(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Your True Family
Look how Jesus defined his family in Mark 3:35. “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.” When Jesus’ family did not share His convictions, He didn’t try to force them. He recognized that His spiritual family could provide what His physical family did not. If Jesus Himself couldn’t force His family to share His convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?
If your father is a jerk, you could be the world’s best daughter and he still won’t tell you so. As long as you think you can control people’s behavior toward you, you’re held in bondage by their opinions. It’s a game with unfair rules and fatal finishes. Jesus didn’t play it, nor should you.
Let God give you what your earthly family doesn’t. If your earthly father does not affirm you, then let your heavenly Father take His place! Let God be the family you need.
from He Still Moves Stones
Jeremiah 18
New International Version (NIV)
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”
13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Inquire among the nations:
Who has ever heard anything like this?
A most horrible thing has been done
by Virgin Israel.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
ever stop flowing?[a]
15 Yet my people have forgotten me;
they burn incense to worthless idols,
which made them stumble in their ways,
in the ancient paths.
They made them walk in byways,
on roads not built up.
16 Their land will be an object of horror
and of lasting scorn;
all who pass by will be appalled
and will shake their heads.
17 Like a wind from the east,
I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face
in the day of their disaster.”
18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Listen to me, Lord;
hear what my accusers are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember that I stood before you
and spoke in their behalf
to turn your wrath away from them.
21 So give their children over to famine;
hand them over to the power of the sword.
Let their wives be made childless and widows;
let their men be put to death,
their young men slain by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill me.
Do not forgive their crimes
or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 21:1-7
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Read Backwards
July 15, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. —Revelation 21:7
I confess that I sometimes read the end of a book before I read the beginning. Doing so allows me to know which characters live and which characters don’t. When I know how it will turn out, I’m able to relax and thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the story and the characters.
In a similar way, reading the final book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, can be an encouragement and comfort for the followers of Jesus. Time and again, Christians are called to be overcomers (1 John 4:4; 5:4; Rev. 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21). We can be overcomers now and will be for all eternity.
As the apostle John talks about the revealing of the new heaven and the new earth in Revelation (21:1), he describes what the final victory will look like for those who have received Jesus as Savior. At that time, we will see the end of death, tears, sorrow, and pain (v.4). The Lord declares: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (v.7). He will dwell with us (v.3), and He will “make all things new” (v.5).
When the trials of today seem more daunting than your strength, let the Lord show you the end of the story when you will be in His presence forever!
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle—the next the victor’s song.
To him that overcometh a crown of life shall be;
He with the King of glory shall reign eternally. —Duffield
For hope today, remember the end of the story— eternity with God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 15, 2013
My Life’s Spiritual Honor and Duty
I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians . . . —Romans 1:14
Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.
I am not a superior person among other people— I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Paul said, “. . . you are not your own . . . you were bought at a price . . .” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ and he said, in effect, “I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His.” That is the characteristic of a Christian’s life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real. Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Contradicting the Brochure - #6916
Monday, July 15, 2013
I have fond memories of family trips when the kids were younger; the adventure, the togetherness, the planning, the brochures. Did I say "and the waiting"? Yeah, there were times when the kids would be waiting in the car and waiting and waiting. They would ask Mom, "Where is Dad? Why doesn't he come out of that tourist center there?" She would respond with, "Oh, you know he's getting brochures."
Yep, I'm the big, great brochure collector! I would write ahead (That's right! In the days before the internet!), I would write ahead to an area that we hoped to travel through or visit and find out what and where the nice places were, and maybe a place to stay. We didn't have a lot of money; we didn't have a lot of time. So we wanted to do the best with what we had.
Oh, every brochure I got was beautiful! They all looked like they had great facilities. But what I really liked to do was to talk to someone who had been there, because oftentimes the person who has been there has a story that isn't quite the same as the brochure. I'm not going to a place that a veteran gives bad feedback about! Why would you believe an ad over someone who has been there and knows firsthand? Sometimes the firsthand experience is very different from the brochure.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Contradicting the Brochure."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis chapter 19, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 12. To set the scene, Abraham's nephew Lot is in Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah have been marked for God's judgment. Lot is the link to any of his family ever getting out of there, because he knows what's coming; he's warned by angels who come in human form.
"The two men said to Lot, 'Do you have someone else here; sons-in-law, or sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we're going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against this people is so strong we're going to destroy it.'" Now, in a sense, Lot's a lot like you and me. He knows that there's judgment coming for sin. But he also knows there's a way out. We know the way out because of the cross of Christ where He took that punishment.
Listen to what happened. "So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, 'Hurry, get out of this place! The Lord's about to destroy the city!' But his sons-in-law thought he was joking." Those men died in Sodom because they couldn't believe Lot. See, Lot knew the Lord. We know that from the New Testament, but he was a lousy advertisement. It's okay if you put a boat in the water, but it's not okay if the water gets in the boat. And Lot had gone into a wicked place.
Maybe you have to live in a place that's spiritually hostile. But what had happened was that the water had gotten in Lot's boat. He got in a moral blender and blended right in to what was going on there. And even though he was loyal to God in his heart, his motto seems to have been, "Fit in."
Is that what you're doing? Oh, you fit in all right. You're loyal to God in your heart, but you've compromised too much. The Gospel brochure advertises what Christ can do. He makes your life get under control. He gives you freedom from sin's power to control you. He gives you victory over depression, and anger, and bitterness, over the dirty side of sex. He gives you unthinkable joy. Does your life back up the brochure or does it contradict it?
Guess which one people are going to believe? Wouldn't it be awful to be a reason for a person to ignore Jesus; to miss heaven because I would not deal with that contradiction in my character? I would not bring that stubborn sin under the lordship of Christ. If you know Christ, you're being watched. What is there in your life that might turn someone away from Christ because of your inconsistency? What the Gospel promises, it can deliver, but a person who has been there has to back up the brochure or no one will buy.
Virtually everyone I've ever known who came to Christ did it because of a Christian they knew. Virtually everyone I knew who wouldn't come to Christ was because of a Christian they knew.
The issue isn't something as trivial as where they'll spend vacation. No, the issue now is where the people you know are going to spend forever.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Colossians 2, Bible reading and devotionals.
(Talk with God lately if not click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: No Room for Almost
“We don’t live following our sinful selves, but we live following the Spirit.” Romans 8:4
ALMOST. How many times do these six letters find their way into despairing epitaphs?
“She almost chose not to leave him.” “He almost became a Christian.”
Jesus . . . demands absolute obedience. He never has room for “almost” in his vocabulary. You are either with him or against him . . . With the Master, “almost” is just as good as “never.”
Colossians 2
New International Version (NIV)
2 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Spiritual Fullness in Christ
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[e]
Freedom From Human Rules
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 3:1-13
esus Greater Than Moses
3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”[a] bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Warning Against Unbelief
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”[b]
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Warning Sign
July 14, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. —Hebrews 3:12
On a sandy beach in Uruguay, giant concrete fingers partially submerged in sand reach up toward the sky. It is called the Monument to the Drowned. Locals just call it La Mano, “The Hand.” It was created by Chilean artist Mario Irarrázabal as a warning to swimmers about the danger of drowning. “The Hand” has become a tourist attraction, but its real purpose remains to remind swimmers about the perils of the sea.
The Word of God contains its own kind of warning signs. The book of Hebrews especially provides cautions about perils to the soul. “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:12-13).
The context of the verse is a review of the unbelief and rebellion of Israel in the wilderness. Though this happened centuries before the book of Hebrews was written, the spiritual principle applies today. We are to exhort one another to resist the hardening of our hearts that comes with sin.
Warning signs are given to us for our safety. Praise God that He has given us protective warnings in His Word because of His great love for us.
Lord, thank You for the warnings in Your Word
that are intended to protect and preserve my life.
Help me to heed Your reproofs and instruction
that I may live a life that is pleasing to You.
God gives us loving warnings in His Word to protect and preserve us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 14, 2013
Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also —Matthew 5:39
This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.
Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.
Max Lucado Daily: No Room for Almost
“We don’t live following our sinful selves, but we live following the Spirit.” Romans 8:4
ALMOST. How many times do these six letters find their way into despairing epitaphs?
“She almost chose not to leave him.” “He almost became a Christian.”
Jesus . . . demands absolute obedience. He never has room for “almost” in his vocabulary. You are either with him or against him . . . With the Master, “almost” is just as good as “never.”
Colossians 2
New International Version (NIV)
2 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Spiritual Fullness in Christ
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[e]
Freedom From Human Rules
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 3:1-13
esus Greater Than Moses
3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”[a] bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Warning Against Unbelief
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”[b]
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Warning Sign
July 14, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. —Hebrews 3:12
On a sandy beach in Uruguay, giant concrete fingers partially submerged in sand reach up toward the sky. It is called the Monument to the Drowned. Locals just call it La Mano, “The Hand.” It was created by Chilean artist Mario Irarrázabal as a warning to swimmers about the danger of drowning. “The Hand” has become a tourist attraction, but its real purpose remains to remind swimmers about the perils of the sea.
