gold watch, or at least a plaque or a certificate. And then very quickly the hole that you left in the company closed up, and you wondered what was really accomplished for all those years of service. Well, now it's worse. You may not get to retire. You might be "downsized." You end up asking yourself the question, "What do I have to show for my years of service?" Frankly, I think you can do better than a gold watch or a severance check.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Legacy of a Lifetime."
Let's think about, "What will l have to show for my life?" What do you want to have as your monument to show for your years? Certainly more than a gold watch, huh? A book you wrote, a fortune that you made, a house that's finally like you want it, a title, a work of art, a business you built? You may be aiming too low.
Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 127, I'll begin at verse 1: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its' builders labor in vain." Now, we're going to find out what kind of priorities there are in a house the Lord builds. "Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise up early and stay up late toiling for food to eat, for He grants sleep to those He loves."
Here's a value that God really prizes, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord. Children are a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of the warrior, are sons born in one's youth." You know what God meant for your inheritance to be; your monument-what you're remembered for? Your inheritance is your children, your son, your daughter, or the children or young people you influenced and shaped, even if you're not their parent. They are to be the focus of your best time, your best energies in a house the Lord builds.
You may never communicate the values and experiences of your life in a book that a lot of people will read, but your children will be a book, and many people will read them.
They are your work of art, they are your fortune, the stocks that will appreciate and provide dividends long after you're gone and making many others rich for years to come.
The problem is it's really easy to be blinded, and detoured, and distracted by investments that are not nearly as valuable. Life's gold watches - sometimes they scream for our attention more loudly. They ask for us, they demand us. Often our children don't, and yet they are the top priority.
Maybe it's possible that your children are getting the leftovers of you because you're trying to make a name, or you're trying to make a business, or you're trying to make a fortune, or you're trying to make a point. Maybe you should be home more, and when you're home really be home. Maybe you've been driven away from those children who are what you have to show for your life because you thought you had something to prove outside the context of your family. Prove it there. Prove it at home! Make them your lifetime masterpiece.
If you want to make a mark that's immortal, mark your children with Christ, with character. See, they are meant to be the legacy of your lifetime.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)