Job 21 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The Lord is My Shepherd

We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way. Forget the best way. Forget God’s way.  We want to do things our way. And according Isaiah 53:6, that’s precisely our problem. “We all have wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.”

Sheep are dumb. Ever see sheep tricks? Know anyone who has ever taught his sheep to roll over? No, sheep are just too dumb. Instead of “the Lord is my shepherd,” couldn’t David  have thought of a better metaphor than sheep? How about “The Lord is my commander in chief, and I am his warrior!”

When David, who was a warrior, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd.  He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep day and night. David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” And in so doing he proudly implied, “I am His sheep.”

From Traveling Light

Job 21

Then Job replied:

2 “Listen carefully to my words;
    let this be the consolation you give me.
3 Bear with me while I speak,
    and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 “Is my complaint directed to a human being?
    Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled;
    clap your hand over your mouth.
6 When I think about this, I am terrified;
    trembling seizes my body.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?
8 They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;
    the rod of God is not on them.
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
    their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They send forth their children as a flock;
    their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their years in prosperity
    and go down to the grave in peace.[c]
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    We have no desire to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What would we gain by praying to him?’
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
17 “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
    How often does calamity come upon them,
    the fate God allots in his anger?
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
    like chaff swept away by a gale?
19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’
    Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;
    let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind
    when their allotted months come to an end?
22 “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
    since he judges even the highest?
23 One person dies in full vigor,
    completely secure and at ease,
24 well nourished in body,[d]
    bones rich with marrow.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
    never having enjoyed anything good.
26 Side by side they lie in the dust,
    and worms cover them both.
27 “I know full well what you are thinking,
    the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,
    the tents where the wicked lived?’
29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
    Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30 that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
    that they are delivered from[e] the day of wrath?
31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?
    Who repays them for what they have done?
32 They are carried to the grave,
    and watch is kept over their tombs.
33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them;
    everyone follows after them,
    and a countless throng goes[f] before them.
34 “So how can you console me with your nonsense?
    Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

Job 21:13 Or in an instant
Job 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Job 21:30 Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to
Job 21:33 Or them, / as a countless throng went


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Proverbs 4:20-27

My son, pay attention to what I say;
    turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
    keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
    and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
    keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
    fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the[a] paths for your feet
    and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
    keep your foot from evil.
Footnotes:

Proverbs 4:26 Or Make level

Insight
The book of Proverbs had several contributing authors, but most of the wisdom found here was written by King Solomon. In the opening nine chapters, Solomon specifically instructs his son (and sometimes his sons) regarding the wisdom that would help him engage life in a meaningful way. Some of the themes of these chapters include the value of wisdom, the necessity of faith, the peril of deceitful women, and the danger of foolishness. Beginning in chapter 10, the book becomes a collection of general wise sayings.

Heart Matters

By Poh Fang Chia

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. —Proverbs 4:23

Our hearts pump at a rate of 70-75 beats per minute. Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day. Every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back. A healthy heart can do amazing things. Conversely, if our heart malfunctions, our whole body shuts down.

The same could be said of our “spiritual heart.” In Scripture, the word heart represents the center of our emotions, thinking, and reasoning. It is the “command center” of our life.

So when we read, “Keep your heart with all diligence” (Prov. 4:23), it makes a lot of sense. But it’s difficult advice to keep. Life will always make demands upon our time and energy that cry out for immediate attention. By comparison, taking time to hear God’s Word and to do what it says may not shout quite so loudly. We may not notice the consequences of neglect right away, but over time it may give way to a spiritual heart attack.

I’m thankful God has given us His Word. We need His help not to neglect it, but to use it to align our hearts with His every day.

Dear Jesus, take my heart and hand,
And grant me this, I pray:
That I through Your sweet love may grow
More like You day by day. —Garrison
To keep spiritually fit, consult the Great Physician.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 05, 2014

Liberty and the Standards of Jesus

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free . . . —Galatians 5:1
A spiritually-minded person will never come to you with the demand—”Believe this and that”; a spiritually-minded person will demand that you align your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39-40). We are called to present liberty for the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and opinions. And if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty— the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.

Always measure your life solely by the standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one true liberty— the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.

Don’t get impatient with others. Remember how God dealt with you— with patience and with gentleness. But never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, “Go . . . and make disciples. . .” (Matthew 28:19), not, “Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.”


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Young People Leading the Charge - #7127

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

It's really hard for me to drive by Civil War battlefields without stopping. I'm a history buff, and I like to stop at those things! Now, when I say Civil War, I might have to explain that to some of my friends, because if you grew up in the South, they say there was nothing civil about it. It was the War Between the States. At least that's what they taught my wife at her school. One of the battlefields that I've driven by a lot is in New Market, Virginia.
I've had cause to drive by there several times on other trips. I finally had the opportunity to stop and find out what went on there. It was a time of desperate days for the confederacy. It was 1864, and Ulysses S. Grant was making an all-out push to try to take the Shenandoah Valley, and then Richmond, the capitol of the confederacy. And the Union Army had failed to do that five times.
One part of the army was to move down the Shenandoah Valley, which is where New Market is. Now, General Breckenridge was in charge of some confederate troops. He was a former Vice President of the United States believe it or not; now a Confederate Commander. He ordered the students from Virginia Military Institute (VMI), to march three days and help resist the Union advance. They hadn't used students before to be in the army, but these were pretty desperate days. There were a lot of teenagers in that army. They said, "They'll hear from the institute today." You know what? They did. At a very decisive moment in the battle, these kids charged into the Union lines and drove them back. The South won the battle at New Market that day.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Young People Leading the Charge."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 2:17. A very exciting verse. God says that the greatest spirit outpouring in history will take place just before Jesus comes back. We could be getting close to it now. Here's what it says: "In the last days I will pour out My Spirit on all people." I want you to notice next who's in the lead in this great spiritual offensive. "Your sons and daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams."
Now, you know what this sounds like to me? Young people will be helping to lead the last great Holy Spirit movement, with the older generation sharing their vision and cheering them on. Now, if you're young, it's time for you to step up to spiritual responsibility. Haven't you been a taker long enough, drinking in all the Christian stuff? Isn't it time you became a giver? You've gone to the meetings long enough. You need to get a mission, not just go to a lot more meetings. You need to be making a difference.
It's time for some young people who will commit themselves to tell about Jesus to the people who need to know that in order to be in heaven with you. You need to get involved in some needs in your town. Don't make your life a "selfie" life. There's so many needs around. Go meet those needs in your town in Jesus' name. This isn't any time to be sitting around waiting for someone to entertain you in a concert or a retreat or conference or Christian meeting.
I mean, you'd be insulted if someone tried to get a baby sitter for you at your age, right? You're too old to be spiritually "baby-sat". So don't wait for an adult to get young people praying. You do it. Don't wait for an adult to plan an outreach. You do it. Don't wait for an adult to start a Christian club or to start a mission emphasis. You do it.
If you're older than young, like I am, be sure you're doing all you can to create a climate and to create a church where young people are valued, and trusted, and challenged. Over two-thirds of the people who ever come to Christ do it by the age of 18. The church has no more urgent priority mission than its' young people and the young people around your church who don't even know about Christ yet.
So, if you're tuned in to the General's final strategy, you're either going to be a young person on the front lines or an older person encouraging young people to be in spiritual leadership. The most important spiritual battles in history are shaping up right now, right before our eyes, and the outcome may very well be determined by young people leading that charge.