The Word of God contains its own kind of warning signs. The book of Hebrews especially provides cautions about perils to the soul. “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:12-13).
The context of the verse is a review of the unbelief and rebellion of Israel in the wilderness. Though this happened centuries before the book of Hebrews was written, the spiritual principle applies today. We are to exhort one another to resist the hardening of our hearts that comes with sin.
Warning signs are given to us for our safety. Praise God that He has given us protective warnings in His Word because of His great love for us.
Lord, thank You for the warnings in Your Word
that are intended to protect and preserve my life.
Help me to heed Your reproofs and instruction
that I may live a life that is pleasing to You.
God gives us loving warnings in His Word to protect and preserve us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 14, 2013
Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also —Matthew 5:39
This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.
Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Jeremiah 17, , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Important But Not Essential
Do you want to snatch a day from the grip of boredom? Do overly generous deeds, acts beyond reimbursement. Kindness without compensation. Here’s another idea…Get over yourself!
Sound too harsh?
Well, Moses did. Numbers 12:3 says, he was a “very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”
Mary did. When Jesus called her womb His home, she did not boast; she simple confessed: “I am the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.”
Most of all–Jesus did. Jesus chose the servants’ quarters. Can’t we?
We’re important but not essential, valuable but not indispensable. We have a song to sing, but we’re not the featured act. God is!
He did well before our births; he’ll do fine after our deaths. He started it all, sustains it all, and will bring it all to a glorious climax!
From Great Day Every Day
Jeremiah 17
“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,
inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts
and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember
their altars and Asherah poles[b]
beside the spreading trees
and on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the land
and your[c] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,
together with your high places,
because of sin throughout your country.
4 Through your own fault you will lose
the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn forever.”
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.
12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, you are the hope of Israel;
all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the spring of living water.
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
save me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it now be fulfilled!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction.
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,[d] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 6:27-36
New International Version (NIV)
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
The Life We’d Like To See
July 13, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. —Luke 6:31
The annual Texas Book Festival in Austin draws thousands of people who enjoy browsing for books, attending discussions led by acclaimed authors, and gleaning advice from professional writers. At one such festival, an author of young adult fiction told aspiring writers, “Write the book that you want to find on the shelf.” That’s a powerful recommendation for writing and for living. What if we decided to live the way we want everyone else to live?
In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus urged His followers to pursue a lifestyle that demonstrates God’s mercy to all: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (vv.27-28). He also said that generosity and a lack of retaliation should characterize our reaction to unreasonable treatment (vv.29-30). Jesus concluded, “Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise” (v.31).
Impossible? Yes, if we rely on our own strength and resolve. The strength comes from the Spirit. And the resolve comes from remembering how God has treated us: “He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (vv.35-36). That’s a life we all long to see.
All the way my Savior leads me—
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide? —Crosby
Christianity is not just Christ in you, but Christ living His life through you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 13, 2013
The Price of the Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
Max Lucado Daily: Important But Not Essential
Do you want to snatch a day from the grip of boredom? Do overly generous deeds, acts beyond reimbursement. Kindness without compensation. Here’s another idea…Get over yourself!
Sound too harsh?
Well, Moses did. Numbers 12:3 says, he was a “very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”
Mary did. When Jesus called her womb His home, she did not boast; she simple confessed: “I am the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.”
Most of all–Jesus did. Jesus chose the servants’ quarters. Can’t we?
We’re important but not essential, valuable but not indispensable. We have a song to sing, but we’re not the featured act. God is!
He did well before our births; he’ll do fine after our deaths. He started it all, sustains it all, and will bring it all to a glorious climax!
From Great Day Every Day
Jeremiah 17
“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,
inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts
and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember
their altars and Asherah poles[b]
beside the spreading trees
and on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the land
and your[c] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,
together with your high places,
because of sin throughout your country.
4 Through your own fault you will lose
the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn forever.”
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.
12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, you are the hope of Israel;
all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the spring of living water.
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
save me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it now be fulfilled!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction.
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,[d] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 6:27-36
New International Version (NIV)
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
The Life We’d Like To See
July 13, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. —Luke 6:31
The annual Texas Book Festival in Austin draws thousands of people who enjoy browsing for books, attending discussions led by acclaimed authors, and gleaning advice from professional writers. At one such festival, an author of young adult fiction told aspiring writers, “Write the book that you want to find on the shelf.” That’s a powerful recommendation for writing and for living. What if we decided to live the way we want everyone else to live?
In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus urged His followers to pursue a lifestyle that demonstrates God’s mercy to all: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (vv.27-28). He also said that generosity and a lack of retaliation should characterize our reaction to unreasonable treatment (vv.29-30). Jesus concluded, “Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise” (v.31).
Impossible? Yes, if we rely on our own strength and resolve. The strength comes from the Spirit. And the resolve comes from remembering how God has treated us: “He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (vv.35-36). That’s a life we all long to see.
All the way my Savior leads me—
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide? —Crosby
Christianity is not just Christ in you, but Christ living His life through you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 13, 2013
The Price of the Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Jeremiah 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Your Place at God’s Table
ngry. Sullen. Accusatory. Whiny. Put them all together in one word and spell it b-i-t-t-e-r. If you put them all in one person, that person’s in the pit, the dungeon of bitterness. The dungeon calls you to enter. You can, you know. You’ve experienced enough hurt. You’ve been betrayed enough times. You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt.
Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts. You can choose to go to the party. You have a place there. If you’re a child of God, no one can take away your sonship. Which is precisely what the father said to his prodigal son in Luke 15. “You are always with me; all that I have is yours.”
What you have is more important than what you don’t have, and that is, your relationship with God the Father! Your place at God’s table is permanent!
from He Still Moves Stones
Jeremiah 16
Day of Disaster
16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”
5 For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people,” declares the Lord. 6 “Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. 7 No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.
8 “And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. 9 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.
10 “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
14 “However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.
16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. 18 I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”
19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
20 Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”
21 “Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 53:4-12
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
That’s Jesus!
July 12, 2013 — by Dave Branon
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5
As a Jewish kid growing up in New York, Michael Brown had no interest in spiritual things. His life revolved around being a drummer for a band, and he got mixed up with drugs. But then some friends invited him to church, where he found the love and prayers of the people to be irresistible. After a short spiritual struggle, Michael trusted Jesus as Savior.
This was a monumental change for a wayward Jewish teen. One day he told his dad he had heard about Old Testament texts describing Jesus. His dad, incredulous, asked, “Where?” When Michael opened his Bible, it fell to Isaiah 53. They read it, and Michael exclaimed, “That’s Him! That’s Jesus!”
Indeed, it is Jesus. Through the help of Christians and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Brown (today a Bible scholar and an author) came to recognize the Messiah of Isaiah 53. He experienced the salvation that changes lives, forgives sin, and gives abundant life to all who trust the “Man of sorrows” (v.3). Jesus is the One who was “wounded for our transgressions” and who died for us on the cross (v.5).
The Bible reveals Jesus, who alone has the power to change lives.
God, I struggle with this idea of Jesus as Savior.
I know He’s a good man, but I need to see that He is
more than that. Please show me—through others or
through the Bible—how I can know for sure who Jesus is.
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change hearts.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 12, 2013
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Cure For Over-Feeding - #6915
Friday, July 12, 2013
Now, it's hard to lose weight; I know that very well. But the real trick in weight loss is keeping the weight off. Years ago I dropped about 55 pounds. Oh, I didn't drop it; I mean, it went away thankfully a little bit at a time. I found out that it is possible to hang around the level of where you got your weight loss to. Of course, you can't eat grapefruit all the time, or celery, or diet bars for the rest of your life. No. That's the way a lot of people regain what they lost. No, what you've got to do is to learn new ways of eating that fit your metabolism. I call it making friends with your metabolism.
One challenge for me in keeping that weight off is when it's vacation or a holiday time, because, "Hey, I have a fun mentality and I don't really want to watch what I'm eating." So I want to eat lots of fun food. In fact, I want to eat more food during those times. And so my calorie intake jumps up during my time off. Well, man, I'd be back up to that 210 if I didn't make an important adjustment when I'm eating more. Suddenly I'm working more, biking more, playing ball more, fervently hoping as I'm doing that that I'm losing more calories somewhere in the process. Okay, very simple: when you eat more, you've got to exercise more.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cure For Over-Feeding."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in James 1:22. It says: "Do not merely listen to the Word..." We do a lot of that, don't we? "... and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Interesting! The Bible is saying it's possible for people who listen to the Word all the time to be kidding themselves if they're not doing what they hear.
