Max Lucado Daily:
All You Need
Ginger was six years old when she and her Sunday school class made get well cards for church members. Hers was a bright purple card that said, "I love you, but most of all God loves you!" She and her mom made the delivery. My dad was bedfast, the end was near. He could extend his hand, but it was bent to a claw from disease. Ginger asked him a question as only a six year old can, "Are you going to die?" He answered, "Yes, but when I don't know." She asked if he was afraid to go away. "Away is heaven," he told her. "I'll be with my Father. I'm ready to see Him eye to eye."
A man near death, winking at the thought of it. Stripped of everything? It only appeared that way. In the end, Dad still had what no one could take…faith. And in the end, that's all he needed!
From You'll Get Through This
2 Chronicles 36
New International Version (NIV)
1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
2 Jehoahaz[a] was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3 The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents[b] of silver and a talent[c] of gold. 4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple[d] there.
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen[e] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,[f] Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,[g] who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 36:2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant of Jehoahaz; also in verse 4
2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
2 Chronicles 36:7 Or palace
2 Chronicles 36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight
2 Chronicles 36:10 Hebrew brother, that is, relative (see 2 Kings 24:17)
2 Chronicles 36:17 Or Chaldeans
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
2 I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Footnotes:
Psalm 25:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
All Through This Hour
September 9, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day. —Psalm 25:5
The majestic chime of London’s Great Clock of Westminster, commonly known as Big Ben, is familiar to many. In fact, some of us may have clocks in our homes that sound the same hourly chime. It is traditionally thought that the melody was taken from Handel’s Messiah. And the lyrics inscribed in the Big Ben clock room have a time significance:
All through this hour,
Lord, be my guide;
And by Thy power,
No foot shall slide.
These lyrics are a good reminder of our constant need for God’s guidance. King David recognized that he needed guidance all through the day as he faced the challenges of life. In Psalm 25 he says: “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day” (v.5). Wanting to be a teachable follower of God, David looked to his Redeemer for direction. His heart’s desire was to wait on God with dependent faith throughout the entire day.
May this be our desire as well. Our requests for God’s help often begin the day, but then competing distractions can pull our attention away from Him. Lord, remind us to pray: “All through this hour, Lord, be my guide.”
There’s never a day nor a season
That prayer may not bless every hour,
And never a prayer need be helpless
When linked with God’s infinite power. —Morton
Let Christ be first in your thoughts in the morning, and last in your thoughts at night.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 9, 2013
Do It Yourself (2)
. . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “. . . I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ . . . .” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself . . . ” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.
Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.
We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind. . . .” (Romans 12:2).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Get In the Game - #6956
Monday, September 9, 2013
Professional football wasn't the same for me once I began to have the opportunity to speak at NFL chapels. All of the NFL teams have chapel services before their games. And so, a few hours before game time, I had the opportunity to meet in a hotel conference room with a number of the players; sometimes from our local team, sometimes from a visiting team. And the players were so intense! I mean, it was a lot more than a game to them. By the time that day was over, their career could have been in jeopardy, their income was on the line, sometimes what shape their body was in was on the line. Sixteen Sundays that made up a professional football schedule. Let me tell you, there was intensity in the room.
Then, because they often gave me two tickets, I would go to the stadium. And there I saw those wonderful, courteous New York fans. There they were out in the parking lot with their little grills having a party and passing their six-packs. Then they'd go into the stadium and here is this guy; he's kind of the stereotypical football fan. He's got, you know, a lot of six-packs that he's been carrying around in his stomach apparently for a number of years stuffed into some New York Giants or Jets shirt. He's got a Budweiser hat on. He's passing more down his way, and he's yelling and screaming. He knows all the players by their first name of course. Well, at least it sounds like it. And he knows how to play every play; he's very quick to criticize.
Of course, because I know how intense it is for the guys on the field because I've been with them, I just want to stand up and say, "Hey, Buddy, why don't you just be quiet for a little while? Why don't you get out of the stands and get in the game? Let's see how you do." Look behind you right now. Maybe there's someone telling you that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Get In the Game."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians chapter 4, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 11. "It was God who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers." Now why do we have all this here? Well, we're about to find out the reason why we have all these sermons you've heard in your life, and all the Sunday School lessons you've ever heard, all these guys talking at you from radio. Why all of this? Why is that all happening?
Here's why: It says to prepare God's people for works of service. See, that's why you've gotten all this input you've been getting spiritually. It isn't so you can just be smart about God. It's to get you ready to do something..."for works of service." So many of us are willing to go to the meetings, put some money in the offering, and maybe do some low-risk jobs. But we're like that fan in the stands. We like watching. We don't mind kind of being on the fringes and sometimes even criticizing the people who are on the field.
Well, see, Jesus has enough fans. He doesn't need any more fans. He needs players, and it could very well be that He's had you tune in today so you could hear these words, coming from Him, not from me, "Get out of the stands and get in the game."
Someone has wisely said, "In the first reformation the people of God were given the Word of God. Now a second reformation is needed where the people of God will be given the work of God." See, God has work for you to do; not just to go to Bible Studies and attend meetings and sing the songs and support ministries. It's time for you to play! There's someone only you can share Christ with. You're closer to that lost person than any other believer.
There's a group that maybe He wants to burden your heart for. There's someone who needs your time, your attention, your experience. In American Christianity we like to assign all of it to a few spiritual athletes. We call them pastors, missionaries, youth leaders. How about they take all the risks for us? But Jesus says we are all to be out on a limb, taking risks to serve Him.
Why don't you be one of the heroes on the field? There are no heroes in the stands. Dare to say, "Lord, what would You have me to do?" You've spent enough time watching. Now get out of the stands and get in the game.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Hebrews 13, bible reading and devotions.
Max Lucado Daily: The Choice is Ours
“You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23 NIV
We are free either to love God or not. He invites us to love Him. He urges us to love Him. He came that we might love Him. But, in the end, the choice is yours and mine. To take that choice from each of us, for Him to force us to love Him, would be less than love . . .
He leaves the choice to us.
Hebrews 13
New International Version (NIV)
Concluding Exhortations
13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a]
6 So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
Benediction and Final Greetings
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.
25 Grace be with you all.
Footnotes:
Hebrews 13:5 Deut. 31:6
Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6,7
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Daniel 12:1-3
The End Times
12 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
Footnotes:
Daniel 12:3 Or who impart wisdom
Light Up The Night
September 8, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. —Daniel 12:3
On a mild fall evening when the sky was dark and the moon was full, thousands of people in my hometown gathered along the banks of the river to light sky lanterns. They released them into the darkness, and watched as the lights rose to join the moon in a dazzling display that turned the night sky into a sparkling work of art.
When I saw pictures of the event, I was disappointed that I was out of town and had missed it. But a few days later I realized that what had happened in Grand Rapids could be seen as a symbol of the conference I was attending in New York City. More than 1,000 people from 100 cities around the world had gathered there to plan a “work of art”—how to light up the darkness of their own cities by planting churches and reaching thousands of people with the gospel of Christ, the Light of the world.
The prophet Daniel wrote about a time when those who turn others to the Lord will shine like stars forever (Dan. 12:3). We can all join in that great event. When we shine the light of Christ in dark places where we live and work, He is lighting up the night sky with stars that never will go out.
I want to shine for You in my world, Lord. Show
me how to lift You up, the Light of the world. I look
forward to that day when I will gather with people
from all nations to bow at Your feet and worship You.
When the Light of the world illuminates the earth, His beauty will attract people from every nation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 8, 2013
Do It Yourself (1)
. . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . .” (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier “against the knowledge of God” is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers “against the knowledge of God.” We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
“You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23 NIV
We are free either to love God or not. He invites us to love Him. He urges us to love Him. He came that we might love Him. But, in the end, the choice is yours and mine. To take that choice from each of us, for Him to force us to love Him, would be less than love . . .
He leaves the choice to us.
Hebrews 13
New International Version (NIV)
Concluding Exhortations
13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a]
6 So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
Benediction and Final Greetings
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.
25 Grace be with you all.
Footnotes:
Hebrews 13:5 Deut. 31:6
Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6,7
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Daniel 12:1-3
The End Times
12 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
Footnotes:
Daniel 12:3 Or who impart wisdom
Light Up The Night
September 8, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. —Daniel 12:3
On a mild fall evening when the sky was dark and the moon was full, thousands of people in my hometown gathered along the banks of the river to light sky lanterns. They released them into the darkness, and watched as the lights rose to join the moon in a dazzling display that turned the night sky into a sparkling work of art.
When I saw pictures of the event, I was disappointed that I was out of town and had missed it. But a few days later I realized that what had happened in Grand Rapids could be seen as a symbol of the conference I was attending in New York City. More than 1,000 people from 100 cities around the world had gathered there to plan a “work of art”—how to light up the darkness of their own cities by planting churches and reaching thousands of people with the gospel of Christ, the Light of the world.
The prophet Daniel wrote about a time when those who turn others to the Lord will shine like stars forever (Dan. 12:3). We can all join in that great event. When we shine the light of Christ in dark places where we live and work, He is lighting up the night sky with stars that never will go out.
I want to shine for You in my world, Lord. Show
me how to lift You up, the Light of the world. I look
forward to that day when I will gather with people
from all nations to bow at Your feet and worship You.
When the Light of the world illuminates the earth, His beauty will attract people from every nation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 8, 2013
Do It Yourself (1)
. . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . .” (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier “against the knowledge of God” is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers “against the knowledge of God.” We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Lamentations 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
MaxLucado.com: Grace is God as heart surgeon!
Grace is God cracking open your chest, removing your heart, poisoned as it is with pride and pain, and replacing it with his own.
God’s dream isn’t just to get you into heaven, but to get heaven into you. Grace lives because Jesus does, works because he works, and matters because he matters.