Job 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:

God—Our Shepherd

God, our Shepherd, doesn’t check the weather—He makes it! He doesn’t defy gravity—He created it. Jesus said, “God is Spirit.”  He has no limitations. Unchanging. Uncaused. Ungoverned. Don’t we need this kind of shepherd?

You don’t need to carry the burden of a lesser god. A god on a shelf, a god in a box, or a god in a bottle. No, you need a God who can place 100-billion stars in our galaxy, and 100-billion galaxies in the universe. A God who can shape two fists of flesh into 75 to 100 billion nerve cells, each with as many as 10,000 connections to other nerve cells, place it in a skull, and call it a brain. And you have one.  He is your shepherd!

From Traveling Light

Job 20

Zophar

Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
    because I am greatly disturbed.
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
    and my understanding inspires me to reply.
4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old,
    ever since mankind[a] was placed on the earth,
5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
    the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
6 Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens
    and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will perish forever, like his own dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
    banished like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;
    his place will look on him no more.
10 His children must make amends to the poor;
    his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones
    will lie with him in the dust.
12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth
    and he hides it under his tongue,
13 though he cannot bear to let it go
    and lets it linger in his mouth,
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
    it will become the venom of serpents within him.
15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
    God will make his stomach vomit them up.
16 He will suck the poison of serpents;
    the fangs of an adder will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
    the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
    he has seized houses he did not build.
20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
    he cannot save himself by his treasure.
21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
    his prosperity will not endure.
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
    the full force of misery will come upon him.
23 When he has filled his belly,
    God will vent his burning anger against him
    and rain down his blows on him.
24 Though he flees from an iron weapon,
    a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
25 He pulls it out of his back,
    the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him;
26     total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire unfanned will consume him
    and devour what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
    the earth will rise up against him.
28 A flood will carry off his house,
    rushing waters[b] on the day of God’s wrath.
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
    the heritage appointed for them by God.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Jeremiah 9:23-26

This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
    or the strong boast of their strength
    or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[a] For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

Footnotes:

Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads

Insight
Circumcision was the external sign that the Israelites were God’s covenantal people (Gen. 17:10-14). But circumcision was not exclusive to them, for it was widely practiced in the ancient world, including among the Egyptian and Canaanite peoples (Jer. 9:26). Although the Jews knew it was a symbol of their covenant with God, few, if any, understood the need for a spiritual operation on the heart (Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4; Acts 7:51). A humble and obedient heart was what God wanted from His people (Lev. 26:41; Deut. 30:6; Jer. 9:24; Rom. 2:29). God warned that He would punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit (Jer. 9:25).

Who Gets The Credit?

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me. —Jeremiah 9:24

Chris Langan has an IQ higher than Albert Einstein’s. Moustafa Ismail has 31-inch biceps and can lift 600 pounds. Bill Gates is estimated to be worth billions. Those who have extraordinary abilities or possessions might be tempted to think more highly of themselves than they should. But we don’t have to be wildly smart, strong, or wealthy to want to take credit for our achievements. Any size of accomplishment carries with it this question: Who will get the credit?

During a time of judgment, God spoke to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah. He said: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches” (Jer. 9:23). Rather, “Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me” (v.24). God wanted His people to prize Him and His excellence above anything else.

If we allow praise to inflate our self-image, we’re forgetting that “every good gift . . . comes down from the Father” (James 1:17). It’s better to give God the glory—not only because it protects our hearts from pride but also because He rightfully deserves it. He is God, the One “who does great things . . . marvelous things without number” (Job 5:9).

Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted;
Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard;
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action;
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word. —Whiddington
We were created to give God the glory.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 05, 2014

Judgment and the Love of God

The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God . . . —1 Peter 4:17
The Christian servant must never forget that salvation is God’s idea, not man’s; therefore, it has an unfathomable depth. Salvation is the great thought of God, not an experience. Experience is simply the door through which salvation comes into the conscious level of our life so that we are aware of what has taken place on a much deeper level. Never preach the experience— preach the great thought of God behind the experience. When we preach, we are not simply proclaiming how people can be saved from hell and be made moral and pure; we are conveying good news about God.

In the teachings of Jesus Christ the element of judgment is always brought out— it is the sign of the love of God. Never sympathize with someone who finds it difficult to get to God; God is not to blame. It is not for us to figure out the reason for the difficulty, but only to present the truth of God so that the Spirit of God will reveal what is wrong. The greatest test of the quality of our preaching is whether or not it brings everyone to judgment. When the truth is preached, the Spirit of God brings each person face to face with God Himself.

If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account. Every element of our own self-reliance must be put to death by the power of God. The moment we recognize our complete weakness and our dependence upon Him will be the very moment that the Spirit of God will exhibit His power.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Four Lessons From the Search for the Missing Plane - #7126