My daughter had the privilege of being on a team that went to the Soviet Union in the days of turmoil and uproar that were beginning to change that part of the world forever. They were asked to sing at a Christian Music Festival as part of a historic outreach. Right there in Lenin Stadium. Wow! Well, in the process, she met some beautiful Soviet believers who had been through so much. And one of them made a very insightful comment. It was a Soviet pastor who said to her, "You know, one burden I have is for American Christians, because I think you are over-feeded." Well, his English may not have been perfect, but his point sure was. He swept his arms around the people in that auditorium. He said, "We are so hungry and so thirsty."
He's right. Look, we here in the West, we've got seminars, and books, and recordings, and websites, and Bible studies, and concerts, and church programs. We sit and eat a lot, like me on vacation. But I can't help where I live; I didn't decide that. I do get over-feeded. But what about Luke 12:48, "To whom much is given, much is required." What's the answer to over-feeding? More exercise. James 1:22 says, "You're kidding yourself if you're eating it and not exercising it." Just because you know it doesn't mean anything.
What does exercise mean? Well, number one, it means specific obediences to the Lord. For today I open God's Word and I must be looking for a concrete response that I can measure by tonight, "Did I do it or did I not?" I don't just hear it. I do it; I write it down so I can hold myself accountable. I share it with other people so they can hold me accountable. I look for something to do today because of what I read, or shall we say what I 'ate' spiritually.
Secondly, you look for a personal mission; something on your heart that has broken God's heart, and you've allowed Him to break your heart with it. You've got to have a mission, a piece of the action, a place where you're doing Kingdom business; where you throw money, and time, and sacrifice into it.
See, obedience and mission burn up spiritual calories. God doesn't feed you to make you fat; He feeds you to make you active; to give you energy for doing the things that advance His Kingdom.
We are "over-feeded", but we can balance that intake by leaving the table and going out daily to run a race for Jesus Christ.
Max Lucado Daily: Your Place at God’s Table
ngry. Sullen. Accusatory. Whiny. Put them all together in one word and spell it b-i-t-t-e-r. If you put them all in one person, that person’s in the pit, the dungeon of bitterness. The dungeon calls you to enter. You can, you know. You’ve experienced enough hurt. You’ve been betrayed enough times. You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt.
Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts. You can choose to go to the party. You have a place there. If you’re a child of God, no one can take away your sonship. Which is precisely what the father said to his prodigal son in Luke 15. “You are always with me; all that I have is yours.”
What you have is more important than what you don’t have, and that is, your relationship with God the Father! Your place at God’s table is permanent!
from He Still Moves Stones
Jeremiah 16
Day of Disaster
16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”
5 For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people,” declares the Lord. 6 “Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. 7 No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.
8 “And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. 9 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.
10 “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
14 “However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.
16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. 18 I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”
19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
20 Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”
21 “Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 53:4-12
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
That’s Jesus!
July 12, 2013 — by Dave Branon
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5
As a Jewish kid growing up in New York, Michael Brown had no interest in spiritual things. His life revolved around being a drummer for a band, and he got mixed up with drugs. But then some friends invited him to church, where he found the love and prayers of the people to be irresistible. After a short spiritual struggle, Michael trusted Jesus as Savior.
This was a monumental change for a wayward Jewish teen. One day he told his dad he had heard about Old Testament texts describing Jesus. His dad, incredulous, asked, “Where?” When Michael opened his Bible, it fell to Isaiah 53. They read it, and Michael exclaimed, “That’s Him! That’s Jesus!”
Indeed, it is Jesus. Through the help of Christians and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Brown (today a Bible scholar and an author) came to recognize the Messiah of Isaiah 53. He experienced the salvation that changes lives, forgives sin, and gives abundant life to all who trust the “Man of sorrows” (v.3). Jesus is the One who was “wounded for our transgressions” and who died for us on the cross (v.5).
The Bible reveals Jesus, who alone has the power to change lives.
God, I struggle with this idea of Jesus as Savior.
I know He’s a good man, but I need to see that He is
more than that. Please show me—through others or
through the Bible—how I can know for sure who Jesus is.
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change hearts.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 12, 2013
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Cure For Over-Feeding - #6915
Friday, July 12, 2013
Now, it's hard to lose weight; I know that very well. But the real trick in weight loss is keeping the weight off. Years ago I dropped about 55 pounds. Oh, I didn't drop it; I mean, it went away thankfully a little bit at a time. I found out that it is possible to hang around the level of where you got your weight loss to. Of course, you can't eat grapefruit all the time, or celery, or diet bars for the rest of your life. No. That's the way a lot of people regain what they lost. No, what you've got to do is to learn new ways of eating that fit your metabolism. I call it making friends with your metabolism.
One challenge for me in keeping that weight off is when it's vacation or a holiday time, because, "Hey, I have a fun mentality and I don't really want to watch what I'm eating." So I want to eat lots of fun food. In fact, I want to eat more food during those times. And so my calorie intake jumps up during my time off. Well, man, I'd be back up to that 210 if I didn't make an important adjustment when I'm eating more. Suddenly I'm working more, biking more, playing ball more, fervently hoping as I'm doing that that I'm losing more calories somewhere in the process. Okay, very simple: when you eat more, you've got to exercise more.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cure For Over-Feeding."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in James 1:22. It says: "Do not merely listen to the Word..." We do a lot of that, don't we? "... and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Interesting! The Bible is saying it's possible for people who listen to the Word all the time to be kidding themselves if they're not doing what they hear.
My daughter had the privilege of being on a team that went to the Soviet Union in the days of turmoil and uproar that were beginning to change that part of the world forever. They were asked to sing at a Christian Music Festival as part of a historic outreach. Right there in Lenin Stadium. Wow! Well, in the process, she met some beautiful Soviet believers who had been through so much. And one of them made a very insightful comment. It was a Soviet pastor who said to her, "You know, one burden I have is for American Christians, because I think you are over-feeded." Well, his English may not have been perfect, but his point sure was. He swept his arms around the people in that auditorium. He said, "We are so hungry and so thirsty."
He's right. Look, we here in the West, we've got seminars, and books, and recordings, and websites, and Bible studies, and concerts, and church programs. We sit and eat a lot, like me on vacation. But I can't help where I live; I didn't decide that. I do get over-feeded. But what about Luke 12:48, "To whom much is given, much is required." What's the answer to over-feeding? More exercise. James 1:22 says, "You're kidding yourself if you're eating it and not exercising it." Just because you know it doesn't mean anything.
What does exercise mean? Well, number one, it means specific obediences to the Lord. For today I open God's Word and I must be looking for a concrete response that I can measure by tonight, "Did I do it or did I not?" I don't just hear it. I do it; I write it down so I can hold myself accountable. I share it with other people so they can hold me accountable. I look for something to do today because of what I read, or shall we say what I 'ate' spiritually.
Secondly, you look for a personal mission; something on your heart that has broken God's heart, and you've allowed Him to break your heart with it. You've got to have a mission, a piece of the action, a place where you're doing Kingdom business; where you throw money, and time, and sacrifice into it.
See, obedience and mission burn up spiritual calories. God doesn't feed you to make you fat; He feeds you to make you active; to give you energy for doing the things that advance His Kingdom.
We are "over-feeded", but we can balance that intake by leaving the table and going out daily to run a race for Jesus Christ.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Jeremiah 15 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Not Guilty
Sometimes shame is private. Pushed over the edge by an abusive spouse. Molested by a perverted parent. Seduced by a compromising superior. No one else knows. But you know. And that’s enough. Sometimes shame is public. Branded by a divorce you didn’t want. Contaminated by a disease you never expected. Whether private or public, shame is always painful. And unless you deal with it, it’s permanent.
In John 8:11 Jesus confronts the woman who’d formerly been caught in the act of adultery. When the crowd would have stoned her, Jesus speaks: “Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her.” As all turned to leave, Jesus said, “I also don’t judge you guilty. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”
Jesus’ message is written not with His hand, but with His blood. On a cross. Let Him stand beside you. Listen carefully. He’s speaking. “Not guilty!”
from He Still Moves Stones
Jeremiah 15
Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.’
3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5 “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6 You have rejected me,” declares the Lord.
“You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out and destroy you;
I am tired of holding back.
7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,
for they have not changed their ways.
8 I will make their widows more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.
9 The mother of seven will grow faint
and breathe her last.
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword
before their enemies,”
declares the Lord.
10 Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!
I have neither lent nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses me.
11 The Lord said,
“Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.
12 “Can a man break iron—
iron from the north—or bronze?
13 “Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder, without charge,
because of all your sins
throughout your country.
14 I will enslave you to your enemies
in[a] a land you do not know,
for my anger will kindle a fire
that will burn against you.”
15 Lord, you understand;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.
16 When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
Lord God Almighty.
17 I never sat in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails.
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,”
declares the Lord.