To be saved by grace is to be saved by Jesus—not by an idea, doctrine, creed, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, who will sweep into heaven anyone who so much as gives him the nod.
Grace won’t be stage-managed. I have no tips on how to get grace. Truth is, we don’t get grace. But it can sure get us.
If you wonder whether God can do something with the mess of your life, then grace is what you need!
Let’s make certain it happens to you!
Ezekiel 36:26b- “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
From GRACE
Lamentations 5
Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become fatherless,
our mothers are widows.
4 We must buy the water we drink;
our wood can be had only at a price.
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
we are weary and find no rest.
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria
to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more,
and we bear their punishment.
8 Slaves rule over us,
and there is no one to free us from their hands.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
feverish from hunger.
11 Women have been violated in Zion,
and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders are shown no respect.
Footnotes:
Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.
Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 139:1-10
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
GodAware
September 7, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! —Romans 11:33
On the FlightAware website, Kathy checked the progress of the small plane her husband Chuck was piloting to Chicago. With a few clicks, she could track when he took off, where his flight was at any moment, and exactly when he would land. A few decades earlier when Chuck was a pilot in West Africa, Kathy’s only contact had been a high-frequency radio. She recalls one occasion when 3 days had passed before she was able to reach him. She had no way of knowing that he was safe but unable to fly because the airplane had been damaged.
But God was always aware of exactly where Chuck was and what he was doing, just as He is with us (Job 34:21). Nothing is hidden from His sight (Heb. 4:13). He knows our thoughts and our words (1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 139:4). And He knows what will happen in the future (Isa. 46:10).
God knows everything (1 John 3:20), and He knows you and me intimately (Ps. 139:1-10). He is aware of each temptation, each broken heart, each illness, each worry, each sorrow we face.
What a comfort to experience care from the One of whom it is said, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 11:33).
Beneath His watchful eye
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guard His children well. —Doddridge
We can trust our all-knowing God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7, 2013
Fountains of Blessings
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
Grace is God cracking open your chest, removing your heart, poisoned as it is with pride and pain, and replacing it with his own.
God’s dream isn’t just to get you into heaven, but to get heaven into you. Grace lives because Jesus does, works because he works, and matters because he matters.
To be saved by grace is to be saved by Jesus—not by an idea, doctrine, creed, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, who will sweep into heaven anyone who so much as gives him the nod.
Grace won’t be stage-managed. I have no tips on how to get grace. Truth is, we don’t get grace. But it can sure get us.
If you wonder whether God can do something with the mess of your life, then grace is what you need!
Let’s make certain it happens to you!
Ezekiel 36:26b- “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
From GRACE
Lamentations 5
Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become fatherless,
our mothers are widows.
4 We must buy the water we drink;
our wood can be had only at a price.
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
we are weary and find no rest.
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria
to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more,
and we bear their punishment.
8 Slaves rule over us,
and there is no one to free us from their hands.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
feverish from hunger.
11 Women have been violated in Zion,
and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders are shown no respect.
Footnotes:
Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.
Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 139:1-10
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
GodAware
September 7, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! —Romans 11:33
On the FlightAware website, Kathy checked the progress of the small plane her husband Chuck was piloting to Chicago. With a few clicks, she could track when he took off, where his flight was at any moment, and exactly when he would land. A few decades earlier when Chuck was a pilot in West Africa, Kathy’s only contact had been a high-frequency radio. She recalls one occasion when 3 days had passed before she was able to reach him. She had no way of knowing that he was safe but unable to fly because the airplane had been damaged.
But God was always aware of exactly where Chuck was and what he was doing, just as He is with us (Job 34:21). Nothing is hidden from His sight (Heb. 4:13). He knows our thoughts and our words (1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 139:4). And He knows what will happen in the future (Isa. 46:10).
God knows everything (1 John 3:20), and He knows you and me intimately (Ps. 139:1-10). He is aware of each temptation, each broken heart, each illness, each worry, each sorrow we face.
What a comfort to experience care from the One of whom it is said, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 11:33).
Beneath His watchful eye
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guard His children well. —Doddridge
We can trust our all-knowing God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7, 2013
Fountains of Blessings
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Lamentations 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Won't Break a Promise
All of a sudden you're cleaning out your desk. Voices of doubt and fear raise their volume. "How will I pay the bills? Who's going to hire me?"
Do you think you've lost it all? Determine not to make this mistake. You have not lost it all. Romans 11:29 promises God's gifts and God's call are under full warranty-never canceled, never rescinded. What do you have that you cannot lose?
You can say to yourself, "I am still God's child. My life's more than this life. These days are a vapor, a passing breeze. This will eventually pass. God will make something good out of this. I will work hard, stay faithful, and trust Him no matter what."
Choose to heed the call of God on your life. You are God's child. Your life is more than this life, more than this broken heart, more than this difficult time. God won't break a promise. You will get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
Lamentations 4
How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.
2 How the precious children of Zion,
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.
4 Because of thirst the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple
now lie on ash heaps.
6 The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
7 Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;
he has poured out his fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed her foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed within her
the blood of the righteous.
14 Now they grope through the streets
as if they were blind.
They are so defiled with blood
that no one dares to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders no favor.
17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
looking in vain for help;
from our towers we watched
for a nation that could not save us.
18 People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky;
they chased us over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.
20 The Lord’s anointed, our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.
We thought that under his shadow
we would live among the nations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you who live in the land of Uz.
But to you also the cup will be passed;
you will be drunk and stripped naked.
22 Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;
he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
and expose your wickedness.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
New International Version (NIV)
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[a] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[b]
And this is the word that was preached to you.
2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart
1 Peter 1:25 Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)
Longing To Grow
September 6, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby. —1 Peter 2:2
The 2010 documentary film Babies followed four infants who were born into very different circumstances in Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo, and San Francisco. There is no narration or dialogue from adults in the film, only the sounds babies make as they begin to discover the world into which they have been born. They coo and laugh when they’re happy; they cry when they are hurt or hungry. And all of them like milk! The fascination of the film lies in watching them grow.
As a baby craves milk, followers of Christ are to crave the “pure milk of the Word” that leads to spiritual growth. The apostle Peter says, “Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation; cry for this as a baby cries for his milk” (1 Peter 2:2 tlb). Peter wrote to encourage a group of Christ-followers who had been scattered by persecution. He urged them to set aside feelings of anger and jealousy toward each other, along with talking one way and living another (v.1), and “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (v.2).
The Lord invites us to drink all that we need from His bountiful supply. He loves to watch His children grow!
Lord, I want to be more like You.
Please give me a fervent desire to drink of
Your Word. Grow me into a person who
resembles You in all I say and do.
The more we dig into God’s Word, the more we grow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 6, 2013
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe. . .” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Bogged Down With Baggage - #6955
Friday, September 6, 2013
Mount Luggage - that's what I remember about the day that our whole family was trapped at O'Hare Airport. We had taken our daughter to Chicago to get her to college. There was record rainfall that day. I think it was like nine and a half inches in a few hours, and O'Hare Airport was literally for a while cut off from the rest of the world. It was like Camp O'Hare! And the overpass that people had to go through to get into the airport was flooded with four feet of water. Well, needless to say, all the people were stranded there; everyone was running trying to get to a phone. This was before cell phones. Every phone was taken; everybody was trying to find options, "How do I get out of here?" "How can I arrange for a ride if it ever does open up?" "Where can we stay tonight?"
And, of course, I was a Dad with three kids and a wife there, and I'm trying to find a room, a ride. The problem was in order to take advantage of any break I could find, we had to move fast. I mean, it was just a zoo! Well, that's what we could not do because we were bringing our daughter to college, and she was bringing her whole world to college with her. And since we had to fly, we all brought luggage, and she brought big trunks. And I think we had something like 12 pieces of luggage, and my daughter was sitting on that pile of baggage in the baggage claim area. And when we needed to move, we were too tied down to do it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bogged Down With Baggage."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke chapter 9, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 2, where Jesus has called His twelve disciples together. And it says, "He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them, 'Take nothing for the journey. No staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.'"
In essence, Jesus is saying, "I've got kingdom work for you to do. I want you to travel light. Don't get bogged down with a lot of extra gear. Limit yourself to the basics you really need and be ready to move any time when there's a job to do. I don't want you to have to say, 'Whoa! Whoa! Hold it! We can't take all this weight with us. I've got to get more. How am I going to carry...'" He wants His servants to be highly mobile; ready to move at His command.
Now, there's a phrase that might describe many of us Western Christians. We're slaves to our stuff. We've got so much stuff! If God were to ask us to make a move for Him or to start a work for Him, or to suddenly give a very large percentage of what we've got to His work, to change our lifestyle to serve Him, we couldn't. We're like our family at O'Hare Airport. We've got so much material baggage we can't move it when He tells us to. We limit God's ways of using us by our accumulation of stuff.
Many of us think we don't have much at all. We'll say, "Well, a lot of people have more than I do." But if we look at our Lord, who traveled very light in this world, we've got a lot. God never meant for us to keep enlarging our standard of living to the point where we can't afford to leave all and follow Him. We've got so much debt, so much we own, so much stuff. And instead of continuing to give it way, we build a little kingdom. He may or may not ask you to leave all and follow Him; He did ask a lot of people to do that and He still is. But we need to live so we're always ready to leave.
We have a heritage in our faith of leaders and followers of Christ who travel light. Don't let the accumulation of earth stuff trap you into God's second best. You have to always be ready to leave it all and you've got to be able to leave it all. When God asks you to move or change, you just don't want to be trapped by a mountain of baggage.
All of a sudden you're cleaning out your desk. Voices of doubt and fear raise their volume. "How will I pay the bills? Who's going to hire me?"