Monday, May 5, 2014

Where is Malaysia Air 370 and its 239 passengers? That question obsessed people around the world and in the news for day after day after day. I can't remember a time when so many nations (I think there were 26 at some point) mounted such a huge search-and-rescue effort across such a wide swath of the world. It was incredible. Why?
Well, to search for and, if possible, try to save the people who were lost.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Four Lessons From the Search for the Missing Plane."
As I was watching the unfolding news...and praying at that time, God seemed to say to me, "There's something else I want you to see here, Ron." Suddenly I was hearing in my heart the words of Jesus. He said, "I've come to seek and to save what is lost" (Luke 19:10).
Then it hit me. Jesus has launched a search-and-rescue force from every corner of the globe to seek and save hijacked lives heading for an unthinkable destination. His worldwide rescue force is His Church; His people from "every nation, tribe...and language" (Revelation 7:9).
As ships and planes and computers were searching for that missing plane, they were looking by "grids." In other words, each one had its own assigned stretch of ocean or land to cover. That's like the rescue forces of Christ. Each of us who follows Christ has our assigned "grid." And it's the spiritually dying people who are in our own circle of influence. There's so much ground to cover; so many eternities in the balance. The only way every unbeliever is going to have a chance at Jesus is if every believer is a rescuer.
Now our word for today from the Word of God asks these haunting questions in Romans 10:14. "How can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?" The life-saving mission of my Jesus compels me to consider those questions in light of the people I know. "How can __________ hear about Him (in my case) unless Ron tells them?"
Neighbors. Coworkers. Facebook friends. Family. Social acquaintances. They're the "grid" where the Great Rescuer has assigned me and you to "seek and to save." And the desperate search that dominated our headlines for that missing plane has a lot to teach us about our rescue assignment from Jesus.
1. Seek them - We can't expect those who are lost to show up where we are. We have to go where they are, taking that eternity-changing news of Jesus outside the walls of the church. Showing up with Jesus at the office, the gym, the club, the store, the game, and the hospital.
2. Deploy every means possible. They put out ships and planes and computers to find the missing plane - every conceivable tool for the mission. We who know the eternal stakes of our life-saving mission can do no less. Social networks. Websites. Acts of kindness. Fervent prayer. Intentional relationships. Paul said, "That by all possible means, I might save some" (1 Corinthians 9:23).
3. Work together - The Malaysian Air search depended on people from different backgrounds coming together for a cause larger than their differences. Our failure to do so as the rescue force of Jesus is costing lives.
4. Time is lives - That's what a Chinese official said about delays in that search. You know, that must echo God's heart as His rescuers focus on themselves while lost people just keep slipping away into an awful eternity.
I answer and you answer to the Final Orders of Jesus - as does every child of God. "Go and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere" (Mark 16:15, NLT). It's the passion of His heart. It must be mine.

Matthew 10:21-42 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God Calls the Shots

Every time Satan sets out to score for evil, he ends up scoring a point for good.  Consider Paul.  Satan hoped prison would silence his pulpit, and it did, but it also unleashed his pen.  The letters to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians were all written in a jail cell.

Satan is the Colonel Klink of the Bible.  Remember Klink? He was the fall guy for Hogan on the television series, Hogan’s Heroes. Klink supposedly ran a German POW camp during World War 2. Those inside the camp, however, knew better. They knew who really ran the camp:  the prisoners. They listened to Klink’s calls and read his mail. They even gave Klink ideas, all the while using him for their own cause.

Over and over the Bible makes it clear who really runs the earth. Satan may strut and prance, but it is God who calls the shots.

from The Great House of God

Matthew 10:21-42
New International Version (NIV)
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[b]
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Footnotes:

Matthew 10:29 Or will; or knowledge
Matthew 10:36 Micah 7:6


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

Insight
For centuries, the Jewish community of faith had called to memory God’s provision of their deliverance out of bondage in Egypt. This memorial was celebrated through the Passover meal (Ex. 12:1-28). A roasted lamb, unleavened bread, wine, bitter herbs, and other items helped them remember their salvation from slavery. In our reading today, we see how our Lord took that sacred feast and transformed it into a memorial of His own sacrificial death (see Luke 22:19).

Tears Of Gratitude

By Bill Crowder

You proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. —1 Corinthians 11:26

At a communion service my wife and I attended, the congregation was invited to come forward to receive the bread and cup from one of the pastors or elders. They told each one personally of Jesus’ sacrifice for him or her. It was an especially moving experience during what can often become just routine. After we returned to our seats, I watched as others slowly and quietly filed past. It was striking to see how many had tears in their eyes. For me, and for others I talked with later, they were tears of gratitude.

The reason for tears of gratitude is seen in the reason for the communion table itself. Paul, after instructing the church at Corinth about the meaning of the memorial supper, punctuated his comments with these powerful words: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). With the elements of communion pointing directly to the cross and the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, that service was about so much more than ritual—it was about Christ. His love. His sacrifice. His cross. For us.

How inadequate words are to convey the extraordinary worth of Christ! Sometimes tears of gratitude speak what words can’t fully express.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all. —Watts
The love Christ showed for us on the cross is greater than words could ever express.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 04, 2014

Vicarious Intercession

. . having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . —Hebrews 10:19
Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.”

Spiritual stubbornness is the most effective hindrance to intercession, because it is based on a sympathetic “understanding” of things we see in ourselves and others that we think needs no atonement. We have the idea that there are certain good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the atonement by the Cross of Christ. Just the sluggishness and lack of interest produced by this kind of thinking makes us unable to intercede. We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others, and we get irritated with Him. Yet we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies. We have to realize that the identification of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.

Am I stubborn or substituted? Am I spoiled or complete in my relationship to God? Am I irritable or spiritual? Am I determined to have my own way or determined to be identified with Him?


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

No One to Welcome - #7121

If you want to make friends fast in an airport sometime, just stand there with a big Welcome Home banner. Well, we were contacted by a young woman who had been part of our Native American work in the past. She was going through a time of severe struggle and she really wanted to turn things around. So she asked us if she could come and spend some recovery time with our team in New Jersey. We'd been praying for her, so we were wide open to her coming.
Well, we scrambled to find a way to get an airplane ticket for her, and we decided to try to let her know how special she was by giving her this special airport welcome. We got some colorful helium balloons, we got a bright Welcome Home banner, and five of us stationed ourselves at the end of the concourse that she was scheduled to come in on. It was really funny to watch the reactions of these expressionless arriving passengers. And suddenly they see that sign, and they're laughing, they're waving, they're thanking us as if the welcome party was for them. It was fun...until we saw the last flight attendant coming down the concourse with no other passengers coming behind her. See, the person we'd come to welcome? She never came.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No One to Welcome."
Even though she wasn't on the plane, of course we still prayed for that young woman to follow through and to leave the dark situation she was in. It's a pretty sad feeling when you prepare a big welcome and the one you did it for never comes. Jesus knows that feeling. He's prepared a Welcome Home, an expensive welcome for some people who've never come - maybe you.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:41, "As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, 'If you'd only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it's hidden from your eyes. You did not recognize the time of God's coming.'" Now that scene, that feeling has been repeated many times since then as someone Jesus has been inviting to have a relationship with Him has been too busy or too disinterested to respond.
He actually weeps over those who do not respond to His love, because of what He wants to do for them. He said, "If you had only known what would bring you peace." Could it be that the peace that has eluded you for so long is peace that only God's Son can give you? Could it be there's never been peace because there's never been room for Jesus?
I know how sad I felt when the person we worked to bring home never came. Imagine how Jesus feels when someone He died for doesn't come. The Bible clearly spells out the uncomfortable fact that we are all on death row spiritually. We've sinned against the God who made us. We've insisted on living our way instead of His way. And the Bible says, "The soul that sins will die." Life here without God and His love, and then a life forever without God and His love and no pain relievers to cover the pain, except for the loving intervention of God's Son, Jesus.
The Bible declares "Christ died for our sins." For your sins. We did the sinning, but Jesus did the dying. And having purchased your rescue with His blood, He holds up a banner for you - Welcome Home. He's been holding it for a long time, waiting for you to come to Him in faith, telling Him you're putting your total trust in Him for a relationship with God. But you haven't come home, and someday you won't be able to. The banner will be gone; the open arms will be gone. But today you can still come.
You want to get started with Him? You want to come home to the One you were made for? If you want to begin that personal relationship with Jesus today, let me encourage you to visit our website, ANewStory.com. It will help you get the rest of the way home. That's ANewStory.com. It's time to say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
Too many times the banner's been up and Jesus has been waiting for you and you didn't come. Please, come today. Make this the day when you finally experience the wonderful "Welcome Home" of Jesus Christ.