21 “I will save you from the hands of the wicked
and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
The Winding Road
July 11, 2013 — by Marvin Williams
He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. —Psalm 121:3
In his book A Sweet and Bitter Providence, John Piper offers these thoughts about God’s providence and guidance: “Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. . . . God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
The Jews journeying to Jerusalem for the annual feasts (Deut. 16:16) had the assurance of knowing that the Lord was plotting their course and managing the winding and troubled roads for them. They expressed this assurance in Psalm 121, a pilgrim song. The question, “From whence comes my help?” did not express doubt but affirmation in the Lord who rules supreme (vv.1-2). Unlike a guard who sometimes slumbered, or the god Baal who needed to be rustled out of his stupor (1 Kings 18:27), the Lord was fully alert and secured the journey of His people with providential care (vv.3-4). The Lord, who rescued Israel, would continue to help, preserve, and walk with His people.
Life is a winding road with unknown perils and troubles, but we can be certain of God’s providence, security, and care.
Dear Lord, sometimes life seems to be full of
perilous and winding roads. Thank You for giving
us the assurance that You have our course plotted
and are watching over our every step.
Troubles are unknown; God’s providence is certain.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 11, 2013
. . . that I may know Him . . . —Philippians 3:10
A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do. Self-realization only leads to the glorification of good works, whereas a saint of God glorifies Jesus Christ through his good works. Whatever we may be doing— even eating, drinking, or washing disciples’ feet— we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it. Every phase of our life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the most menial task. “Jesus, knowing . . . that He had come from God and was going to God, . . . took a towel . . . and began to wash the disciples’ feet . . .” (John 13:3-5).
The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is “that I may know Him . . .” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Are you staggering under the load?
Bite-Size Chunks - #6914
I picked up a habit while going out to eat with my young children years ago. It's a habit I really don't need to do any more, but I got in the habit of cutting their meat for them. Now, if you're a parent, you know that you get that old knife out before you start on your own dinner and you cut theirs into bite-size chunks. The problem is that I go out to lunch with a lot of businessmen, too, and I kind of have this reflex to cut their meat. But I've never found they really appreciated that. And, you know, the principle of bite-size chunks...well, that's not a bad one. I mean, the best way to tackle a big piece is in little chunks that you can handle.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bite-Size Chunks."
A number of years ago, my wife was diagnosed as having hepatitis. At the time we thought, "Well, how long is she going to be in bed?" We knew that it might be for six weeks, the doctor said. It turned out to be nine months of Mom being out of commission; almost totally leveled.
Well, as today, I had a pretty crazy, busy lifestyle and our kids had very hectic lifestyles and we're used to a very strong and competent mother holding it all together. I thought, "How in the world are we going to ever do six weeks?" Good thing I didn't know then it was going to be nine months. I told my wife she was violating the 11th commandment. You know what that is: Mother's, thou shall not get sick. But I'll tell you how we made it? By bite-size chunks.
Deuteronomy 33:25; it's our word for today from the Word of God, and maybe one you need right now. It became my life preserver. It says this: "Your strength will equal your days." You could remember that one you couldn't you? "Your strength will equal your days." Notice it doesn't say, "Your strength will equal your years, or your months, or your weeks"-days.
A good friend of ours came up to me after my wife had been down for six weeks. And knowing how interdependent we are, she said, "Ron, how in the world have you handled six weeks with your wife sick?" I said, "Joanne, we haven't. We haven't handled six weeks. We've handled 42 days." And that was the story.
Well, right now, God may have put in front of you a big assignment; an overwhelming assignment. A long haul is ahead of you. It could be a health problem, maybe a financial shortfall, maybe it's work that needs to be done in your family. Or you could be in an extended time of pressure and stress right now. Maybe you've even lost someone very close to you, and you're looking and saying, "How am I ever going to get through this? It's just...it's so huge!"
I'll tell you, if you try to handle all that might happen or could happen, or even will happen, you're going to stagger under the load. But if you wake up each morning and say, "This is the day the Lord has made; not the day the sickness has made, or the boss has made, or the financial problems have made, or the weather has made, or the bank has made. "This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." And take it as a 24-hour bite-size chunk and you're going to be able to handle it.
Don't try to take on the load of weeks, and months, and days. God promises that you'll have what you need for this 24-hour piece of your life. So, He'll give you what you need to handle it today. If you're running ahead and worrying about the next day, and the next week, and the next month, or the next year, you're running ahead of your supply lines. But you'll have what you need today.
Would you relax! You're all stressed out because you're trying to eat the whole meal all at once. Why don't you take it in bite-size pieces?
Max Lucado Daily: Not Guilty
Sometimes shame is private. Pushed over the edge by an abusive spouse. Molested by a perverted parent. Seduced by a compromising superior. No one else knows. But you know. And that’s enough. Sometimes shame is public. Branded by a divorce you didn’t want. Contaminated by a disease you never expected. Whether private or public, shame is always painful. And unless you deal with it, it’s permanent.
In John 8:11 Jesus confronts the woman who’d formerly been caught in the act of adultery. When the crowd would have stoned her, Jesus speaks: “Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her.” As all turned to leave, Jesus said, “I also don’t judge you guilty. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”
Jesus’ message is written not with His hand, but with His blood. On a cross. Let Him stand beside you. Listen carefully. He’s speaking. “Not guilty!”
from He Still Moves Stones
Jeremiah 15
Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.’
3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5 “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6 You have rejected me,” declares the Lord.
“You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out and destroy you;
I am tired of holding back.
7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,
for they have not changed their ways.
8 I will make their widows more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.
9 The mother of seven will grow faint
and breathe her last.
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword
before their enemies,”
declares the Lord.
10 Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!
I have neither lent nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses me.
11 The Lord said,
“Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.
12 “Can a man break iron—
iron from the north—or bronze?
13 “Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder, without charge,
because of all your sins
throughout your country.
14 I will enslave you to your enemies
in[a] a land you do not know,
for my anger will kindle a fire
that will burn against you.”
15 Lord, you understand;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.
16 When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
Lord God Almighty.
17 I never sat in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails.
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,”
declares the Lord.
21 “I will save you from the hands of the wicked
and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
The Winding Road
July 11, 2013 — by Marvin Williams
He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. —Psalm 121:3
In his book A Sweet and Bitter Providence, John Piper offers these thoughts about God’s providence and guidance: “Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. . . . God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
The Jews journeying to Jerusalem for the annual feasts (Deut. 16:16) had the assurance of knowing that the Lord was plotting their course and managing the winding and troubled roads for them. They expressed this assurance in Psalm 121, a pilgrim song. The question, “From whence comes my help?” did not express doubt but affirmation in the Lord who rules supreme (vv.1-2). Unlike a guard who sometimes slumbered, or the god Baal who needed to be rustled out of his stupor (1 Kings 18:27), the Lord was fully alert and secured the journey of His people with providential care (vv.3-4). The Lord, who rescued Israel, would continue to help, preserve, and walk with His people.
Life is a winding road with unknown perils and troubles, but we can be certain of God’s providence, security, and care.
Dear Lord, sometimes life seems to be full of
perilous and winding roads. Thank You for giving
us the assurance that You have our course plotted
and are watching over our every step.
Troubles are unknown; God’s providence is certain.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 11, 2013
. . . that I may know Him . . . —Philippians 3:10
A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do. Self-realization only leads to the glorification of good works, whereas a saint of God glorifies Jesus Christ through his good works. Whatever we may be doing— even eating, drinking, or washing disciples’ feet— we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it. Every phase of our life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the most menial task. “Jesus, knowing . . . that He had come from God and was going to God, . . . took a towel . . . and began to wash the disciples’ feet . . .” (John 13:3-5).
The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is “that I may know Him . . .” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Are you staggering under the load?
Bite-Size Chunks - #6914
I picked up a habit while going out to eat with my young children years ago. It's a habit I really don't need to do any more, but I got in the habit of cutting their meat for them. Now, if you're a parent, you know that you get that old knife out before you start on your own dinner and you cut theirs into bite-size chunks. The problem is that I go out to lunch with a lot of businessmen, too, and I kind of have this reflex to cut their meat. But I've never found they really appreciated that. And, you know, the principle of bite-size chunks...well, that's not a bad one. I mean, the best way to tackle a big piece is in little chunks that you can handle.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bite-Size Chunks."
A number of years ago, my wife was diagnosed as having hepatitis. At the time we thought, "Well, how long is she going to be in bed?" We knew that it might be for six weeks, the doctor said. It turned out to be nine months of Mom being out of commission; almost totally leveled.
Well, as today, I had a pretty crazy, busy lifestyle and our kids had very hectic lifestyles and we're used to a very strong and competent mother holding it all together. I thought, "How in the world are we going to ever do six weeks?" Good thing I didn't know then it was going to be nine months. I told my wife she was violating the 11th commandment. You know what that is: Mother's, thou shall not get sick. But I'll tell you how we made it? By bite-size chunks.