Do you think you've lost it all? Determine not to make this mistake. You have not lost it all. Romans 11:29 promises God's gifts and God's call are under full warranty-never canceled, never rescinded. What do you have that you cannot lose?
You can say to yourself, "I am still God's child. My life's more than this life. These days are a vapor, a passing breeze. This will eventually pass. God will make something good out of this. I will work hard, stay faithful, and trust Him no matter what."
Choose to heed the call of God on your life. You are God's child. Your life is more than this life, more than this broken heart, more than this difficult time. God won't break a promise. You will get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
Lamentations 4
How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.
2 How the precious children of Zion,
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.
4 Because of thirst the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple
now lie on ash heaps.
6 The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
7 Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;
he has poured out his fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed her foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed within her
the blood of the righteous.
14 Now they grope through the streets
as if they were blind.
They are so defiled with blood
that no one dares to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders no favor.
17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
looking in vain for help;
from our towers we watched
for a nation that could not save us.
18 People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky;
they chased us over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.
20 The Lord’s anointed, our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.
We thought that under his shadow
we would live among the nations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you who live in the land of Uz.
But to you also the cup will be passed;
you will be drunk and stripped naked.
22 Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;
he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
and expose your wickedness.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
New International Version (NIV)
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[a] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[b]
And this is the word that was preached to you.
2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart
1 Peter 1:25 Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)
Longing To Grow
September 6, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby. —1 Peter 2:2
The 2010 documentary film Babies followed four infants who were born into very different circumstances in Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo, and San Francisco. There is no narration or dialogue from adults in the film, only the sounds babies make as they begin to discover the world into which they have been born. They coo and laugh when they’re happy; they cry when they are hurt or hungry. And all of them like milk! The fascination of the film lies in watching them grow.
As a baby craves milk, followers of Christ are to crave the “pure milk of the Word” that leads to spiritual growth. The apostle Peter says, “Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation; cry for this as a baby cries for his milk” (1 Peter 2:2 tlb). Peter wrote to encourage a group of Christ-followers who had been scattered by persecution. He urged them to set aside feelings of anger and jealousy toward each other, along with talking one way and living another (v.1), and “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (v.2).
The Lord invites us to drink all that we need from His bountiful supply. He loves to watch His children grow!
Lord, I want to be more like You.
Please give me a fervent desire to drink of
Your Word. Grow me into a person who
resembles You in all I say and do.
The more we dig into God’s Word, the more we grow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 6, 2013
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe. . .” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Bogged Down With Baggage - #6955
Friday, September 6, 2013
Mount Luggage - that's what I remember about the day that our whole family was trapped at O'Hare Airport. We had taken our daughter to Chicago to get her to college. There was record rainfall that day. I think it was like nine and a half inches in a few hours, and O'Hare Airport was literally for a while cut off from the rest of the world. It was like Camp O'Hare! And the overpass that people had to go through to get into the airport was flooded with four feet of water. Well, needless to say, all the people were stranded there; everyone was running trying to get to a phone. This was before cell phones. Every phone was taken; everybody was trying to find options, "How do I get out of here?" "How can I arrange for a ride if it ever does open up?" "Where can we stay tonight?"
And, of course, I was a Dad with three kids and a wife there, and I'm trying to find a room, a ride. The problem was in order to take advantage of any break I could find, we had to move fast. I mean, it was just a zoo! Well, that's what we could not do because we were bringing our daughter to college, and she was bringing her whole world to college with her. And since we had to fly, we all brought luggage, and she brought big trunks. And I think we had something like 12 pieces of luggage, and my daughter was sitting on that pile of baggage in the baggage claim area. And when we needed to move, we were too tied down to do it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bogged Down With Baggage."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke chapter 9, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 2, where Jesus has called His twelve disciples together. And it says, "He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them, 'Take nothing for the journey. No staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.'"
In essence, Jesus is saying, "I've got kingdom work for you to do. I want you to travel light. Don't get bogged down with a lot of extra gear. Limit yourself to the basics you really need and be ready to move any time when there's a job to do. I don't want you to have to say, 'Whoa! Whoa! Hold it! We can't take all this weight with us. I've got to get more. How am I going to carry...'" He wants His servants to be highly mobile; ready to move at His command.
Now, there's a phrase that might describe many of us Western Christians. We're slaves to our stuff. We've got so much stuff! If God were to ask us to make a move for Him or to start a work for Him, or to suddenly give a very large percentage of what we've got to His work, to change our lifestyle to serve Him, we couldn't. We're like our family at O'Hare Airport. We've got so much material baggage we can't move it when He tells us to. We limit God's ways of using us by our accumulation of stuff.
Many of us think we don't have much at all. We'll say, "Well, a lot of people have more than I do." But if we look at our Lord, who traveled very light in this world, we've got a lot. God never meant for us to keep enlarging our standard of living to the point where we can't afford to leave all and follow Him. We've got so much debt, so much we own, so much stuff. And instead of continuing to give it way, we build a little kingdom. He may or may not ask you to leave all and follow Him; He did ask a lot of people to do that and He still is. But we need to live so we're always ready to leave.
We have a heritage in our faith of leaders and followers of Christ who travel light. Don't let the accumulation of earth stuff trap you into God's second best. You have to always be ready to leave it all and you've got to be able to leave it all. When God asks you to move or change, you just don't want to be trapped by a mountain of baggage.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Lamentations 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily:
Grace!
The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace.
Musicians speak of a grace note. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings and premeal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means.
You turn the page of your Bible and look at the words. You might as well be gazing at a cemetery. Lifeless, stony. Nothing moves you. But you don’t dare close the book, no sirree. You dare not miss a deed for fear that God will erase your name.
God’s grace has a drenching about it. Grace comes after you. It re-wires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid to die to ready to fly.
As Paul said in Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
You might call it a spiritual heart transplant!
From GRACE
Lamentations 3
I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
you have slain without pity.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
45 You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide against us.
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
ruin and destruction.”
48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes
because my people are destroyed.
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.
53 They tried to end my life in a pit
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,
and I thought I was about to perish.
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”
58 You, Lord, took up my case;
you redeemed my life.
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.
Uphold my cause!
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,
all their plots against me—
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.
65 Put a veil over their hearts,
and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Timothy 6:6-12
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Final Charge to Timothy
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Almost Content?
September 5, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” —Hebrews 13:5
As I stepped into the restaurant parking lot after lunch, I saw a pickup truck speeding through the parked vehicles. While observing the driver’s reckless behavior, I noticed the words on the truck’s front license plate. It read, “Almost Content.” After thinking about that message and the sentiment it tried to communicate, I concluded that the concept “almost content” doesn’t exist. Either we are content or we are not.
Admittedly, contentment is a tough needle to thread. We live in a world that feeds our desire for more and more—until we find it almost impossible to be content with anything. But this is nothing new. The book of Hebrews addressed this issue, saying, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (13:5). The only remedy for hearts that “want it all” is the contentment found in the presence of the living God. He is sufficient for our needs and longings, and He alone can bring us the peace and contentment we’ll never find in the pursuits of this life.
Almost content? There is no such thing. In Christ we can know true contentment.
I find contentment in His wondrous grace,
No cloud or shadow can obscure His face;
When great temptations I must bear,
I find the secret place of prayer. —Dunlop
Contentment is not getting what we want but being satisfied with what we have.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 5, 2013
Watching With Jesus
Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38
Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they “all . . . forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . .” (Acts 2:4). “They” refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our Lord had said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
That 'No Delegate' Responsibility - #6954
Thursday, September 5, 2013
One way to make a lot of money in America today is to have a good book or seminar on the subject of management, especially time management. We are management crazy! Tell me how to get more from my time, how to get more done, and get other people to do things. Well, I've got some very interesting advice and it didn't cost me a dime. It was on a wall plaque. Maybe you'll like it. In fact, consider this: You might even want to make this your new life motto as to how to manage your life. It said, "When in charge, ponder. When in trouble, delegate. When in doubt, mumble." I told you you'd want to make a life motto out of this.
Actually, as our society gets more complicated and more stressful we try to delegate more and more; things that we all used to do for ourselves years ago; at least in other generations. You know, a lot of kids used to be raised and educated at home. Then our culture got to the point where we delegated all of the education out to others. And now, the pendulum is swinging back to homeschooling.
And, most of us don't work on the farm very much any more, so we have to delegate the physical development that our children used to get doing all those chores on the farm to P.E. teachers so they don't turn into blobs. We can delegate house cleaning to other people if you've got a little money. There are people who say, "We'll take care of your lawn for you." You can delegate cooking to McDonald's. You can delegate a lot of things. There's one thing, one assignment, you actually cannot delegate.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "That 'No Delegate' Responsibility."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy chapter 6. Here we find the instructions that God gave to the Jews when they were going to have to raise their children in an atmosphere that had two challenges. Challenge number one: after having been pretty poor, now He's going to put them in an environment where they have lots; where they have plenty. They'll be affluent.
Secondly, they're going to be in the middle of a pagan culture, tempted by pagan girls, pagan guys, and pagan music. Sounds a little bit like the world in which we're raising our kids: pretty affluent culture, pretty pagan culture. Well, in that kind of a setting, God gives these instructions; couldn't be more relevant. Our word for today from the Word of God; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
You can delegate some of the education of your children, and some of their physical development; might get someone else to drive them around. But you cannot delegate this one responsibility - helping them fall in love with the Lord. That's your job if you're a mom or dad. "Love the Lord your God," and that's supposed to come through the parents. They'll teach the kids to do that. You just can't give that responsibility to any Christian school, or leader, or organization. Only a parent can get close enough to transfer a love relationship with Christ. Others can give your child information, encouragement, examples, but the buck for shaping your child's soul stops with you.