Job 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Tell the Truth


Our dislike for the truth began at age three when mom walked in our rooms and asked, “Did you hit your little brother?” We knew then and there that honesty had its consequences.  “Did I hit baby brother?  Well, that all depends on how you interpret the word hit.”

We want our bosses to like us, so we flatter. God calls it a lie. We want people to admire us, so we exaggerate.  God calls it a lie.  We want people to respect us, so we live in houses we can’t afford and charge bills we can’t pay.  God calls it living a lie.

The cure for deceit is simply this: face the music. The ripple of today’s lie is tomorrow’s wave and next year’s flood.

Be just like Jesus.  Tell the truth!

from Just Like Jesus

Job 19

Then Job replied:

2 “How long will you torment me
    and crush me with words?
3 Ten times now you have reproached me;
    shamelessly you attack me.
4 If it is true that I have gone astray,
    my error remains my concern alone.
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
    and use my humiliation against me,
6 then know that God has wronged me
    and drawn his net around me.
7 “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;
    though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
    he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my honor
    and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
    he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me;
    he counts me among his enemies.
12 His troops advance in force;
    they build a siege ramp against me
    and encamp around my tent.
13 “He has alienated my family from me;
    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away;
    my closest friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;
    they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
    though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
    I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even the little boys scorn me;
    when I appear, they ridicule me.
19 All my intimate friends detest me;
    those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.[b]
21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
    for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
    Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on[c] lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my redeemer[d] lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.[e]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet[f] in[g] my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me!
28 “If you say, ‘How we will hound him,
    since the root of the trouble lies in him,[h]’
29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
    for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
    and then you will know that there is judgment.[i]”

Job 19:20 Or only by my gums
Job 19:24 Or and
Job 19:25 Or vindicator
Job 19:25 Or on my grave
Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then
Job 19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from
Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me
Job 19:29 Or sword, / that you may come to know the Almighty


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 107:1-16

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.[a]
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
    and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
    to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
    prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
    and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
    they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
    and cuts through bars of iron.
Footnotes:

Psalm 107:3 Hebrew north and the sea

He Changed My Life

By David C. McCasland

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy. —Psalm 107:2

Following the death of computer pioneer Steve Jobs in 2011, more than one million people from around the world posted tributes to him online. The common theme was how Jobs had changed their lives. They said they lived differently because of his creative innovations, and they wanted to express their appreciation and their sorrow. The screen of one tablet computer said in large letters: iSad.

Gratitude fuels expression, which is exactly what Psalm 107 describes: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (v.2). The theme of this psalm is people in great trouble who were delivered by the Lord. Some were homeless and in need (vv.4-5); some had rebelled against God’s Word (vv.10-11); others were at their wits’ end when they cried out to God (vv.26-27). All were rescued by God. “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (vv.8,15,21,31).

When we consider the greatness of God’s love, His grace in sending Jesus Christ to die for us and rise again, and what He has delivered us from, we cannot keep from praising Him and wanting to tell others how He changed our lives!

O God, my heart is filled with praise for all that You
have done for me. You have changed the focus
and purpose of my life because You sent Your Son.
Thank You.
Our gratitude to God for salvation fuels our witness to others.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 03, 2014

Vital Intercession

. . . praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . . —Ephesians 6:18
As we continue on in our intercession for others, we may find that our obedience to God in interceding is going to cost those for whom we intercede more than we ever thought. The danger in this is that we begin to intercede in sympathy with those whom God was gradually lifting up to a totally different level in direct answer to our prayers. Whenever we step back from our close identification with God’s interest and concern for others and step into having emotional sympathy with them, the vital connection with God is gone. We have then put our sympathy and concern for them in the way, and this is a deliberate rebuke to God.

It is impossible for us to have living and vital intercession unless we are perfectly and completely sure of God. And the greatest destroyer of that confident relationship to God, so necessary for intercession, is our own personal sympathy and preconceived bias. Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will. It is sympathy with ourselves or with others that makes us say, “I will not allow that thing to happen.” And instantly we are out of that vital connection with God.

Vital intercession leaves you with neither the time nor the inclination to pray for your own “sad and pitiful self.” You do not have to struggle to keep thoughts of yourself out, because they are not even there to be kept out of your thinking. You are completely and entirely identified with God’s interests and concerns in other lives. God gives us discernment in the lives of others to call us to intercession for them, never so that we may find fault with them.