Deuteronomy 33:25; it's our word for today from the Word of God, and maybe one you need right now. It became my life preserver. It says this: "Your strength will equal your days." You could remember that one you couldn't you? "Your strength will equal your days." Notice it doesn't say, "Your strength will equal your years, or your months, or your weeks"-days.
A good friend of ours came up to me after my wife had been down for six weeks. And knowing how interdependent we are, she said, "Ron, how in the world have you handled six weeks with your wife sick?" I said, "Joanne, we haven't. We haven't handled six weeks. We've handled 42 days." And that was the story.
Well, right now, God may have put in front of you a big assignment; an overwhelming assignment. A long haul is ahead of you. It could be a health problem, maybe a financial shortfall, maybe it's work that needs to be done in your family. Or you could be in an extended time of pressure and stress right now. Maybe you've even lost someone very close to you, and you're looking and saying, "How am I ever going to get through this? It's just...it's so huge!"
I'll tell you, if you try to handle all that might happen or could happen, or even will happen, you're going to stagger under the load. But if you wake up each morning and say, "This is the day the Lord has made; not the day the sickness has made, or the boss has made, or the financial problems have made, or the weather has made, or the bank has made. "This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." And take it as a 24-hour bite-size chunk and you're going to be able to handle it.
Don't try to take on the load of weeks, and months, and days. God promises that you'll have what you need for this 24-hour piece of your life. So, He'll give you what you need to handle it today. If you're running ahead and worrying about the next day, and the next week, and the next month, or the next year, you're running ahead of your supply lines. But you'll have what you need today.
Would you relax! You're all stressed out because you're trying to eat the whole meal all at once. Why don't you take it in bite-size pieces?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Colossians 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Goodness and Mercy
Our moods may shift, but God’s doesn’t. Our minds may change, but God’s doesn’t. Our devotion may falter, but God’s never does. God is faithful, for He cannot betray Himself. He is a sure God. And because He is, we can state confidently what David exclaimed in his 23rd Psalm: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
What are those words that follow the word surely? “Goodness and mercy.” If the Lord is the shepherd who leads the flock, goodness and mercy are the two sheepdogs that guard the rear of the flock! Goodness AND mercy. Not goodness alone, for we are sinners in need of mercy. Not mercy alone, for we are fragile, in need of goodness. We need them both. Goodness and mercy—the celestial escort of God’s flock. If that duo doesn’t reinforce your faith, try this phrase: “all the days of my life!”
from Traveling Light
Colossians 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[b]
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul’s Labor for the Church
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Colossians 1:19-27
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul’s Labor for the Church
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Stand Firm
July 10, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. —1 Corinthians 15:58
As our final project for a high school earth science class, a friend and I built a stream table. With extensive help from my father, we built a long plywood box with a hinge in the middle. Then we lined it with plastic and filled it with sand. At one end we attached a hose. At the other end was a drainage hole. After assembling all of it, we raised one end of the stream table, turned on the water, and watched as it created a path directly to the hole at the other end. The next part of the experiment was to place a rock in the stream and watch how it changed the path of the water.
This project taught me as much about life as it did about science. I learned that I can’t change the direction things are going if I’m on the bank of the river. I have to step into the stream of life and stand there to divert the flow. That’s what Jesus did. The Bible refers to salvation as a rock (2 Sam. 22:47; Ps. 62:2,6-7), and the apostle Paul clarifies that Christ is that Rock (1 Cor. 10:4). God placed Jesus in the stream of history to change its course.
When we remain steadfast in Christ, abounding in the work of the Lord, God uses us to change the course of history through acts of obedience that turn others to Him.
The Master is seeking a harvest
In lives He’s redeemed by His blood;
He seeks for the fruit of the Spirit
And works that will glorify God.
—H.S. Lehman. © 1924 H. S. Lehman
Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. —Abraham Lincoln
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 10, 2013
The Spiritually Lazy Saint
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . . —Hebrews 10:24-25
We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.
“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “. . . to stir you up by reminding you . . .” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren . . .” (Matthew 28:10).
, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Colossians 1
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Black and White and Jackie - #6913
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
I was 12 years old. I was on a Southern vacation with my folks. I've never forgotten those signs I saw on the bathrooms: "Colored" "White".
See, we didn't have those signs in the racially mixed neighborhood where I grew up, so I didn't have a file folder for "colored" and "white". Jackie Robinson did. As America's first black baseball player in the Major Leagues, the baseball field was a battlefield. Before President Truman integrated the military, before Rosa Parks, and before Dr. King, Jackie faced a firestorm of brutal insults, racial taunts, and death threats. But he passed the test, and he helped open a door that helped change a nation.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Black and White and Jackie."
America has been talking a lot in recent months about Jackie Robinson. Thanks to the movie titled after his number – "42." We're discovering the powerful human drama behind a decisive victory in America's long journey to racial equality and two brands of courage that are in short supply these days. Courage that is still game-changing in a family, an office, a church, a school, on a team, a neighborhood.
Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers' General Manager in the mid 1940s, had the courage to sign Jackie Robinson. And in so doing, he shattered baseball's color barrier. His was the courage to defy a culture that's just plain got it wrong. A status quo that many have accepted as "Hey, that's just the way it is."
And, man, do we need that courage today to defy a messed-up "normal". Like letting our children do and see and listen to what's popular but poisonous. Joining in – or just condoning by our silence – the gossip and the backstabbing. Compromising the divinely established fence around sex called marriage.
Accepting that a certain amount of deceit and surrendered integrity is "just the way it's done these days." Right? Or even today's more subtle – but just as destructive – versions of prejudice. Branch Rickey displayed the courage to defy the ugliness around us. Jackie Robinson displayed the courage to deny the ugliness inside us.
In a fateful three-hour meeting in the Dodgers' front office, Rickey told Jackie Robinson, "I'm looking for a man with guts enough not to fight back." And he showed him the words of Jesus: "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:38 , 39).
That's what Jackie Robinson did time and time again, and he opened a door no one could shut. In the face of endless provocation, he refused to succumb to the anger and the retaliating that was boiling inside. One man had the courage to defy a widely-accepted wrong. The other had the courage to deny his right to fight back, lash out, and hurt those who hurt him. That doesn't come naturally. It comes supernaturally.
Branch Rickey made it plain to everyone that the Bible was his playbook and Jesus was his Manager. Jackie had a history of doing damage to white people who insulted him, until a black pastor showed him a Jesus whose love really changes a man; a Jesus who didn't just talk about forgiving. He did it all the way to the cross where He died so we could conquer our inner ugliness called sin. That's who Jackie downloaded when he got on his knees every night to find the strength to do another day; a very personal, personal Savior.
He's the One of whom the Bible says in our word for today from the Word of God in Philippians 4:13 , "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." See, He changes a man from the inside out so that man can change his world.
When you open your life to Jesus, you start to act like Jesus. He changes you in ways you could never change yourself. If you would like to experience for yourself the difference Jesus can make, would you join me at our website, ANewStory.com. It's a new beginning place.
Max Lucado Daily: Goodness and Mercy
Our moods may shift, but God’s doesn’t. Our minds may change, but God’s doesn’t. Our devotion may falter, but God’s never does. God is faithful, for He cannot betray Himself. He is a sure God. And because He is, we can state confidently what David exclaimed in his 23rd Psalm: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
What are those words that follow the word surely? “Goodness and mercy.” If the Lord is the shepherd who leads the flock, goodness and mercy are the two sheepdogs that guard the rear of the flock! Goodness AND mercy. Not goodness alone, for we are sinners in need of mercy. Not mercy alone, for we are fragile, in need of goodness. We need them both. Goodness and mercy—the celestial escort of God’s flock. If that duo doesn’t reinforce your faith, try this phrase: “all the days of my life!”
from Traveling Light
Colossians 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[b]
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul’s Labor for the Church
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Colossians 1:19-27
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul’s Labor for the Church
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Stand Firm
July 10, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. —1 Corinthians 15:58
As our final project for a high school earth science class, a friend and I built a stream table. With extensive help from my father, we built a long plywood box with a hinge in the middle. Then we lined it with plastic and filled it with sand. At one end we attached a hose. At the other end was a drainage hole. After assembling all of it, we raised one end of the stream table, turned on the water, and watched as it created a path directly to the hole at the other end. The next part of the experiment was to place a rock in the stream and watch how it changed the path of the water.
This project taught me as much about life as it did about science. I learned that I can’t change the direction things are going if I’m on the bank of the river. I have to step into the stream of life and stand there to divert the flow. That’s what Jesus did. The Bible refers to salvation as a rock (2 Sam. 22:47; Ps. 62:2,6-7), and the apostle Paul clarifies that Christ is that Rock (1 Cor. 10:4). God placed Jesus in the stream of history to change its course.