How does it happen? Well, there are two things here. First of all, there's time spent. You can tell. It says, "...as you're walking with them, sitting with them; you're there when they get up, you're there when they go to bed." We're talking about the classroom of everyday life; you have to spend that kind of time. Secondly, it happens through natural faith. "There's another person living at our house, guys." This isn't just formal devotions. You learn to love Christ as He is a real person at your house; somebody we relate to, we talk to. We talk about Him and we talk with Him in real and natural ways in the fabric of our everyday life.
Don't forget the Lord because of all the goodies of life. We fall in love with those goodies and get too busy to do our number one job. Our mission is not to create church members, or to create believers in their parent's faith. We're to raise God lovers, and that's got to begin in your own heart.
Maybe the epithet of your life will be, "He taught us to love Jesus." No one else can do that like you can.
Grace!
The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace.
Musicians speak of a grace note. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings and premeal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means.
You turn the page of your Bible and look at the words. You might as well be gazing at a cemetery. Lifeless, stony. Nothing moves you. But you don’t dare close the book, no sirree. You dare not miss a deed for fear that God will erase your name.
God’s grace has a drenching about it. Grace comes after you. It re-wires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid to die to ready to fly.
As Paul said in Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
You might call it a spiritual heart transplant!
From GRACE
Lamentations 3
I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
you have slain without pity.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
45 You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide against us.
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
ruin and destruction.”
48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes
because my people are destroyed.
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.
53 They tried to end my life in a pit
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,
and I thought I was about to perish.
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”
58 You, Lord, took up my case;
you redeemed my life.
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.
Uphold my cause!
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,
all their plots against me—
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.
65 Put a veil over their hearts,
and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Timothy 6:6-12
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Final Charge to Timothy
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Almost Content?
September 5, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” —Hebrews 13:5
As I stepped into the restaurant parking lot after lunch, I saw a pickup truck speeding through the parked vehicles. While observing the driver’s reckless behavior, I noticed the words on the truck’s front license plate. It read, “Almost Content.” After thinking about that message and the sentiment it tried to communicate, I concluded that the concept “almost content” doesn’t exist. Either we are content or we are not.
Admittedly, contentment is a tough needle to thread. We live in a world that feeds our desire for more and more—until we find it almost impossible to be content with anything. But this is nothing new. The book of Hebrews addressed this issue, saying, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (13:5). The only remedy for hearts that “want it all” is the contentment found in the presence of the living God. He is sufficient for our needs and longings, and He alone can bring us the peace and contentment we’ll never find in the pursuits of this life.
Almost content? There is no such thing. In Christ we can know true contentment.
I find contentment in His wondrous grace,
No cloud or shadow can obscure His face;
When great temptations I must bear,
I find the secret place of prayer. —Dunlop
Contentment is not getting what we want but being satisfied with what we have.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 5, 2013
Watching With Jesus
Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38
Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they “all . . . forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . .” (Acts 2:4). “They” refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our Lord had said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
That 'No Delegate' Responsibility - #6954
Thursday, September 5, 2013
One way to make a lot of money in America today is to have a good book or seminar on the subject of management, especially time management. We are management crazy! Tell me how to get more from my time, how to get more done, and get other people to do things. Well, I've got some very interesting advice and it didn't cost me a dime. It was on a wall plaque. Maybe you'll like it. In fact, consider this: You might even want to make this your new life motto as to how to manage your life. It said, "When in charge, ponder. When in trouble, delegate. When in doubt, mumble." I told you you'd want to make a life motto out of this.
Actually, as our society gets more complicated and more stressful we try to delegate more and more; things that we all used to do for ourselves years ago; at least in other generations. You know, a lot of kids used to be raised and educated at home. Then our culture got to the point where we delegated all of the education out to others. And now, the pendulum is swinging back to homeschooling.
And, most of us don't work on the farm very much any more, so we have to delegate the physical development that our children used to get doing all those chores on the farm to P.E. teachers so they don't turn into blobs. We can delegate house cleaning to other people if you've got a little money. There are people who say, "We'll take care of your lawn for you." You can delegate cooking to McDonald's. You can delegate a lot of things. There's one thing, one assignment, you actually cannot delegate.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "That 'No Delegate' Responsibility."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy chapter 6. Here we find the instructions that God gave to the Jews when they were going to have to raise their children in an atmosphere that had two challenges. Challenge number one: after having been pretty poor, now He's going to put them in an environment where they have lots; where they have plenty. They'll be affluent.
Secondly, they're going to be in the middle of a pagan culture, tempted by pagan girls, pagan guys, and pagan music. Sounds a little bit like the world in which we're raising our kids: pretty affluent culture, pretty pagan culture. Well, in that kind of a setting, God gives these instructions; couldn't be more relevant. Our word for today from the Word of God; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
You can delegate some of the education of your children, and some of their physical development; might get someone else to drive them around. But you cannot delegate this one responsibility - helping them fall in love with the Lord. That's your job if you're a mom or dad. "Love the Lord your God," and that's supposed to come through the parents. They'll teach the kids to do that. You just can't give that responsibility to any Christian school, or leader, or organization. Only a parent can get close enough to transfer a love relationship with Christ. Others can give your child information, encouragement, examples, but the buck for shaping your child's soul stops with you.
How does it happen? Well, there are two things here. First of all, there's time spent. You can tell. It says, "...as you're walking with them, sitting with them; you're there when they get up, you're there when they go to bed." We're talking about the classroom of everyday life; you have to spend that kind of time. Secondly, it happens through natural faith. "There's another person living at our house, guys." This isn't just formal devotions. You learn to love Christ as He is a real person at your house; somebody we relate to, we talk to. We talk about Him and we talk with Him in real and natural ways in the fabric of our everyday life.
Don't forget the Lord because of all the goodies of life. We fall in love with those goodies and get too busy to do our number one job. Our mission is not to create church members, or to create believers in their parent's faith. We're to raise God lovers, and that's got to begin in your own heart.
Maybe the epithet of your life will be, "He taught us to love Jesus." No one else can do that like you can.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Hebrews 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Takes His Time
Sometimes God takes His time. One-hundred and twenty years to prepare Noah for the flood. Eighty years to prepare Moses for his work. God called young David to be king, but returned him to the sheep pasture. He called Paul to be an apostle and then isolated him in Arabia for fourteen years.
How long will God take with you? His history is redeemed, not in minutes, but in lifetimes. We fear the depression will never lift, the yelling will never stop, the pain will never leave. Will this sky ever brighten? This load ever lighten?
Life in the pit stinks. Yet for all its rottenness, doesn't it do this much? Doesn't it force us to look upward? The Bible promises at the right time, in God's hands, intended evil becomes eventual good. You will get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
Hebrews 12
New International Version (NIV)
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Warning and Encouragement
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[c] 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[d]
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[e] 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”[f]
Footnotes:
Hebrews 12:6 Prov. 3:11,12 (see Septuagint)
Hebrews 12:13 Prov. 4:26
Hebrews 12:20 Exodus 19:12,13
Hebrews 12:21 See Deut. 9:19.
Hebrews 12:26 Haggai 2:6
Hebrews 12:29 Deut. 4:24
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 11:1-4
Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”
Footnotes:
Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts Our Father in heaven
Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Luke 11:4 Greek everyone who is indebted to us
Luke 11:4 Some manuscripts temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
A Special Day
September 4, 2013 — by Dave Branon
This is the day the Lord has made. —Psalm 118:24
What’s special about September 4? Perhaps it’s your birthday or anniversary. That would make it special. Or maybe you could celebrate the historic events of this day. For instance, in 1781, the city of Los Angeles, California, was founded. Or this: In 1993, Jim Abbott, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, didn’t let anyone get a hit off his pitches—and he was born without a right hand. Or if you’re a TV fan: In 1951, the first live US coast-to-coast television broadcast was aired from San Francisco.
But what if none of these events and facts seem to make your September 4 special? Try these ideas:
Today God gives you a new opportunity to praise Him. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Today God provides for you and wants your trust. “Give us day by day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3).
Today God wants to speak to you through His Word. The believers at Berea “searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11).
Today God desires to renew your inner person. “The inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).
With God as your guide, September 4—and every day—can be special.
This is the day the Lord hath made,
He calls the hours His own;
Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad,
And praise surround the throne. —Watts
Each new day gives us new reasons to praise the Lord.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 4, 2013
His!
They were Yours, You gave them to Me . . . —John 17:6
A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.
Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.”
Be entirely His!
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When the Coach Changes Your Assignment - #6953
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
My son had the privilege of playing football for one of the best coaches in our state. Now, he had six years of championship football behind him when he took over our team. And they managed to win a conference championship every season, or in some cases, they won the state championship. One of the reasons is that he was a genius at knowing what position a boy would play best. Of course the player didn't always agree with that.
I was there in the locker room on some of the days when that coach announced that he was changing a certain player's assignment. And man, there were not happy campers in the locker room. There were cries of, "Hey, I'm a tackle! Look, I'm an end. I'm a linebacker! What's he putting me in that position for?" Well, they weren't grumbling by the end of the season. By that time they were on a championship team and very often they received honors for playing the position he had assigned them to. But at the time the change was made, it didn't feel very right.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When the Coach Changes Your Assignment."
Paul's coach changed his assignment. Our word for today from the Word of God talks about it. Its Philippians 1:7; Paul is writing from prison. Here he had been out preaching, building churches, and the coach said, "I've got a new assignment for you." I don't know how the player felt, but notice he is handling it. Because he says three different things: first in verse 7, "Whether I'm in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me." First, God's grace is carrying him through his change of assignment.
Secondly in chapter 1, verse 12, he says, "I just want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." So secondly he says, "Look, the kingdom's being advanced whether I'm doing it or not." Then in chapter 1, verse 20, he's got a third source of encouragement. He said, "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." Even here, even under these circumstances, whether by life or by death.