Job 18, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:

Drop Some Stuff

God has a great race for you to run. Under His care you'll go where you have never been and serve in ways you've never dreamed. But you have to drop some stuff.
How can you share grace if you're full of guilt? How can you offer comfort if you're disheartened. How can you lift someone else's load if your arms are full with your own? For the sake of those you love-travel light. For the sake of the God you serve, travel light. For the sake of your own joy, travel light.
There are weights in life you simply cannot carry. Set them down and trust Him. I can't overstate God's promise in 1 Peter 5:7: "Unload all your worries onto Him, since He is looking after you."
What do you say we take God up on His offer? We might find ourselves traveling a little lighter.
From Traveling Light

Job 18

Bildad

Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 “When will you end these speeches?
    Be sensible, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we regarded as cattle
    and considered stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
    is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?
    Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

5 “The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out;
    the flame of his fire stops burning.
6 The light in his tent becomes dark;
    the lamp beside him goes out.
7 The vigor of his step is weakened;
    his own schemes throw him down.
8 His feet thrust him into a net;
    he wanders into its mesh.
9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare holds him fast.
10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground;
    a trap lies in his path.
11 Terrors startle him on every side
    and dog his every step.
12 Calamity is hungry for him;
    disaster is ready for him when he falls.
13 It eats away parts of his skin;
    death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
14 He is torn from the security of his tent
    and marched off to the king of terrors.
15 Fire resides[a] in his tent;
    burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.
16 His roots dry up below
    and his branches wither above.
17 The memory of him perishes from the earth;
    he has no name in the land.
18 He is driven from light into the realm of darkness
    and is banished from the world.
19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
    no survivor where once he lived.
20 People of the west are appalled at his fate;
    those of the east are seized with horror.
21 Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;
    such is the place of one who does not know God.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Ezra 9:5-9

Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God 6 and prayed:

“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place[a] in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
Footnotes:

    Ezra 9:8 Or a foothold

Insight
In the midst of the joy of God’s grace in allowing a remnant to return to their homeland, Ezra mourned. He mourned because the people of Israel were not only physically distant from God, but spiritually distant as well. Yet God in His grace did more than enable the physical return of the remnant; He also preserved a spiritual remnant. Upon hearing the law of God, the people recommitted themselves to Him (Ezra 10:1-4).

Tree Of Rest

By Julie Ackerman Link

There is a remnant according to the election of grace. —Romans 11:5



The lone tree in the field across from my office remained a mystery. Acres of trees had been cut down so the farmer could grow corn. But one tree remained standing, its branches reaching up and spreading out. The mystery was solved when I learned the tree was spared for a purpose. Farmers long ago traditionally left one tree standing so that they and their animals would have a cool place to rest when the hot summer sun was beating down.

At times we find that we alone have survived something, and we don’t know why. Soldiers coming home from combat and patients who’ve survived a life-threatening illness struggle to know why they survived when others did not.

The Old Testament speaks of a remnant of Israelites whom God spared when the nation was sent into exile. The remnant preserved God’s law and later rebuilt the temple (Ezra 9:9). The apostle Paul referred to himself as part of the remnant of God (Rom. 11:1,5). He was spared to become God’s messenger to Gentiles (v.13).

If we stand where others have fallen, it’s to raise our hands to heaven in praise and to spread our arms as shade for the weary. The Lord enables us to be a tree of rest for others.
Thank You, Father, that You are my place of rest.
And that all You have brought me through
can be used by You to encourage others.
Bring praise to Yourself through me.
Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 02, 2014

The Patience To Wait for the Vision

Though it tarries, wait for it . . . —Habakkuk 2:3



Patience is not the same as indifference; patience conveys the idea of someone who is tremendously strong and able to withstand all assaults. Having the vision of God is the source of patience because it gives us God’s true and proper inspiration. Moses endured, not because of his devotion to his principles of what was right, nor because of his sense of duty to God, but because he had a vision of God. “. . . he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). A person who has the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue— he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it. Things come to you with greatness and add vitality to your life because everything is energized by God. He may give you a time spiritually, with no word from Himself at all, just as His Son experienced during His time of temptation in the wilderness. When God does that, simply endure, and the power to endure will be there because you see God.

“Though it tarries, wait for it . . . .” The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have already grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. The psalmist said, “What shall I render to the Lord . . . ? I will take up the cup of salvation . . .” (Psalm 116:12-13). We are apt to look for satisfaction within ourselves and say, “Now I’ve got it! Now I am completely sanctified. Now I can endure.” Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. Paul said, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on . . .” (Philippians 3:12). If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing. But if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of spiritual relaxation.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Ultimate Outrage - #7125

Friday, May 2, 2014

Our dog, Missy, was easily entertained. We just threw her a plastic bottle. This was accidentally discovered one day when a two-liter soda bottle fell on the floor in the kitchen. She pounced on it, grabbed the bottle in her mouth, and shook it viciously. You could tell from three rooms away that she was fighting with one of those bottles, because she would throw it in the air and then try to catch it with her nose. And then it ended up bouncing all over the kitchen. You should have seen her ten minutes later. She's sprawled lifelessly on the floor; a blob of fur, totally exhausted from that fight with a plastic bottle. It's amazing how much energy she put into a battle that just didn't matter.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Ultimate Outrage."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 2:4. God says, "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer." Actually that word in the Greek language that the Bible was written in? It's prágmatas, or the pragmatics. You don't get all tied up or involved in the pragmatics of life; the little mechanics. No plastic bottle wars, no little battles for a soldier who's in Jesus' army.
In fact, here's the mission. Two verses earlier in verse 2 it says, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." In other words, your mission is passing on the gospel that was passed on to you. The number one battle is the battle for people's eternal souls. A Jesus soldier is supposed to focus on that battle like your Jesus did.
Now, Christians today get excited over many bottles... excuse me, battles. For example, there are conservative talk show hosts whose books and programs are always really hot, and people are intrigued with those. Some of those are amusing, some are articulate, and their views on moral and political issues are right up the alley of a lot of us believers. And everywhere I go I'm hearing Christians talking excitedly about the latest programs. "Hey, did you hear what he said last night?" And they have great power to get their viewers and listeners all up-in-arms over things that are happening in Washington.
In fact, after decades of being politically passive, (and I've lived through that period of time) Christians are putting a great deal of energy now into fighting public policy battles, and lifestyle battles. We spend a lot of time on trying to get conservative candidates elected. We want to get some social trends stopped, and some that probably should be. We want to get prayer back in schools. In most cases, they're very worthy causes. But they're just not the ultimate battle, because they do not address the ultimate outrage.
Ezekiel 33:8, "When I say to the wicked, 'Oh wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin and I will hold you accountable for his blood." God thinks that the ultimate outrage is when a person who is created in His image ends up spending eternity without Him - lost; eternity in hell perhaps because one of us did not warn them. That outweighs any other issue.
The early believers got that. I mean, it was the time of Nero, and slavery, and aborted babies, and violence, and murder as a public sport. But you don't find them spending much time or energy demonstrating about those social issues. That wasn't what they fought for. The early Christians believed that the gospel of Christ was the most powerful force for social change in the world; more than friendly politicians, more than marchers, more than laws.
Listen, it's right to take a Christlike stand on the moral issues of our day. But we dare not lose sight of the one cause that has forever consequences. We need to be sure that the best of our time, the best of our energy, and our money, and our enthusiasm is marshaled against the ultimate outrage. That the reaching of the lost with the love of Jesus be the one cause that consumes us most.
Remember, if we're going to get exhausted in battle, let's do it for the battles that matter the most; that matter forever.