When we remain steadfast in Christ, abounding in the work of the Lord, God uses us to change the course of history through acts of obedience that turn others to Him.
The Master is seeking a harvest
In lives He’s redeemed by His blood;
He seeks for the fruit of the Spirit
And works that will glorify God.
—H.S. Lehman. © 1924 H. S. Lehman
Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. —Abraham Lincoln
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 10, 2013
The Spiritually Lazy Saint
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . . —Hebrews 10:24-25
We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.
“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “. . . to stir you up by reminding you . . .” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren . . .” (Matthew 28:10).
, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Colossians 1
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Black and White and Jackie - #6913
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
I was 12 years old. I was on a Southern vacation with my folks. I've never forgotten those signs I saw on the bathrooms: "Colored" "White".
See, we didn't have those signs in the racially mixed neighborhood where I grew up, so I didn't have a file folder for "colored" and "white". Jackie Robinson did. As America's first black baseball player in the Major Leagues, the baseball field was a battlefield. Before President Truman integrated the military, before Rosa Parks, and before Dr. King, Jackie faced a firestorm of brutal insults, racial taunts, and death threats. But he passed the test, and he helped open a door that helped change a nation.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Black and White and Jackie."
America has been talking a lot in recent months about Jackie Robinson. Thanks to the movie titled after his number – "42." We're discovering the powerful human drama behind a decisive victory in America's long journey to racial equality and two brands of courage that are in short supply these days. Courage that is still game-changing in a family, an office, a church, a school, on a team, a neighborhood.
Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers' General Manager in the mid 1940s, had the courage to sign Jackie Robinson. And in so doing, he shattered baseball's color barrier. His was the courage to defy a culture that's just plain got it wrong. A status quo that many have accepted as "Hey, that's just the way it is."
And, man, do we need that courage today to defy a messed-up "normal". Like letting our children do and see and listen to what's popular but poisonous. Joining in – or just condoning by our silence – the gossip and the backstabbing. Compromising the divinely established fence around sex called marriage.
Accepting that a certain amount of deceit and surrendered integrity is "just the way it's done these days." Right? Or even today's more subtle – but just as destructive – versions of prejudice. Branch Rickey displayed the courage to defy the ugliness around us. Jackie Robinson displayed the courage to deny the ugliness inside us.
In a fateful three-hour meeting in the Dodgers' front office, Rickey told Jackie Robinson, "I'm looking for a man with guts enough not to fight back." And he showed him the words of Jesus: "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:38 , 39).
That's what Jackie Robinson did time and time again, and he opened a door no one could shut. In the face of endless provocation, he refused to succumb to the anger and the retaliating that was boiling inside. One man had the courage to defy a widely-accepted wrong. The other had the courage to deny his right to fight back, lash out, and hurt those who hurt him. That doesn't come naturally. It comes supernaturally.
Branch Rickey made it plain to everyone that the Bible was his playbook and Jesus was his Manager. Jackie had a history of doing damage to white people who insulted him, until a black pastor showed him a Jesus whose love really changes a man; a Jesus who didn't just talk about forgiving. He did it all the way to the cross where He died so we could conquer our inner ugliness called sin. That's who Jackie downloaded when he got on his knees every night to find the strength to do another day; a very personal, personal Savior.
He's the One of whom the Bible says in our word for today from the Word of God in Philippians 4:13 , "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." See, He changes a man from the inside out so that man can change his world.
When you open your life to Jesus, you start to act like Jesus. He changes you in ways you could never change yourself. If you would like to experience for yourself the difference Jesus can make, would you join me at our website, ANewStory.com. It's a new beginning place.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Jeremiah 14 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: A Place at God’s Table
God gives hope! So what if someone was born thinner or stronger? Why count diplomas or compare resumes? What does it matter if they have a place at the head table? You have a place at God’s table—and He’s filling your cup to overflowing!
The overflowing cup was a powerful symbol in the days of David. As long as the host kept the cup full, the guest knew he was welcome. When the cup sat empty, the host was hinting that the hour was late. On those occasions when the host really enjoyed the company of the person, he filled the cup to overflowing; he kept pouring until the liquid ran over the edge of the cup and down on the table.
Have you noticed how wet your table is? God wants you to stay. Your cup overflows with joy. Overflows with grace. Shouldn’t your heart overflow with gratitude?
from Traveling Light
Jeremiah 14
New International Version (NIV)
Drought, Famine, Sword
14 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 “Judah mourns,
her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 The nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns
but find no water.
They return with their jars unfilled;
dismayed and despairing,
they cover their heads.
4 The ground is cracked
because there is no rain in the land;
the farmers are dismayed
and cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in the field
deserts her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights
and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
for lack of food.”
7 Although our sins testify against us,
do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.
For we have often rebelled;
we have sinned against you.
8 You who are the hope of Israel,
its Savior in times of distress,
why are you like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only a night?
9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
like a warrior powerless to save?
You are among us, Lord,
and we bear your name;
do not forsake us!
10 This is what the Lord says about this people:
“They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them;
he will now remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.”
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries[a] and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.
17 “Speak this word to them:
“‘Let my eyes overflow with tears
night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin Daughter, my people,
has suffered a grievous wound,
a crushing blow.
18 If I go into the country,
I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
I see the ravages of famine.
Both prophet and priest
have gone to a land they know not.’”
19 Have you rejected Judah completely?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
so that we cannot be healed?
We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.
20 We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord,
and the guilt of our ancestors;
we have indeed sinned against you.
21 For the sake of your name do not despise us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us
and do not break it.
22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Job 38:1-7
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
Space Music
July 9, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
Who laid [earth’s] cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? —Job 38:6-7
One of NASA’s observatories has discovered a giant black hole that hums. Located in the Perseus cluster of galaxies about 250 million light years from Earth, the black hole vibrates at the frequency of a B flat. But it is too low a pitch to be picked up by the human ear. Scientific instruments have placed the note at 57 octaves below middle C on a piano.
The idea of music and heavenly bodies is not new. In fact, when God revealed Himself to Job, He asked: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4,7). We are told that at the creation of our marvelous universe, songs of praise and shouts of joy resounded to God’s glory.
A wonderful hymn by St. Francis of Assisi captures the awe and worship we feel when beholding the radiant sun by day or the star-studded sky at night.
All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam:
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1).
Let’s praise the One who made such beauty for us to enjoy!
Hymn by St. Francis of Assisi, translated by William H. Draper. © 1968 Singspiration
The beauty of creation gives us reasons to sing God’s praise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 9, 2013
Will You Examine Yourself?
Joshua said to the people, ’You cannot serve the Lord . . .’ —Joshua 24:19
Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord . . .”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?
“The people said to Joshua, ’No, but we will serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:21). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”
We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Storm Can't Stop the Deliveries - #6911
Monday, July 8, 2013
I've watched mail service change a lot during my lifetime. For example, the cost of sending a letter has gone up, and up, and up. I think it's probably quadrupled or quintupled or even more in my lifetime. And in case my kids are listening, I do not mean beginning with the Pony Express. There are new services that are added, like overnight delivery that they didn't used to have. One thing has not changed while everything has. Those mail carriers still do their best to keep their commitment not to be stopped by sleet, or snow, or dark of night. That's the old saying, "Nothing keeps us from our appointed rounds". And that's been true. I can't remember a day other than holidays that the mail didn't make it, no matter what the conditions were. I'm impressed with that kind of commitment.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Storm Can't Stop the Deliveries."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 4:1. Here's what it says, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge." Okay, you can tell Paul's pretty serious here. I mean, he's bringing all this heavy weight stuff to bear on what he's going to say. This is in front of God. This is in front of Christ. This is in view of the fact He's coming back. This is about His whole kingdom. Whatever he's going to say, it's going to be important huh?
We go to verse 2, "Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season." Paul musters all of this sobering, heavy artillery to drive home this message, "Keep presenting God's Word no matter what kind of season it is." Another translation puts it this way, "Be diligent when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient."
Here's the principle: Your ministry is too important to be at the mercy of your moods. You have a forever mission of representing Jesus Christ; serving Him in whatever setting He has assigned you. In fact, you can assume that your situation wherever you are is your assignment. So, be consistent. Always deliver like the mailman does. The storm doesn't stop the carrier of the United States mail. He doesn't look out the window and say, "Oh, looks bad today. Pretty rough weather. I think I'll deliver some other day."
No, he comes through. Too many Christians base their work, base their witness on how their emotional weather is today. But the Bible says we've got to consistently represent Christ in season, out of season, in convenience, and out of convenience.
I shouldn't deny my feelings, but I shouldn't base my spiritual consistency, my spiritual performance on what kind of mood I'm in right now. Honestly pour out your deepest feelings, your darkest feelings to a Christ who won't be surprised by them, but who can really minister to them. Then go after that day as your assignment from God, and go after it with all your heart. Show the difference that Christ makes when life turns dark.