He's saying, "Hey, look! I've got a new platform - this prison cell is a new platform, and the people here are watching me. You're watching me here. How am I handling it? It's a new platform from which to honor my Jesus.
Now, it may be that this is perfect timing for you to hear this. Maybe the coach is changing your assignment! It's the coach's right to do that you know. Players don't assign themselves. Maybe he's assigning you to a new job, or maybe he's pushing you to take on a larger responsibility than you feel ready for. Maybe, on the other hand, he's asking you to play a background, supporting role when actually you'd like want something bigger where people will see you more.
Maybe he's assigned you to a hospital bed, or a nursing home, or to some physical restrictions; to singleness. Paul handled the changes in his life with three encouragements: Number one, grace enough no matter where the assignment is. The grace always equals the assignment. Secondly, Paul had decided that it's Your kingdom come, not my kingdom come, God. And he knew that God's Kingdom would be advanced by him being where God assigned him, not where he assigned himself.
Then thirdly, that God can give you a platform anywhere from which you can glorify Christ. And so Paul is able to say in chapter 4, "I have learned wherever I am to be content, because I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Don't be afraid of the coach's assignment. He knows His players; He knows just the right spot for you. So trust the coach. He's never been wrong about anyone who plays on His team."
Sometimes God takes His time. One-hundred and twenty years to prepare Noah for the flood. Eighty years to prepare Moses for his work. God called young David to be king, but returned him to the sheep pasture. He called Paul to be an apostle and then isolated him in Arabia for fourteen years.
How long will God take with you? His history is redeemed, not in minutes, but in lifetimes. We fear the depression will never lift, the yelling will never stop, the pain will never leave. Will this sky ever brighten? This load ever lighten?
Life in the pit stinks. Yet for all its rottenness, doesn't it do this much? Doesn't it force us to look upward? The Bible promises at the right time, in God's hands, intended evil becomes eventual good. You will get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
Hebrews 12
New International Version (NIV)
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Warning and Encouragement
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[c] 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[d]
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[e] 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”[f]
Footnotes:
Hebrews 12:6 Prov. 3:11,12 (see Septuagint)
Hebrews 12:13 Prov. 4:26
Hebrews 12:20 Exodus 19:12,13
Hebrews 12:21 See Deut. 9:19.
Hebrews 12:26 Haggai 2:6
Hebrews 12:29 Deut. 4:24
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 11:1-4
Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”
Footnotes:
Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts Our Father in heaven
Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Luke 11:4 Greek everyone who is indebted to us
Luke 11:4 Some manuscripts temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
A Special Day
September 4, 2013 — by Dave Branon
This is the day the Lord has made. —Psalm 118:24
What’s special about September 4? Perhaps it’s your birthday or anniversary. That would make it special. Or maybe you could celebrate the historic events of this day. For instance, in 1781, the city of Los Angeles, California, was founded. Or this: In 1993, Jim Abbott, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, didn’t let anyone get a hit off his pitches—and he was born without a right hand. Or if you’re a TV fan: In 1951, the first live US coast-to-coast television broadcast was aired from San Francisco.
But what if none of these events and facts seem to make your September 4 special? Try these ideas:
Today God gives you a new opportunity to praise Him. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Today God provides for you and wants your trust. “Give us day by day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3).
Today God wants to speak to you through His Word. The believers at Berea “searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11).
Today God desires to renew your inner person. “The inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).
With God as your guide, September 4—and every day—can be special.
This is the day the Lord hath made,
He calls the hours His own;
Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad,
And praise surround the throne. —Watts
Each new day gives us new reasons to praise the Lord.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 4, 2013
His!
They were Yours, You gave them to Me . . . —John 17:6
A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.
Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.”
Be entirely His!
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When the Coach Changes Your Assignment - #6953
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
My son had the privilege of playing football for one of the best coaches in our state. Now, he had six years of championship football behind him when he took over our team. And they managed to win a conference championship every season, or in some cases, they won the state championship. One of the reasons is that he was a genius at knowing what position a boy would play best. Of course the player didn't always agree with that.
I was there in the locker room on some of the days when that coach announced that he was changing a certain player's assignment. And man, there were not happy campers in the locker room. There were cries of, "Hey, I'm a tackle! Look, I'm an end. I'm a linebacker! What's he putting me in that position for?" Well, they weren't grumbling by the end of the season. By that time they were on a championship team and very often they received honors for playing the position he had assigned them to. But at the time the change was made, it didn't feel very right.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When the Coach Changes Your Assignment."
Paul's coach changed his assignment. Our word for today from the Word of God talks about it. Its Philippians 1:7; Paul is writing from prison. Here he had been out preaching, building churches, and the coach said, "I've got a new assignment for you." I don't know how the player felt, but notice he is handling it. Because he says three different things: first in verse 7, "Whether I'm in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me." First, God's grace is carrying him through his change of assignment.
Secondly in chapter 1, verse 12, he says, "I just want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." So secondly he says, "Look, the kingdom's being advanced whether I'm doing it or not." Then in chapter 1, verse 20, he's got a third source of encouragement. He said, "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." Even here, even under these circumstances, whether by life or by death.
He's saying, "Hey, look! I've got a new platform - this prison cell is a new platform, and the people here are watching me. You're watching me here. How am I handling it? It's a new platform from which to honor my Jesus.
Now, it may be that this is perfect timing for you to hear this. Maybe the coach is changing your assignment! It's the coach's right to do that you know. Players don't assign themselves. Maybe he's assigning you to a new job, or maybe he's pushing you to take on a larger responsibility than you feel ready for. Maybe, on the other hand, he's asking you to play a background, supporting role when actually you'd like want something bigger where people will see you more.
Maybe he's assigned you to a hospital bed, or a nursing home, or to some physical restrictions; to singleness. Paul handled the changes in his life with three encouragements: Number one, grace enough no matter where the assignment is. The grace always equals the assignment. Secondly, Paul had decided that it's Your kingdom come, not my kingdom come, God. And he knew that God's Kingdom would be advanced by him being where God assigned him, not where he assigned himself.
Then thirdly, that God can give you a platform anywhere from which you can glorify Christ. And so Paul is able to say in chapter 4, "I have learned wherever I am to be content, because I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Don't be afraid of the coach's assignment. He knows His players; He knows just the right spot for you. So trust the coach. He's never been wrong about anyone who plays on His team."
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Lamentations 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Deliverance
You'll get through this! You fear you won't. We all do. We feel stuck, trapped, locked in. Will we ever exit this pit? Yes! Deliverance is to the Bible what jazz music is to Mardi Gras: bold, brassy, and everywhere. Out of the lion's den for Daniel, the whale's belly for Jonah, and the prison for Paul.
Through the Red Sea onto dry ground. Through the wilderness, through the valley of the shadow of death. Through! It's a favorite word of God's. Isaiah 43:2 says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned."
It won't be painless. Have you wept your final tear, received your last round of chemotherapy? Not necessarily. Does God guarantee the absence of struggle? Not in this life. We see Satan's tricks and ploys, but God sees Satan tripped and foiled. You'll get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
Lamentations 2
How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
with the cloud of his anger[e]!
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 Without pity the Lord has swallowed up
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
the strongholds of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
down to the ground in dishonor.
3 In fierce anger he has cut off
every horn[f][g] of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand
at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything around it.
4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow;
his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
all who were pleasing to the eye;
he has poured out his wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
5 The Lord is like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and destroyed her strongholds.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
for Daughter Judah.
6 He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
he has destroyed his place of meeting.
The Lord has made Zion forget
her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;
in his fierce anger he has spurned
both king and priest.
7 The Lord has rejected his altar
and abandoned his sanctuary.
He has given the walls of her palaces
into the hands of the enemy;
they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.
8 The Lord determined to tear down
the wall around Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line
and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts and walls lament;
together they wasted away.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
their bars he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations,
the law is no more,
and her prophets no longer find
visions from the Lord.
10 The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have sprinkled dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes fail from weeping,
I am in torment within;
my heart is poured out on the ground
because my people are destroyed,
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away
in their mothers’ arms.
13 What can I say for you?
With what can I compare you,
Daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
that I may comfort you,
Virgin Daughter Zion?
Your wound is as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?
14 The visions of your prophets
were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.
15 All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;
they scoff and shake their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?”
16 All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you;
they scoff and gnash their teeth
and say, “We have swallowed her up.
This is the day we have waited for;
we have lived to see it.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled his word,
which he decreed long ago.
He has overthrown you without pity,
he has let the enemy gloat over you,
he has exalted the horn[h] of your foes.
18 The hearts of the people
cry out to the Lord.
You walls of Daughter Zion,
let your tears flow like a river
day and night;
give yourself no relief,
your eyes no rest.
19 Arise, cry out in the night,
as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger
at every street corner.
20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,
the children they have cared for?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 “Young and old lie together
in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
have fallen by the sword.
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
you have slaughtered them without pity.
22 “As you summon to a feast day,
so you summoned against me terrors on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived;
those I cared for and reared
my enemy has destroyed.”
Footnotes:
Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will
Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 5:18,37-47
18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[b]?
45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
Footnotes:
John 5:39 Or 39 Study
John 5:44 Some early manuscripts the Only One
Not Interested In Religion
September 3, 2013 — by Anne Cetas
How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! —Matthew 23:37
A radio ad for a church caught my attention: “Because you’ve heard about Christianity, you might not be interested in religion. Well, it might surprise you—Jesus wasn’t interested in religion either. But He was big on relationship and teaching us to love one another.” It continued, “You may not like everything about our church, but we offer authentic relationship, and we’re learning to love God and each other. You’re welcome to visit.”