Job 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Travel Light

I've never been one to travel light. I've tried. Believe me, I've tried. I'm prepared. I'm prepared for a baby dedication or costume party. Prepared to parachute behind enemy lines. And, if perchance, the Dalai Lama might be on my flight and invite me to dine in Tibet, I carry snowshoes. I need to learn to travel light!
Haven't you been known to pick up a few bags? The suitcase of guilt. A sack of discontent. An overnight bag of loneliness and a trunk of fear. A hanging bag of grief. No wonder you're so tired at the end of the day.
God's saying to you, "Set that stuff down.  You're carrying burdens you don't need to bear." "Come to Me," He invites, "all of you who're weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
If we let Him-God will lighten our loads!
From Traveling Light

Job 17

My spirit is broken,
    my days are cut short,
    the grave awaits me.
2 Surely mockers surround me;
    my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
    Who else will put up security for me?
4 You have closed their minds to understanding;
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward,
    the eyes of their children will fail.

6 “God has made me a byword to everyone,
    a man in whose face people spit.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;
    my whole frame is but a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,
    and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

10 “But come on, all of you, try again!
    I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered.
    Yet the desires of my heart
12 turn night into day;
    in the face of the darkness light is near.
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,
    if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
14 if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope—
    who can see any hope for me?
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?
    Will we descend together into the dust?”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Matthew 8:1-4

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Footnotes:

    Matthew 8:2 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.

Insight
Some biblical scholars say that of all the Gospel writers Matthew seems to have been the most concerned with presenting events in chronological order. If that’s correct, then the context of the event in today’s text is critical to our understanding. Directly prior to this encounter with a leper, Jesus presented His “Sermon on the Mount” (Matt. 5–7). In that timeless message, Christ detailed a challenging, lofty kingdom ethic of loving, caring, and serving. Now, confronted by this leper, Jesus lived out His own teaching by demonstrating love and compassion for one whose disease had absolutely marginalized him (8:1-4). Jesus not only taught these truths, He lovingly modeled them as well.

“If You Are Willing”

By Anne Cetas

Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. —Matthew 8:2



Molly wanted her dad’s help, but she was afraid to ask. She knew that when he was working on his computer, he didn’t want to be interrupted. He might get upset at me, she thought, so she didn’t ask him.

We need not have such fears when we come to Jesus. In Matthew 8:1-4, we read about a leper who didn’t hesitate to interrupt Jesus with his needs. His disease made him desperate—he had been ostracized from society and was in emotional distress. Jesus was busy with “great multitudes,” but the leper made his way through the crowd to talk with Jesus.

Matthew’s gospel says that the leper came and “worshiped Him” (v.2). He approached Jesus in worship, with trust in His power, and with humility, acknowledging that the choice to help belonged to Jesus. He said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean” (v.2). In compassion, Jesus touched him (leprosy had made him “untouchable” by the standards of Jewish law), and he was cleansed immediately.

Like the leper, we don’t need to hesitate to approach Jesus with our desire for His help. As we go to Him in humility and worship, we can trust that He will make the best choices for us.
What an example this leper is to me, Lord. Give me
a heart of worship, of confidence in Your power, and
of trust that when I bring my needs to You, You’ll
make the best choice. May I surrender to Your will.
Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy. —Hebrews 4:16


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 01, 2014

Faith— Not Emotion

We walk by faith, not by sight —2 Corinthians 5:7

For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time. A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are to do it with an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because we have been born from above.

If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.” How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears to me”? He will never do it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!” Never live for those exceptional moments— they are surprises. God will give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life— our work is our standard.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Cold War, Missing Plane - How to Find an Anchor - #7124

Thursday, May 1, 2014

I should have saved my DVRs of the Winter Olympics. I liked the news from Russia a lot better when it was about the Olympics. As soon as the fireworks in Sochi ended, the fireworks in Ukraine began. And suddenly part of Ukraine is part of Russia. Hello? And with Russia flexing its expansionist muscles on the world's stage again, I'm hearing those two words again that I haven't heard for a long time - Cold War.
See, the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine, well that's maybe just a beginning. It feels uncomfortably familiar and potentially explosive. It doesn't help that a Russian anchorman (who reportedly is President Putin's "favorite") was on State-controlled TV recently with a mushroom cloud as his backdrop. He was announcing, literally, Russia is the only country capable of turning the U.S. into (in his words) "radioactive ash." That's not what you want to watch right before bedtime.
I'm Ron Hutchraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Cold War, Missing Plane - How to Find an Anchor."
Some of this feels like the opening act of a world that's growing even more unstable and more dangerous as time goes by. You know when that Malaysian jetliner went missing, that didn't help. The longer it was "unfindable," the more troubling suspicions grew.
More and more people were calling this kind of a grim reminder of one of the realities of the new terrorism, where airplanes become weapons. Overall, It's a disturbing time in the world.
There's new talk of a Cold War standoff with a resurgent Russia; rekindled fears of a terrorism that seared our souls not very long ago. And then the growing prospect of weapons of mass destruction in some pretty scary hands. Increasingly, it feels like one little spark could send things spinning out of control; our control anyway. So I turned off the news and I reached for my Bible.
I read where David, the revered Jewish king, asked this question, "What can we do when the foundations are being destroyed?" Well I'll tell you, with so many "foundations" shaking these days, that's a good question right now.
Here's our word for today from the Word of God. The answer in Psalm 11:3-4, "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne." At first, that didn't sound like it answered the questions. But then I realized I was reading about the one unmoving anchor when everything else is up for grabs.
Things might be out of our control. Yeah, they are. But they're never out of God's control. Nations may fall. Evil men can plot and even succeed. The doctor may stun us with bad news. The finances may seem impossible. The funeral may seem like the end. Our family may look hopeless. But God has not vacated the throne from which the universe is governed. Proverbs 19:21 says, "It is the Lord's purpose that prevails"
You know, I was scared to death when I was on my first big roller coaster as a kid. And pretty sure I was going to die at the age of nine. I was jerking every which-way. We were defying gravity. It seemed like we were out of control. But not out of control, because the whole time that car was flying all over, it was attached to the tracks and headed for a safe destination.
I'm not at the mercy of a roller coaster world. I am loved by the God who rules the galaxies; whose plans can't be derailed. I'm not afraid. However wild the ride, things are still on track.
The Bible says in the greatest insurance policy in the universe, "Who will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Which causes me to ask you to consider today what unloseable source of security do you have that is divorce-proof, terror-proof, recession-proof, unemployment-proof, death-proof? The Bible says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." And this man who loved you enough to die for your sins was powerful enough to walk out of His grave, is the one sure thing in a rapidly changing and deteriorating world.
If you do not belong to Him...if you're not sure you do, get that settled today. Our website's there to actually help you do that. And I'm just going to invite you to check it out today ANewStory.com. Because "He's got the whole world in His hands."