See, it really doesn't matter what you believe; kind of everything works when your life if going well. The test of any belief is going to be what happens when things are really going down hill; what happens on the dark days. You need in your darkest of days; that's when you have the best opportunity to show the light of Christ and the difference He makes in those kind of days. You can't go off duty then. You've got to demonstrate consistency when the moods are down and when the darkness is there.
Every day, by my words, by my life, by my attitude I am delivering the message of Christ. I cannot let the darkness stop me. Ministry can't be at the mercy of my moods, and the storm must not stop the deliveries.
Max Lucado Daily: A Place at God’s Table
God gives hope! So what if someone was born thinner or stronger? Why count diplomas or compare resumes? What does it matter if they have a place at the head table? You have a place at God’s table—and He’s filling your cup to overflowing!
The overflowing cup was a powerful symbol in the days of David. As long as the host kept the cup full, the guest knew he was welcome. When the cup sat empty, the host was hinting that the hour was late. On those occasions when the host really enjoyed the company of the person, he filled the cup to overflowing; he kept pouring until the liquid ran over the edge of the cup and down on the table.
Have you noticed how wet your table is? God wants you to stay. Your cup overflows with joy. Overflows with grace. Shouldn’t your heart overflow with gratitude?
from Traveling Light
Jeremiah 14
New International Version (NIV)
Drought, Famine, Sword
14 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 “Judah mourns,
her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 The nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns
but find no water.
They return with their jars unfilled;
dismayed and despairing,
they cover their heads.
4 The ground is cracked
because there is no rain in the land;
the farmers are dismayed
and cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in the field
deserts her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights
and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
for lack of food.”
7 Although our sins testify against us,
do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.
For we have often rebelled;
we have sinned against you.
8 You who are the hope of Israel,
its Savior in times of distress,
why are you like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only a night?
9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
like a warrior powerless to save?
You are among us, Lord,
and we bear your name;
do not forsake us!
10 This is what the Lord says about this people:
“They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them;
he will now remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.”
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries[a] and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.
17 “Speak this word to them:
“‘Let my eyes overflow with tears
night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin Daughter, my people,
has suffered a grievous wound,
a crushing blow.
18 If I go into the country,
I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
I see the ravages of famine.
Both prophet and priest
have gone to a land they know not.’”
19 Have you rejected Judah completely?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
so that we cannot be healed?
We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.
20 We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord,
and the guilt of our ancestors;
we have indeed sinned against you.
21 For the sake of your name do not despise us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us
and do not break it.
22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Job 38:1-7
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
Space Music
July 9, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
Who laid [earth’s] cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? —Job 38:6-7
One of NASA’s observatories has discovered a giant black hole that hums. Located in the Perseus cluster of galaxies about 250 million light years from Earth, the black hole vibrates at the frequency of a B flat. But it is too low a pitch to be picked up by the human ear. Scientific instruments have placed the note at 57 octaves below middle C on a piano.
The idea of music and heavenly bodies is not new. In fact, when God revealed Himself to Job, He asked: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4,7). We are told that at the creation of our marvelous universe, songs of praise and shouts of joy resounded to God’s glory.
A wonderful hymn by St. Francis of Assisi captures the awe and worship we feel when beholding the radiant sun by day or the star-studded sky at night.
All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam:
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1).
Let’s praise the One who made such beauty for us to enjoy!
Hymn by St. Francis of Assisi, translated by William H. Draper. © 1968 Singspiration
The beauty of creation gives us reasons to sing God’s praise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 9, 2013
Will You Examine Yourself?
Joshua said to the people, ’You cannot serve the Lord . . .’ —Joshua 24:19
Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord . . .”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?
“The people said to Joshua, ’No, but we will serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:21). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”
We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Storm Can't Stop the Deliveries - #6911
Monday, July 8, 2013
I've watched mail service change a lot during my lifetime. For example, the cost of sending a letter has gone up, and up, and up. I think it's probably quadrupled or quintupled or even more in my lifetime. And in case my kids are listening, I do not mean beginning with the Pony Express. There are new services that are added, like overnight delivery that they didn't used to have. One thing has not changed while everything has. Those mail carriers still do their best to keep their commitment not to be stopped by sleet, or snow, or dark of night. That's the old saying, "Nothing keeps us from our appointed rounds". And that's been true. I can't remember a day other than holidays that the mail didn't make it, no matter what the conditions were. I'm impressed with that kind of commitment.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Storm Can't Stop the Deliveries."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 4:1. Here's what it says, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge." Okay, you can tell Paul's pretty serious here. I mean, he's bringing all this heavy weight stuff to bear on what he's going to say. This is in front of God. This is in front of Christ. This is in view of the fact He's coming back. This is about His whole kingdom. Whatever he's going to say, it's going to be important huh?
We go to verse 2, "Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season." Paul musters all of this sobering, heavy artillery to drive home this message, "Keep presenting God's Word no matter what kind of season it is." Another translation puts it this way, "Be diligent when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient."
Here's the principle: Your ministry is too important to be at the mercy of your moods. You have a forever mission of representing Jesus Christ; serving Him in whatever setting He has assigned you. In fact, you can assume that your situation wherever you are is your assignment. So, be consistent. Always deliver like the mailman does. The storm doesn't stop the carrier of the United States mail. He doesn't look out the window and say, "Oh, looks bad today. Pretty rough weather. I think I'll deliver some other day."
No, he comes through. Too many Christians base their work, base their witness on how their emotional weather is today. But the Bible says we've got to consistently represent Christ in season, out of season, in convenience, and out of convenience.
I shouldn't deny my feelings, but I shouldn't base my spiritual consistency, my spiritual performance on what kind of mood I'm in right now. Honestly pour out your deepest feelings, your darkest feelings to a Christ who won't be surprised by them, but who can really minister to them. Then go after that day as your assignment from God, and go after it with all your heart. Show the difference that Christ makes when life turns dark.
See, it really doesn't matter what you believe; kind of everything works when your life if going well. The test of any belief is going to be what happens when things are really going down hill; what happens on the dark days. You need in your darkest of days; that's when you have the best opportunity to show the light of Christ and the difference He makes in those kind of days. You can't go off duty then. You've got to demonstrate consistency when the moods are down and when the darkness is there.
Every day, by my words, by my life, by my attitude I am delivering the message of Christ. I cannot let the darkness stop me. Ministry can't be at the mercy of my moods, and the storm must not stop the deliveries.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Jeremiah 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Overflowing with Grace
Do you ever worry that the cup of God’s mercy will run empty? Are you afraid his grace will run out? That your warranty will expire? Are you afraid your mistakes are too great for God’s forgiveness? I wonder if the apostle Paul had the same fear. Before he was Paul the apostle, he was Saul the murderer. Before he encouraged Christians, he murdered Christians. What would it be like to live with that kind of past?
Did Paul ever ask, “Can God forgive a man like me?” The answer is found in a letter Paul wrote to Timothy: “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 1:14)
God is not a miser with His grace. Your cup may be low on cash or clout, but it’s overflowing with mercy. Your cup overflows with grace!
from Traveling Light
Jeremiah 10
God and Idols
10 Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”
6 No one is like you, Lord;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who should not fear you,
King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.
8 They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”[f]
12 But God made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including Israel, the people of his inheritance—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
Coming Destruction
17 Gather up your belongings to leave the land,
you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the Lord says:
“At this time I will hurl out
those who live in this land;
I will bring distress on them
so that they may be captured.”
19 Woe to me because of my injury!
My wound is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
“This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”
20 My tent is destroyed;
all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;
no one is left now to pitch my tent
or to set up my shelter.
21 The shepherds are senseless
and do not inquire of the Lord;
so they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! The report is coming—
a great commotion from the land of the north!
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,
a haunt of jackals.
Jeremiah’s Prayer
23 Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
it is not for them to direct their steps.
24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
not in your anger,
or you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the peoples who do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him completely
and destroyed his homeland.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:31-39
New International Version (NIV)
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus Loves Me
July 8, 2013 — by David H. Roper
Keep yourselves in the love of God. —Jude 1:21
On cold days, our old dog moves around the yard, finding a sunny spot to stretch out on the grass to keep herself in the warmth of the sun.
This reminds me that we must “keep” ourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21). That doesn’t mean we have to act in some special way to make God love us (although our desire is to please Him). Because we are His children we’re loved no matter what we do or fail to do. It means instead that we should think about His love and bask in its radiance and warmth all day long.
“[Nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:39). He loved us before we were born, and He loves us now. This is our identity in Christ; it is who we are—God’s beloved children. That’s something to think about throughout the day.