This church may have overstated things about Jesus and religion because Scripture does speak of “true religion” in James 1:27 as helpful deeds toward others. But Jesus did have difficulties with religious people of His day. He said the Pharisees, guided by tradition and rules not by love for the Lord, “outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside [they] are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:28). They didn’t have the love of God in their hearts (John 5:42). Jesus wanted relationship with them, but they were “not willing to come to [Him]” (v.40).
If being “religious” means following a set of rules so we can look good—instead of enjoying a relationship with the Savior—Jesus isn’t interested. He offers forgiveness and love to all who want an intimate relationship with Him.
True religion is to know
The love that Christ imparts;
True religion is to show
This love to burdened hearts. —D. DeHaan
There is a longing in every heart that only Jesus can satisfy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 3, 2013
Pouring Out the Water of Satisfaction
He would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord —2 Samuel 23:16
What has been like “water from the well of Bethlehem” to you recently— love, friendship, or maybe some spiritual blessing ( 2 Samuel 23:16 )? Have you taken whatever it may be, even at the risk of damaging your own soul, simply to satisfy yourself? If you have, then you cannot pour it out “to the Lord.” You can never set apart for God something that you desire for yourself to achieve your own satisfaction. If you try to satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you. You must sacrifice it, pouring it out to God— something that your common sense says is an absurd waste.
How can I pour out “to the Lord” natural love and spiritual blessings? There is only one way— I must make a determination in my mind to do so. There are certain things other people do that could never be received by someone who does not know God, because it is humanly impossible to repay them. As soon as I realize that something is too wonderful for me, that I am not worthy to receive it, and that it is not meant for a human being at all, I must pour it out “to the Lord.” Then these very things that have come to me will be poured out as “rivers of living water” all around me (John 7:38). And until I pour these things out to God, they actually endanger those I love, as well as myself, because they will be turned into lust. Yes, we can be lustful in things that are not sordid and vile. Even love must be transformed by being poured out “to the Lord.”
If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you hoarded it. Yet if you had poured it out to Him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. If you are always keeping blessings to yourself and never learning to pour out anything “to the Lord,” other people will never have their vision of God expanded through you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Somebody Bigger - #6952
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
When I was growing up, we had a bully in our neighborhood. Maybe every neighborhood has a bully? I don't know. Ours was named Boomer! Nobody knew what his real name was, and if we did we probably would know why he was called Boomer. It kind of sounds like a neighborhood bully doesn't it? He intimidated us little kids, I'll tell you. I think it was his hobby, and honestly we were pretty scared of him. He'd come and take our baseball paraphernalia and call us names and threaten to beat us up.
One day, like a lot of other days, he started after me and started to threaten and make noises like he wanted to hurt me. And all of a sudden there was a voice behind him saying, "Boomer, go home" and he did. It wasn't me. No, my Dad had arrived on the scene. And you know what? He was bigger than Boomer, even though Boomer was bigger than I was. Now, Boomer was the same bully, and I was the same shrimp, but the difference was there was somebody bigger with me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Somebody Bigger."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 1:23. And if this sounds like part of the Christmas Story, it is. But the Christmas Story isn't just for Christmas. This is all about when God came to earth, which is the beginning of the greatest news of all time. The angel is talking to Joseph and says, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means 'God with us'."
Now, hold that thought for just a minute. There was a survey a few years ago that mapped the position of hundreds of millions of galaxies. The survey revealed that the large scale structure of this universe and it uncovered this giant string of galaxies that they now call the The Sloan Great Wall. They say its 1.4 billion light years across, which makes it the largest structure in the universe. I can't even begin to comprehend it! Why don't we just laugh? There's no point in trying to understand it.
The astronomers said it has raised such profound questions about the origin and the structure of the universe that we actually need a major national observatory just to study it. They say and I quote, "The size of the structure indicates that in present theories of the universe, something is really wrong. That makes a big difference" the astronomer said. "No known force could produce a structure this big in the time since the universe was formed." And I just want to say, "Oh yeah?"
Well, it is that God who is with us because Jesus came. The Creator of something that's 1.4 billion light years across (and that's just a few of the galaxies) - where is He now? Well, He came into the world and looked helpless as a little baby. He wasn't even able to grab His mother's finger, but those are the hands that created the world. He created the tree He died on. And now, that God is with you right where you are. He's there with all the power that made galaxies that big, and that power is available for your life.
There's no excuse for an ordinary life if God is with you. There's no excuse for having small goals, for being embarrassed about your relationship with Him. That God is with you now. There's no excuse for being afraid of anything that God is calling you to do, because that God will be with you.
Maybe you've felt like a victim most of your life, but that's changed now because God is with you. You're alone, you're worried about the future, or you're facing Mission Impossible. God with us! The excitement of life is in looking for that God where He is in your everyday life today. And, by the way, if you have never begun a personal relationship made possible with Him by the death of His Son, Jesus, on the cross for you, why would you wait another day to get started? Would you join me at our website and let me show you how to begin that relationship? You could just go to ANewStory.com.
The angel said on that Christmas announcement, "This is good news to all people - God is with us." It doesn't matter how big the bully is. He's nothing! Because somebody is bigger with you, so let Him intimidate your bully."
You'll get through this! You fear you won't. We all do. We feel stuck, trapped, locked in. Will we ever exit this pit? Yes! Deliverance is to the Bible what jazz music is to Mardi Gras: bold, brassy, and everywhere. Out of the lion's den for Daniel, the whale's belly for Jonah, and the prison for Paul.
Through the Red Sea onto dry ground. Through the wilderness, through the valley of the shadow of death. Through! It's a favorite word of God's. Isaiah 43:2 says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned."
It won't be painless. Have you wept your final tear, received your last round of chemotherapy? Not necessarily. Does God guarantee the absence of struggle? Not in this life. We see Satan's tricks and ploys, but God sees Satan tripped and foiled. You'll get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
Lamentations 2
How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
with the cloud of his anger[e]!
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 Without pity the Lord has swallowed up
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
the strongholds of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
down to the ground in dishonor.
3 In fierce anger he has cut off
every horn[f][g] of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand
at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything around it.
4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow;
his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
all who were pleasing to the eye;
he has poured out his wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
5 The Lord is like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and destroyed her strongholds.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
for Daughter Judah.
6 He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
he has destroyed his place of meeting.
The Lord has made Zion forget
her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;
in his fierce anger he has spurned
both king and priest.
7 The Lord has rejected his altar
and abandoned his sanctuary.
He has given the walls of her palaces
into the hands of the enemy;
they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.
8 The Lord determined to tear down
the wall around Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line
and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts and walls lament;
together they wasted away.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
their bars he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations,
the law is no more,
and her prophets no longer find
visions from the Lord.
10 The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have sprinkled dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes fail from weeping,
I am in torment within;
my heart is poured out on the ground
because my people are destroyed,
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away
in their mothers’ arms.
13 What can I say for you?
With what can I compare you,
Daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
that I may comfort you,
Virgin Daughter Zion?
Your wound is as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?
14 The visions of your prophets
were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.
15 All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;
they scoff and shake their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?”
16 All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you;
they scoff and gnash their teeth
and say, “We have swallowed her up.
This is the day we have waited for;
we have lived to see it.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled his word,
which he decreed long ago.
He has overthrown you without pity,
he has let the enemy gloat over you,
he has exalted the horn[h] of your foes.
18 The hearts of the people
cry out to the Lord.
You walls of Daughter Zion,
let your tears flow like a river
day and night;
give yourself no relief,
your eyes no rest.
19 Arise, cry out in the night,
as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger
at every street corner.
20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,
the children they have cared for?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 “Young and old lie together
in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
have fallen by the sword.
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
you have slaughtered them without pity.
22 “As you summon to a feast day,
so you summoned against me terrors on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived;
those I cared for and reared
my enemy has destroyed.”
Footnotes:
Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will
Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 5:18,37-47
18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[b]?
45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
Footnotes:
John 5:39 Or 39 Study
John 5:44 Some early manuscripts the Only One
Not Interested In Religion
September 3, 2013 — by Anne Cetas
How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! —Matthew 23:37
A radio ad for a church caught my attention: “Because you’ve heard about Christianity, you might not be interested in religion. Well, it might surprise you—Jesus wasn’t interested in religion either. But He was big on relationship and teaching us to love one another.” It continued, “You may not like everything about our church, but we offer authentic relationship, and we’re learning to love God and each other. You’re welcome to visit.”
This church may have overstated things about Jesus and religion because Scripture does speak of “true religion” in James 1:27 as helpful deeds toward others. But Jesus did have difficulties with religious people of His day. He said the Pharisees, guided by tradition and rules not by love for the Lord, “outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside [they] are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:28). They didn’t have the love of God in their hearts (John 5:42). Jesus wanted relationship with them, but they were “not willing to come to [Him]” (v.40).
If being “religious” means following a set of rules so we can look good—instead of enjoying a relationship with the Savior—Jesus isn’t interested. He offers forgiveness and love to all who want an intimate relationship with Him.
True religion is to know
The love that Christ imparts;
True religion is to show
This love to burdened hearts. —D. DeHaan
There is a longing in every heart that only Jesus can satisfy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 3, 2013
Pouring Out the Water of Satisfaction
He would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord —2 Samuel 23:16
What has been like “water from the well of Bethlehem” to you recently— love, friendship, or maybe some spiritual blessing ( 2 Samuel 23:16 )? Have you taken whatever it may be, even at the risk of damaging your own soul, simply to satisfy yourself? If you have, then you cannot pour it out “to the Lord.” You can never set apart for God something that you desire for yourself to achieve your own satisfaction. If you try to satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you. You must sacrifice it, pouring it out to God— something that your common sense says is an absurd waste.