Matthew 10:1-20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God Wants Your List

God not only wants the mistakes we have made-He wants the ones we are making. Are you drinking too much? Are you cheating at work or cheating at marriage? Mismanaging your life? Don't pretend nothing's wrong. The first step after a stumble must be in the direction of the cross.
1 John 1:9 promises, "If we confess our sins to God, He can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away."
Start with your bad moments. And while you're there, give God your "mad" moments. There's a story about a man bitten by a dog. When he learned the dog had rabies, he began a list. The doctor said, "there's no need to make a will-you'll be fine." "Oh I'm not making a will," he said, "I'm making a list of all the people I want to bite!" God wants your list!  He wants you to leave it at the cross.
From He Chose the Nails

Matthew 10:1-20

New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Footnotes:

    Matthew 10:8 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Hebrews 4:1-11

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.[a] 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”[b]

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”[c] 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”[d]

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[e] just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Footnotes:

    Hebrews 4:2 Some manuscripts because those who heard did not combine it with faith
    Hebrews 4:3 Psalm 95:11; also in verse 5
    Hebrews 4:4 Gen. 2:2
    Hebrews 4:7 Psalm 95:7,8
    Hebrews 4:10 Or labor

Insight
In today’s passage we read: “But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (v.2). The word translated “mixed” means to “comingle, to unite one thing with another.” The promises of God were proclaimed, but only those who believed and acted upon the promise profited by them.

Too Late

By Dave Branon

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. —Hebrews 4:1



It happens nearly every semester. I tell my freshman college writing class often that they need to keep up with the numerous writing assignments in order to pass the class. But nearly every semester some don’t believe me. They’re the ones who send me frantic emails after the last day of class and give me their reasons for not taking care of business. I hate to do it, but I have to tell them, “I’m sorry. It’s too late. You have failed the class.”

That’s bad enough when you’re a college freshman and you realize you’ve just wasted a couple thousand dollars. But there is a far more serious, more permanent finality that comes at the end of life if people haven’t taken care of business with God about their sin. In those cases, if people die without having put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, they face an eternity without Him.

What a terrible moment it would be to stand before the Savior Himself and hear Him say, “I never knew you; depart from Me!” (Matt. 7:23). The author of Hebrews warns us to make sure we don’t “come short” (4:1) of the eternal rest offered by God. The good news is that it’s not too late. Today Jesus freely offers to us salvation and forgiveness through Him.
If you’d like to know the love of God the Father,
Come to Him through Jesus Christ, His loving Son;
He’ll forgive your sins and save your soul forever,
And you’ll love forevermore this faithful One. —Felten
Calvary reveals the seriousness of our sin and the vastness of God’s love.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Spontaneous Love

Love suffers long and is kind . . . —1 Corinthians 13:4



Love is not premeditated—it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul’s description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, “Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe.” No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don’t deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it. And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there. The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past.

The fountains from which love flows are in God, not in us. It is absurd to think that the love of God is naturally in our hearts, as a result of our own nature. His love is there only because it “has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5).

If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we really don’t love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us. And when we look back, we will not be able to determine why we did certain things, but we can know that we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God exhibits itself in this spontaneous way because the fountains of His love are in the Holy Spirit.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Volcano Scars - #7123

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I grew up in Illinois. It's hard to find high mountains there. I think the highest in the state was like 2,000 feet. So, man, when I go west, "Whew!" impressed by the mountains. And as my friend from the Rockies pointed out, what we called mountains were nothing more than glorified hills.
See, Colorado has what they call the Fourteeners - mountain peaks over 14,000 feet. And Ecuador, in the city of Quito, they have Antisana. It's 18,000 feet tall! And the tallest mountain I've ever seen! But Antisana used to be 28,000 feet high. (So much for Colorado's "Fourteeners"). It was a volcano and it blew its top one day. And although the eruption only lasted a short time, the damage has been forever.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Volcano Scars."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 12:18. It says, "Reckless words pierce like a sword." Wow! That is the awesome power of our angry, irresponsible, thoughtless words. Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death." Now, we can say things that make a person feel more alive or more dead inside. You've had that happen to you, right? When we're angry, I think we're like that volcano. We erupt, we spew out our lava, and we often blow away a piece of the other person...if not ourselves. And every one of us carries around parts of us that have been mortally wounded by something someone said to us in anger. We know how it hurts. We know the lasting damage it can do. They may have forgotten it; we never have. Those are volcano scars.
So why do we do this to other people, and why especially do we do it to the people we love the most. The Bible pays a high tribute to a person who's under control. Proverbs 16:32, "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who conquers a city." Wow! I mean, that's real manhood. He can control his temper; more powerful than conquering a city.
If you're tired of erupting and tired of leaving volcano scars, maybe it's time to follow the steps to becoming an extinct volcano. Number one, confess your anger. Confess your reckless words as the sin that they are. Bring that to Jesus' cross and treat it as some of the ugly sin that killed our Savior. And confess it as well to the victims of your anger.
Number two, don't let the lava build up. Deal with issues right away. Number three, make yourself listen; make yourself ask questions before you speak. James 1:19 says, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger." If you listen, if you hear the whole thing, if you understand it, you'll be slower to anger. Number four, don't say anything at all until you're under control. And the fifth step to becoming an extinct volcano is to make Jesus Christ the Lord of the raging animal inside you.
The uncontrollable parts of us are constant reminders that we need a Savior. You give it to Him for this new day. If volcanoes could think, maybe they'd think twice about blowing their top. The volcano might reason, "You know, maybe I'll feel better for a while, but is it worth blowing away a part of myself?" And in our relationships is it worth blowing away a part of another person I love?
If you think about it, we know it's not worth it. "The tongue (remember) has the power of life, it has the power of death." And it says, "reckless words pierce like a sword." Haven't we left enough volcano scars?