Five times in John’s gospel he described himself as the disciple Jesus loved (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20). Jesus loved His other disciples too, but John reveled in the fact that Jesus loved him! We can adopt John’s theme—“I am the disciple Jesus loves!”—and repeat it to ourselves all day long. Or we can sing that familiar children’s song in our hearts, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” As we carry that truth with us throughout the day, we’ll bask in the warmth of His love!
I am so glad that our Father in heaven
Tells of His love in the Book He has given;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see—
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me. —Bliss
God loves us not because of who we are, but because of who He is.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 8, 2013
Will To Be Faithful
. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . —Joshua 24:15
A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.
“. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . .” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.
Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves . . .” (Joshua 24:22). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Way to Score Points - #6912
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
I used to be undefeated in Scrabble. I'm sure you're real excited about that. Of course I've never heard of an Olympic Scrabble Tournament, or I would have entered it. But you notice what I said...I used to be undefeated? Yeah.
See, a long time ago son broke my winning streak. You say, "Well, it couldn't have been too impressive." Yeah, my son is a smart kid. And near the end of that game that finished my future as the King of Scrabble I was getting desperate! I had a few high-scoring letters left, maybe you've done this. Some of those 8 and 10 point scorers, you know, and some Zs and Qs. So I put down a word that is sort of a word but sort of not a word, and it was sort of debatable. So guess what we did? We debated it. I got out the dictionary, and I got absolutely no support. After arguing my case a little bit more, I finally gave in and lost. I'll tell you, there's no satisfaction winning on words that I probably shouldn't use anyway in Scrabble or in everyday life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Way to Score Points."
Our word for today from the Word of God is about no way to score points. Ephesians 4:29, says this, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." And it says in verse 31, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
These verses that we've read here are about what you do with your mouth. And it says to us that the easiest thing to do with your mouth is to tear people down. The book of Proverbs says "the tongue has the power of life or death" and you can, with what you say, either make a person feel more alive or more dead inside. You've had it happen to you. You know. It's so easy though, isn't it, to use our mouth to score points on the other person, to defend ourselves, to get out of a jam, to express our anger.
But it's no way to score points. Just think about the people who are most important to you that you spend the most time with; your family, your coworkers, your friends, people at school. You've learned that there are things you can say that help you get your way. Right?
Every married couple knows this, that there are some things you can say to silence your partner. There's a way to make sure you win the argument, right? But usually it's in a way that cuts them down. There's a sarcasm maybe that can leave the people around you quivering.
There's the attack on their weak spot; you know where they're weak, you know how to get at them. If you attack that spot, their physical weak spot, their emotional weak spot, you know you can get your way. You can use guilt to get your way, to manipulate them into whatever you want. Oh, you win for the moment, but you leave them feeling very small. And guess what? You got smaller in the process.
And like Scrabble, there are words; there are kinds of sentences you should never allow. You should never allow to come out of your mouth any words that make someone else feel smaller. The Bible says to only allow words that build people up. That's the test.
What if you listened to a recording of yourself for the last couple of days? Would you hear criticism, attacks, negativity that put the other person on the defensive, names called, put-downs given? Oh, maybe you scored some points for the moment, but you're both smaller as a result of it.
We're told in 1 Peter 2, that Jesus did nothing wrong. It says, "Did no guile and no accusation came out of His mouth." Would you let His lordship reach your mouth? Eliminate the cutting words, the hurting words. They're words you should never use; they're just no way to score points.
Max Lucado Daily: Overflowing with Grace
Do you ever worry that the cup of God’s mercy will run empty? Are you afraid his grace will run out? That your warranty will expire? Are you afraid your mistakes are too great for God’s forgiveness? I wonder if the apostle Paul had the same fear. Before he was Paul the apostle, he was Saul the murderer. Before he encouraged Christians, he murdered Christians. What would it be like to live with that kind of past?
Did Paul ever ask, “Can God forgive a man like me?” The answer is found in a letter Paul wrote to Timothy: “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 1:14)
God is not a miser with His grace. Your cup may be low on cash or clout, but it’s overflowing with mercy. Your cup overflows with grace!
from Traveling Light
Jeremiah 10
God and Idols
10 Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”
6 No one is like you, Lord;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who should not fear you,
King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.
8 They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”[f]
12 But God made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including Israel, the people of his inheritance—
the Lord Almighty is his name.
Coming Destruction
17 Gather up your belongings to leave the land,
you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the Lord says:
“At this time I will hurl out
those who live in this land;
I will bring distress on them
so that they may be captured.”
19 Woe to me because of my injury!
My wound is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
“This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”
20 My tent is destroyed;
all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;
no one is left now to pitch my tent
or to set up my shelter.
21 The shepherds are senseless
and do not inquire of the Lord;
so they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! The report is coming—
a great commotion from the land of the north!
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,
a haunt of jackals.
Jeremiah’s Prayer
23 Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
it is not for them to direct their steps.
24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
not in your anger,
or you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the peoples who do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him completely
and destroyed his homeland.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:31-39
New International Version (NIV)
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus Loves Me
July 8, 2013 — by David H. Roper
Keep yourselves in the love of God. —Jude 1:21
On cold days, our old dog moves around the yard, finding a sunny spot to stretch out on the grass to keep herself in the warmth of the sun.
This reminds me that we must “keep” ourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21). That doesn’t mean we have to act in some special way to make God love us (although our desire is to please Him). Because we are His children we’re loved no matter what we do or fail to do. It means instead that we should think about His love and bask in its radiance and warmth all day long.
“[Nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:39). He loved us before we were born, and He loves us now. This is our identity in Christ; it is who we are—God’s beloved children. That’s something to think about throughout the day.
Five times in John’s gospel he described himself as the disciple Jesus loved (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20). Jesus loved His other disciples too, but John reveled in the fact that Jesus loved him! We can adopt John’s theme—“I am the disciple Jesus loves!”—and repeat it to ourselves all day long. Or we can sing that familiar children’s song in our hearts, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” As we carry that truth with us throughout the day, we’ll bask in the warmth of His love!
I am so glad that our Father in heaven
Tells of His love in the Book He has given;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see—
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me. —Bliss
God loves us not because of who we are, but because of who He is.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 8, 2013
Will To Be Faithful
. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . —Joshua 24:15
A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.
“. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . .” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.
Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves . . .” (Joshua 24:22). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Way to Score Points - #6912
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
I used to be undefeated in Scrabble. I'm sure you're real excited about that. Of course I've never heard of an Olympic Scrabble Tournament, or I would have entered it. But you notice what I said...I used to be undefeated? Yeah.
See, a long time ago son broke my winning streak. You say, "Well, it couldn't have been too impressive." Yeah, my son is a smart kid. And near the end of that game that finished my future as the King of Scrabble I was getting desperate! I had a few high-scoring letters left, maybe you've done this. Some of those 8 and 10 point scorers, you know, and some Zs and Qs. So I put down a word that is sort of a word but sort of not a word, and it was sort of debatable. So guess what we did? We debated it. I got out the dictionary, and I got absolutely no support. After arguing my case a little bit more, I finally gave in and lost. I'll tell you, there's no satisfaction winning on words that I probably shouldn't use anyway in Scrabble or in everyday life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Way to Score Points."
Our word for today from the Word of God is about no way to score points. Ephesians 4:29, says this, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." And it says in verse 31, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
These verses that we've read here are about what you do with your mouth. And it says to us that the easiest thing to do with your mouth is to tear people down. The book of Proverbs says "the tongue has the power of life or death" and you can, with what you say, either make a person feel more alive or more dead inside. You've had it happen to you. You know. It's so easy though, isn't it, to use our mouth to score points on the other person, to defend ourselves, to get out of a jam, to express our anger.
But it's no way to score points. Just think about the people who are most important to you that you spend the most time with; your family, your coworkers, your friends, people at school. You've learned that there are things you can say that help you get your way. Right?
Every married couple knows this, that there are some things you can say to silence your partner. There's a way to make sure you win the argument, right? But usually it's in a way that cuts them down. There's a sarcasm maybe that can leave the people around you quivering.
There's the attack on their weak spot; you know where they're weak, you know how to get at them. If you attack that spot, their physical weak spot, their emotional weak spot, you know you can get your way. You can use guilt to get your way, to manipulate them into whatever you want. Oh, you win for the moment, but you leave them feeling very small. And guess what? You got smaller in the process.
And like Scrabble, there are words; there are kinds of sentences you should never allow. You should never allow to come out of your mouth any words that make someone else feel smaller. The Bible says to only allow words that build people up. That's the test.
What if you listened to a recording of yourself for the last couple of days? Would you hear criticism, attacks, negativity that put the other person on the defensive, names called, put-downs given? Oh, maybe you scored some points for the moment, but you're both smaller as a result of it.
We're told in 1 Peter 2, that Jesus did nothing wrong. It says, "Did no guile and no accusation came out of His mouth." Would you let His lordship reach your mouth? Eliminate the cutting words, the hurting words. They're words you should never use; they're just no way to score points.
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