How can I pour out “to the Lord” natural love and spiritual blessings? There is only one way— I must make a determination in my mind to do so. There are certain things other people do that could never be received by someone who does not know God, because it is humanly impossible to repay them. As soon as I realize that something is too wonderful for me, that I am not worthy to receive it, and that it is not meant for a human being at all, I must pour it out “to the Lord.” Then these very things that have come to me will be poured out as “rivers of living water” all around me (John 7:38). And until I pour these things out to God, they actually endanger those I love, as well as myself, because they will be turned into lust. Yes, we can be lustful in things that are not sordid and vile. Even love must be transformed by being poured out “to the Lord.”
If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you hoarded it. Yet if you had poured it out to Him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. If you are always keeping blessings to yourself and never learning to pour out anything “to the Lord,” other people will never have their vision of God expanded through you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Somebody Bigger - #6952
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
When I was growing up, we had a bully in our neighborhood. Maybe every neighborhood has a bully? I don't know. Ours was named Boomer! Nobody knew what his real name was, and if we did we probably would know why he was called Boomer. It kind of sounds like a neighborhood bully doesn't it? He intimidated us little kids, I'll tell you. I think it was his hobby, and honestly we were pretty scared of him. He'd come and take our baseball paraphernalia and call us names and threaten to beat us up.
One day, like a lot of other days, he started after me and started to threaten and make noises like he wanted to hurt me. And all of a sudden there was a voice behind him saying, "Boomer, go home" and he did. It wasn't me. No, my Dad had arrived on the scene. And you know what? He was bigger than Boomer, even though Boomer was bigger than I was. Now, Boomer was the same bully, and I was the same shrimp, but the difference was there was somebody bigger with me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Somebody Bigger."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 1:23. And if this sounds like part of the Christmas Story, it is. But the Christmas Story isn't just for Christmas. This is all about when God came to earth, which is the beginning of the greatest news of all time. The angel is talking to Joseph and says, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means 'God with us'."
Now, hold that thought for just a minute. There was a survey a few years ago that mapped the position of hundreds of millions of galaxies. The survey revealed that the large scale structure of this universe and it uncovered this giant string of galaxies that they now call the The Sloan Great Wall. They say its 1.4 billion light years across, which makes it the largest structure in the universe. I can't even begin to comprehend it! Why don't we just laugh? There's no point in trying to understand it.
 |
| Sloan Great Wall |
The astronomers said it has raised such profound questions about the origin and the structure of the universe that we actually need a major national observatory just to study it. They say and I quote, "The size of the structure indicates that in present theories of the universe, something is really wrong. That makes a big difference" the astronomer said. "No known force could produce a structure this big in the time since the universe was formed." And I just want to say, "Oh yeah?"
Well, it is that God who is with us because Jesus came. The Creator of something that's 1.4 billion light years across (and that's just a few of the galaxies) - where is He now? Well, He came into the world and looked helpless as a little baby. He wasn't even able to grab His mother's finger, but those are the hands that created the world. He created the tree He died on. And now, that God is with you right where you are. He's there with all the power that made galaxies that big, and that power is available for your life.
There's no excuse for an ordinary life if God is with you. There's no excuse for having small goals, for being embarrassed about your relationship with Him. That God is with you now. There's no excuse for being afraid of anything that God is calling you to do, because that God will be with you.
Maybe you've felt like a victim most of your life, but that's changed now because God is with you. You're alone, you're worried about the future, or you're facing Mission Impossible. God with us! The excitement of life is in looking for that God where He is in your everyday life today. And, by the way, if you have never begun a personal relationship made possible with Him by the death of His Son, Jesus, on the cross for you, why would you wait another day to get started? Would you join me at our website and let me show you how to begin that relationship? You could just go to ANewStory.com.
The angel said on that Christmas announcement, "This is good news to all people - God is with us." It doesn't matter how big the bully is. He's nothing! Because somebody is bigger with you, so let Him intimidate your bully."
Monday, September 2, 2013
Lamentations 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotional
Max Lucado Daily: A Mess for Good
Twenty years of marriage, three kids, and now he’s gone. Traded her in for a younger model. She told me her story, and we prayed. Then I said, “It won’t be painless or quick. But God will use this mess for good. With God’s help you’ll get through this.”
Remember Joseph? Genesis 37:4 says his brothers “hated him.” Far from home, they cast him into a pit, leaving him for dead. A murderous cover-up from the get go. Pits have no easy exit. Joseph’s story got worse before it got better. Yet in his explanation we find his inspiration: “You meant evil against me,” he said, “but God meant it for good. . .” The very acts intended to destroy God’s servant, turned out to strengthen him. The same will be said about you. You will get through this!
From You’ll Get Through This
Lamentations 1
How deserted lies the city,
once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.
2 Bitterly she weeps at night,
tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.
3 After affliction and harsh labor,
Judah has gone into exile.
She dwells among the nations;
she finds no resting place.
All who pursue her have overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to her appointed festivals.
All her gateways are desolate,
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she is in bitter anguish.
5 Her foes have become her masters;
her enemies are at ease.
The Lord has brought her grief
because of her many sins.
Her children have gone into exile,
captive before the foe.
6 All the splendor has departed
from Daughter Zion.
Her princes are like deer
that find no pasture;
in weakness they have fled
before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
there was no one to help her.
Her enemies looked at her
and laughed at her destruction.
8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly
and so has become unclean.
All who honored her despise her,
for they have all seen her naked;
she herself groans
and turns away.
9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
she did not consider her future.
Her fall was astounding;
there was none to comfort her.
“Look, Lord, on my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed.”
10 The enemy laid hands
on all her treasures;
she saw pagan nations
enter her sanctuary—
those you had forbidden
to enter your assembly.
11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they barter their treasures for food
to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering
that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
in the day of his fierce anger?
13 “From on high he sent fire,
sent it down into my bones.
He spread a net for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
faint all the day long.
14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke[b];
by his hands they were woven together.
They have been hung on my neck,
and the Lord has sapped my strength.
He has given me into the hands
of those I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord has rejected
all the warriors in my midst;
he has summoned an army against me
to[c] crush my young men.
In his winepress the Lord has trampled
Virgin Daughter Judah.
16 “This is why I weep
and my eyes overflow with tears.
No one is near to comfort me,
no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
because the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
that his neighbors become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
an unclean thing among them.
18 “The Lord is righteous,
yet I rebelled against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
look on my suffering.
My young men and young women
have gone into exile.
19 “I called to my allies
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
perished in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.
20 “See, Lord, how distressed I am!
I am in torment within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,
for I have been most rebellious.
Outside, the sword bereaves;
inside, there is only death.
21 “People have heard my groaning,
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
they rejoice at what you have done.
May you bring the day you have announced
so they may become like me.
22 “Let all their wickedness come before you;
deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my sins.
My groans are many
and my heart is faint.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Nehemiah 2:1-8
Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem
2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.
Cupbearer To The King
September 2, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
Why is your face sad? . . . What do you request? —Nehemiah 2:2,4
One of my favorite Bible passages that applies to work is Nehemiah 1–2. King Artaxerxes’ employee Nehemiah had been such an exemplary worker that the king wanted to honor him by helping him when he was sad that Jerusalem was still in ruins. He asked Nehemiah, “Why is your face sad? . . . What do you request?” (2:2,4). He wasn’t just any worker for the king, he was the cupbearer, the man who tasted the king’s drink to protect him from being poisoned. In order to have earned such a position, he apparently worked hard and honored God in everything he did. And the king granted his requests.
God cares about the way we work. Colossians 3:23 tells us, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” We can follow Nehemiah’s example in these ways: Be such a competent and trusted worker that God is honored (Neh. 1:11–2:6). Care passionately about others and what’s important to them. Take action, occasionally even risky action, to honor what’s important to God and to fellow believers (2:3-6).
When we honor God in work, our employers may notice. But even if they don’t, our heart’s desire and purpose should be to honor the One we really serve—the Lord our God (Col. 3:17,23).
O Lord, may the way I serve tell Your story!
I want to bring You all the glory in my work,
at home, and everywhere I go. Fill me and use
me to bless others and honor You today.
God honors faith because faith honors God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 2, 2013
A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow . . . —John 7:38
Jesus did not say, “He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God,” but, in essence, “He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him.” Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all.
When Mary of Bethany “broke the flask . . . of very costly oil . . . and poured it on [Jesus’] head,” it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, “. . . there were some who . . . said, ’Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ ” (Mark 14:3-4). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said, “. . . wherever this gospel is preached . . . what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:9). Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did— not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son “that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him?
“He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. Now is the time for us to break “the flask” of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Baseball, Steroids and Starting Over - #6951
Monday, September 2, 2013
Our sons were - and are - crazy about baseball. Now our grandsons are. They know the players, the standings, and the stats. Did I mention they're crazy about baseball? They are. But dark clouds have again rolled in over America's baseball stadiums, because they've been more reports that some stars, who are a lot of kids' heroes, cheated to be great.
PED? That's not the initials for some new government program. It's a performance-enhancing steroid. Yes, it's against the rules of baseball to have it in your system. But, hey, it's all about winning, right? In professional sports, the bucks are big, the pressure is big, the temptations are big.
But no one's bigger than the rules. Breaking them may help you win the game, but at a pretty high price. You trade your priceless character for some cheap victories. Your accomplishments aren't really you - they're you plus the drugs. What could have been the Hall of Fame is overshadowed by the Hall of Shame.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Baseball, Steroids and Starting Over."