Job 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: You Are Included

It's nice to be included. You aren't always. Universities exclude you if you aren't smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren't qualified enough, and sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren't good enough. But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of His love, He stretched one hand to the right and the other hand to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know He died loving you.
Surely there has to be a limit to this love. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But David, the adulterer, never found it. Paul, the murderer, never found it. Peter, the liar, never found it. When it came to life they hit bottom. But when it came to God's love they never did.
How wide is God's love?  Wide enough for the whole world. And you are included!
From He Chose the Nails

Job 16

Then Job replied:

2 “I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters, all of you!
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?
4 I also could speak like you,
    if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
    and shake my head at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
    comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

6 “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
    and if I refrain, it does not go away.
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;
    you have devastated my entire household.
8 You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
    my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.
9 God assails me and tears me in his anger
    and gnashes his teeth at me;
    my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.
10 People open their mouths to jeer at me;
    they strike my cheek in scorn
    and unite together against me.
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
    and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
    he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
13     his archers surround me.
Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
    and spills my gall on the ground.
14 Again and again he bursts upon me;
    he rushes at me like a warrior.

15 “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
    and buried my brow in the dust.
16 My face is red with weeping,
    dark shadows ring my eyes;
17 yet my hands have been free of violence
    and my prayer is pure.

18 “Earth, do not cover my blood;
    may my cry never be laid to rest!
19 Even now my witness is in heaven;
    my advocate is on high.
20 My intercessor is my friend[c]
    as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God
    as one pleads for a friend.

22 “Only a few years will pass
    before I take the path of no return.

Job 16:20 Or My friends treat me with scorn


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Mark 4:33-41

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Jesus Calms the Storm

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Insight
Mark 4:35–5:43 records four miracles that answer the question, “Who can this be?” (4:41). These miracles demonstrated Jesus’ absolute power over nature (4:35-41), the spiritual world (5:1-20), physical illnesses (5:21-34), and death (5:35-43). Each miracle shows Jesus as the omnipotent sovereign God. Yet in this passage, Mark provides one of the most amazing contrasts. Just before Jesus displayed the awesome powers of His deity, we are given a touching picture of His humanity: Jesus was so tired that even the violent tossing of the waves did not wake Him (v.38).

Christ In The Storm

By David C. McCasland

Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? —Mark 4:40



At the age of 27, Rembrandt painted the seascape Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee based on the story in Mark 4. With its distinctive contrast of light and shadow, Rembrandt’s painting shows a small boat threatened with destruction in a furious storm. As the disciples struggle against the wind and waves, Jesus is undisturbed. The most unusual aspect, however, is the presence in the boat of a 13th disciple whom art experts say resembles Rembrandt himself.

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Mark’s gospel describes the disciples’ vivid lesson about who Jesus is and what He can do. While they were frantically trying to save a sinking boat, Jesus was asleep. Didn’t He care that they were all about to die? (v.38). After Jesus calmed the storm (v.39), He asked the penetrating question, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (v.40). Then they were even more afraid, exclaiming to each other, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (v.41).

We could also put ourselves in this story and discover, just as Jesus’ disciples did, that to each person who trusts in Jesus Christ, He reveals His presence, compassion, and control in every storm of life.
Be still, my heart; for faithful is thy Lord,
And pure and true and tried His holy Word;
Though stormy flood which rageth as the sea,
His promises thy stepping-stones shall be. —Anon.
God is a safe dwelling place in life’s storms.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Gracious Uncertainty

. . . it has not yet been revealed what we shall be . . . —1 John 3:2

Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life—gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “. . . believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in—but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Faith and Fitted Sheets - #7122

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

My wife's been such an invaluable help in the ministry. The least I can do is "pitch in" at home. Huh? A lot of jobs are so much easier if you've got two people working on them. One of those is the simple task of making a bed. Of course, this is the age of fitted sheets; the ones with the elastic on each corner. Pulling sheet corner number one over bed corner number one? That's easy. So is corner number two. Corner number three requires just a little more pull, because you've already anchored two other corners. Now, the challenge is that fourth corner. You really have to stretch it to get that sheet over that final edge.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Faith and Fitted Sheets."
Yes, they do have something in common. First, let's look at a series of events in the lives of Jesus' first disciples. Mark chapter 6, they're facing a hungry crowd of 5,000 people in a wilderness place where there's no food. The disciples have an idea, "Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and buy themselves something to eat." Okay, Jesus' answer: "You give them something to eat." What? What's He doing?
He's asking them to do with their faith what I do with that fitted sheet - try to stretch it to cover this challenge. The outcome? "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish." I love it! A basket of leftovers for each one of the disciples.
Next they're in a boat in a violent storm. And Jesus says in essence, "You saw Me feed 5,000 with one lunch. Can you stretch your faith to cover this corner, this storm?" Well, He calmed that storm with one command. Next comes a crowd of 4,000 that needs to be fed, and in spite of just seeing how Jesus can handle a challenge like this, they're asking again, "Where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?" Again, Jesus asked them to round up whatever miracle material they can.
Finally, our word for today from the Word of God after all that, Mark 8, beginning with verse 17. In a boat is where they are; they're talking about having no bread. "Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them, 'Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts being hardened? And don't you remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5,000 how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?'"
Well you know what? The pattern of those disciples is too often the faithless pattern in your life and mine. We face a challenge that's clearly humanly impossible, and then Jesus does what only He can do. And we are amazed! We're thankful! He does that to make our faith grow. Well, pretty soon there's another challenge and we just can't seem to stretch our faith to go that far. Over and over, the Lord puts in front of you "fourth corner" situations where the faith of yesterday is not going to be enough. You'll have to trust Him for something bigger and greater. But why not? After all the "bigs" and "greats" you've seen Him do before, shouldn't we be trusting Him?
Maybe you're facing one of those overwhelming needs or situations or storms right now, and Jesus is saying, "Don't you remember? I'm the same Lord that has done miracle after miracle in your life. Do you think it will be different this time?" We suddenly get spiritual amnesia; we forget the love, we forget the power of our Lord, we forget His track record. Or we seem to say, "Well, sure He could handle that one, but this one? This is huge!" So was that one; the one Jesus already handled so amazingly.
Maybe right now you're living and experiencing unnecessary worry, unnecessary stress, and your response is fear, maybe panic. Jesus has covered every corner so far, and He will cover this one. So why not live as if you're expecting Jesus to be Lord again now over this situation. Stretch your faith this time to reach farther than your faith has ever reached - to touch the power of your Lord as maybe you have never touched it before.