Before we put on our black robe to judge some baseball players, maybe we should look in the mirror. See, I'm a very goal-oriented person. I know if you've got a goal, somewhere you're going to be tempted to compromise to get there, because we're all susceptible to that "win, no matter what" drumbeat of our culture. We all want to win in business. We want to have "super kids" so we'll be "super-parents." We want to get the girl, or we want to land the guy. Whatever our arena, we're driven to come out on top, no matter what the cost to our family, our integrity, our health, our future. If "winning" means backstabbing, stepping on people, neglecting people, breaking promises, lying, betraying - hey, it's all about winning, right? It's all about getting to our big goal, right?
No, it's all about your soul; your character, who you are, not what you accomplish. It's about giving the game your very best, but without regrets, without compromises, without betraying trust or leaving a trail of tears. After all, who can afford the most costly trade there is: gaining the world in exchange for your soul?
That's why integrity's so important. The Bible says, "The integrity of the upright guides them." See, your integrity's like a missile's internal guidance system - guaranteeing that you stay on course and then reaching your target. So even if I "lose," I really win. My soul was not on sale to get to success. That integrity Bible verse concludes by saying, "but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." Whatever I might gain by compromising, I have so much more to lose.
I've had some disturbingly sad conversations with folks who were nearing the end of their life; people trying to come to terms with some haunting regrets about what - or who - they sacrificed to succeed. Sadly, there are no 'do-overs'. But I'll tell you this: I am profoundly grateful there is forgiveness. In our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 130:3, a man who had terribly failed his God, his family and his followers wrote: "If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness."
Listen, it's not cheap to have every sin of your past erased from God's book. It takes blood, but not mine, not yours. In God's words, "The blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). All sin! However heinous, however hurtful; covered by the payment made for it when Jesus hung on a cross for it.
I invite you, if you have never had that cleaning take place; that internal cleansing; the forgiving of God for every wrong thing you've ever done, let this be the day you come to Jesus who died so that could happen and give you to Him. Let me encourage you to go to our website, and there I'd love to join you and show you exactly how to begin this relationship with Him. Go to ANewStory.com.
And once you've embraced Him as the Forgiver of my sin, He gives you the grace to retrace your regrets to work to restore what - or who - you've hurt. Because Jesus said, "I make all things new (Revelation 21:5)."
Twenty years of marriage, three kids, and now he’s gone. Traded her in for a younger model. She told me her story, and we prayed. Then I said, “It won’t be painless or quick. But God will use this mess for good. With God’s help you’ll get through this.”
Remember Joseph? Genesis 37:4 says his brothers “hated him.” Far from home, they cast him into a pit, leaving him for dead. A murderous cover-up from the get go. Pits have no easy exit. Joseph’s story got worse before it got better. Yet in his explanation we find his inspiration: “You meant evil against me,” he said, “but God meant it for good. . .” The very acts intended to destroy God’s servant, turned out to strengthen him. The same will be said about you. You will get through this!
From You’ll Get Through This
Lamentations 1
How deserted lies the city,
once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.
2 Bitterly she weeps at night,
tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.
3 After affliction and harsh labor,
Judah has gone into exile.
She dwells among the nations;
she finds no resting place.
All who pursue her have overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to her appointed festivals.
All her gateways are desolate,
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she is in bitter anguish.
5 Her foes have become her masters;
her enemies are at ease.
The Lord has brought her grief
because of her many sins.
Her children have gone into exile,
captive before the foe.
6 All the splendor has departed
from Daughter Zion.
Her princes are like deer
that find no pasture;
in weakness they have fled
before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
there was no one to help her.
Her enemies looked at her
and laughed at her destruction.
8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly
and so has become unclean.
All who honored her despise her,
for they have all seen her naked;
she herself groans
and turns away.
9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
she did not consider her future.
Her fall was astounding;
there was none to comfort her.
“Look, Lord, on my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed.”
10 The enemy laid hands
on all her treasures;
she saw pagan nations
enter her sanctuary—
those you had forbidden
to enter your assembly.
11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they barter their treasures for food
to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering
that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
in the day of his fierce anger?
13 “From on high he sent fire,
sent it down into my bones.
He spread a net for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
faint all the day long.
14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke[b];
by his hands they were woven together.
They have been hung on my neck,
and the Lord has sapped my strength.
He has given me into the hands
of those I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord has rejected
all the warriors in my midst;
he has summoned an army against me
to[c] crush my young men.
In his winepress the Lord has trampled
Virgin Daughter Judah.
16 “This is why I weep
and my eyes overflow with tears.
No one is near to comfort me,
no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
because the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
that his neighbors become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
an unclean thing among them.
18 “The Lord is righteous,
yet I rebelled against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
look on my suffering.
My young men and young women
have gone into exile.
19 “I called to my allies
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
perished in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.
20 “See, Lord, how distressed I am!
I am in torment within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,
for I have been most rebellious.
Outside, the sword bereaves;
inside, there is only death.
21 “People have heard my groaning,
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
they rejoice at what you have done.
May you bring the day you have announced
so they may become like me.
22 “Let all their wickedness come before you;
deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my sins.
My groans are many
and my heart is faint.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Nehemiah 2:1-8
Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem
2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.
Cupbearer To The King
September 2, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
Why is your face sad? . . . What do you request? —Nehemiah 2:2,4
One of my favorite Bible passages that applies to work is Nehemiah 1–2. King Artaxerxes’ employee Nehemiah had been such an exemplary worker that the king wanted to honor him by helping him when he was sad that Jerusalem was still in ruins. He asked Nehemiah, “Why is your face sad? . . . What do you request?” (2:2,4). He wasn’t just any worker for the king, he was the cupbearer, the man who tasted the king’s drink to protect him from being poisoned. In order to have earned such a position, he apparently worked hard and honored God in everything he did. And the king granted his requests.
God cares about the way we work. Colossians 3:23 tells us, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” We can follow Nehemiah’s example in these ways: Be such a competent and trusted worker that God is honored (Neh. 1:11–2:6). Care passionately about others and what’s important to them. Take action, occasionally even risky action, to honor what’s important to God and to fellow believers (2:3-6).
When we honor God in work, our employers may notice. But even if they don’t, our heart’s desire and purpose should be to honor the One we really serve—the Lord our God (Col. 3:17,23).
O Lord, may the way I serve tell Your story!
I want to bring You all the glory in my work,
at home, and everywhere I go. Fill me and use
me to bless others and honor You today.
God honors faith because faith honors God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 2, 2013
A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow . . . —John 7:38
Jesus did not say, “He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God,” but, in essence, “He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him.” Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all.
When Mary of Bethany “broke the flask . . . of very costly oil . . . and poured it on [Jesus’] head,” it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, “. . . there were some who . . . said, ’Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ ” (Mark 14:3-4). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said, “. . . wherever this gospel is preached . . . what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:9). Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did— not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son “that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him?
“He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. Now is the time for us to break “the flask” of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Baseball, Steroids and Starting Over - #6951
Monday, September 2, 2013
Our sons were - and are - crazy about baseball. Now our grandsons are. They know the players, the standings, and the stats. Did I mention they're crazy about baseball? They are. But dark clouds have again rolled in over America's baseball stadiums, because they've been more reports that some stars, who are a lot of kids' heroes, cheated to be great.
PED? That's not the initials for some new government program. It's a performance-enhancing steroid. Yes, it's against the rules of baseball to have it in your system. But, hey, it's all about winning, right? In professional sports, the bucks are big, the pressure is big, the temptations are big.
But no one's bigger than the rules. Breaking them may help you win the game, but at a pretty high price. You trade your priceless character for some cheap victories. Your accomplishments aren't really you - they're you plus the drugs. What could have been the Hall of Fame is overshadowed by the Hall of Shame.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Baseball, Steroids and Starting Over."
Before we put on our black robe to judge some baseball players, maybe we should look in the mirror. See, I'm a very goal-oriented person. I know if you've got a goal, somewhere you're going to be tempted to compromise to get there, because we're all susceptible to that "win, no matter what" drumbeat of our culture. We all want to win in business. We want to have "super kids" so we'll be "super-parents." We want to get the girl, or we want to land the guy. Whatever our arena, we're driven to come out on top, no matter what the cost to our family, our integrity, our health, our future. If "winning" means backstabbing, stepping on people, neglecting people, breaking promises, lying, betraying - hey, it's all about winning, right? It's all about getting to our big goal, right?
No, it's all about your soul; your character, who you are, not what you accomplish. It's about giving the game your very best, but without regrets, without compromises, without betraying trust or leaving a trail of tears. After all, who can afford the most costly trade there is: gaining the world in exchange for your soul?
That's why integrity's so important. The Bible says, "The integrity of the upright guides them." See, your integrity's like a missile's internal guidance system - guaranteeing that you stay on course and then reaching your target. So even if I "lose," I really win. My soul was not on sale to get to success. That integrity Bible verse concludes by saying, "but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." Whatever I might gain by compromising, I have so much more to lose.
I've had some disturbingly sad conversations with folks who were nearing the end of their life; people trying to come to terms with some haunting regrets about what - or who - they sacrificed to succeed. Sadly, there are no 'do-overs'. But I'll tell you this: I am profoundly grateful there is forgiveness. In our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 130:3, a man who had terribly failed his God, his family and his followers wrote: "If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness."
Listen, it's not cheap to have every sin of your past erased from God's book. It takes blood, but not mine, not yours. In God's words, "The blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). All sin! However heinous, however hurtful; covered by the payment made for it when Jesus hung on a cross for it.
I invite you, if you have never had that cleaning take place; that internal cleansing; the forgiving of God for every wrong thing you've ever done, let this be the day you come to Jesus who died so that could happen and give you to Him. Let me encourage you to go to our website, and there I'd love to join you and show you exactly how to begin this relationship with Him. Go to ANewStory.com.
And once you've embraced Him as the Forgiver of my sin, He gives you the grace to retrace your regrets to work to restore what - or who - you've hurt. Because Jesus said, "I make all things new (Revelation 21:5)."
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