Max Lucado Daily: It's the Father
One of my favorite childhood memories is greeting my father as he came home from work. My brother and I would take our positions on the couch and watch cartoons, always keeping one ear alert to the driveway. Even the best "Daffy Duck" would be abandoned when we heard his car. I'd run to meet Dad and get swept up in his big arms. He'd put his big-brimmed saw hat on my head, and for a moment I'd be a cowboy. When we went indoors and opened his lunch pail, any leftover snacks (which he always seemed to have) were for my brother and me to split. What more could a five-year-old want?
But suppose my dad, rather than coming home, just sent some things home. No deal. That wouldn't work. Even a five-year-old knows it's the person, not the presents. It's not the frills, it's the father!
From Dad Time
Job 42
Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[d] and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
Job 42:11 Hebrew him a kesitah; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Deuteronomy 32:7-12
Remember the days of old;
consider the generations long past.
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.[a]
9 For the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.
12 The Lord alone led him;
no foreign god was with him.
Footnotes:
Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
Insight
Today’s reading provides us with a wonderful template for instructing the next generation in the provision of God. The entire “Song of Moses” extends from Deuteronomy 31:30–32:43. In it we see praise given for the God of Israel in spite of the nation’s periodic lapse into disobedience. In His good providence, God created for Himself a chosen people whom He has both redeemed and preserves. This theme of divine love that will not let go is to be reiterated to each new generation so that God’s covenant people may continue in relationship with their Creator and Sustainer. We learn from the New Testament that through Christ’s atoning work on the cross, this covenant has been extended to all who believe (Rom. 5:6-11).
Reframing The Picture
By Julie Ackerman Link
As an eagle stirs up its nest, . . . spreading out its wings, . . . so the Lord alone led [Jacob]. —Deuteronomy 32:11-12
For 3 months I had a ringside seat— or should I say a bird’s-eye view—of God’s amazing handiwork. Ninety feet above the floor of Norfolk Botanical Garden, workers installed a webcam focused on the nest of a family of bald eagles, and online viewers were allowed to watch.
When the eggs hatched, Mama and Papa Eagle were attentive to their offspring, taking turns hunting for food and guarding the nest. But one day when the eaglets still looked like fuzzballs with beaks, both parents disappeared. I worried that harm had come to them.
My concern was unfounded. The webcam operator enlarged the camera angle, and there was Mama Eagle perched on a nearby branch.
As I pondered this “reframed” picture, I thought of times when I have feared that God had abandoned me. The view in the forest heights of Virginia reminded me that my vision is limited. I see only a small part of the entire scene.
Moses used eagle imagery to describe God. As eagles carry their young, God carries His people (Deut. 32:11-12). Despite how it may seem, the Lord “is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). This is true even when we feel abandoned.
Under His wings I am safely abiding;
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him—I know He will keep me;
He has redeemed me and I am His child. —Cushing
Because the Lord is watching over us, we don’t have to fear the dangers around us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 05, 2014
God’s Assurance
He Himself has said . . . . So we may boldly say . . . —Hebrews 13:5-6
My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.
What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ’The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you . . . .’ ”
Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never. . . forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Fort Hood Wakeup Call - #7149
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Not again. That was my gut reaction when I saw the headline about another shooting at Fort Hood a while back. I just couldn't believe it when they said that the previous shooting on the base was five years ago. It seemed like yesterday.
And that story got sadder and sadder as it unfolded, because it was a soldier killing soldiers on a base filled with men and women who have heroically had multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were survivors of war zones and enemy attacks and they were wounded and killed at home by one of their own, who may have carried invisible wounds of his own.
You know, sadly, the tragedy of shooting our own is more prevalent than the headlines will ever reflect. Actually I've seen it happen repeatedly.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Fort Hood Wakeup Call."
As followers of Jesus attack their brothers and sisters in Christ. Yeah, that's when I've seen it happening - shooting our own. Often using the new "weapons of mass destruction" as accelerants of what they're doing: social networks, blogs, e-mail, along with old-fashioned gossip and backstabbing.
We shoot at people because they remind us of people who hurt us, or because of their worship style, their legalism, their liberalism, for their beliefs. Not so much in the 90% where Christians agree, but often in the 10% where we differ. Somehow we feel free to ditch what the Bible says, "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).
One faction accuses the other faction of being "judgmental." When, in fact, those factions differ only in who they judge. We conveniently bundle people who are different into easily dismissed, easily characterized categories. When, in fact, we are categories. We're individuals.
The result is the "us vs. them" vibe to a world that's supposed to - according to Jesus - know us by our love. He hasn't changed His mind about what He expects of those who carry His Name. He makes it very clear in our word for today from the Word of God in John 17:23. "May they be brought to complete unity so the world may know that You sent Me"
The trauma at Fort Hood is not without its lessons for those who are commanded by the Bible to be a "good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:3). Here's five that I can think of. First of all, we're all wounded warriors. Every one of us has our battle scars, including those who've hurt us. If I knew my brother's story, I'd be a lot less likely to attack him. We know how it hurts to be unfairly criticized. Right? We know what it's like to be accused or characterized. So why do we keep that cycle of hurt going?
Secondly, there's no healing in attacking others. In fact, it just insures that we'll continue to be defined by our pain. That's a lousy way to live. Scripture solemnly warns us to "see to it that no one misses the grace of God..." Wow! Going without His grace? That's a terrifying prospect. How does that happen? It goes on to say, "...and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). God's grace and my bitterness cannot coexist in the same heart.
Thirdly, only our enemy benefits when we shoot at other believers. When Jesus-followers publicly discredit others, we're doing Satan's work for him. After all, the word "devil" literally means "slanderer."
I think a fourth lesson that comes out of that Fort Hood tragedy of a soldier shooting his own is our attacks on one another give lost people another reason to stay lost. Because they can't see Christ because they're blinded by His followers belittling and diminishing each other.
And, you know, last of all we anger God when we attack a child of His. I mean, the Bible describes the church as Jesus' bride. He's not going to stand for someone attacking His Bride. We break our Savior's heart. We turn lost people away from Him when we form our firing squad in a circle.
Our army cannot prevail when we use our bullets against each other.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Job 41, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Parent's Prayer
Each year God gives millions of parents a gift, a brand new baby. Like no one else, parents can unlock the door to a child's uncommonness. As dads, we accelerate or stifle…release or repress, our children's giftedness. They will spend much of life benefitting or recovering from our influence. But remember, our kids were God's kids first. We tend to forget this fact, regarding our children as our children, as though we have the final say in their health and future. We don't. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.
God never dismisses a parent's prayer. Keep giving your child to God, and in the right time and the right way, God will give your child back to you!
From Dad Time
Job 41
]“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird
or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6 Will traders barter for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false;
the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength and its graceful form.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat?
Who can penetrate its double coat of armor[b]?
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth,
ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15 Its back has[c] rows of shields
tightly sealed together;
16 each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flames stream from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from its mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck;
dismay goes before it.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.
24 Its chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before its thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron it treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee;
slingstones are like chaff to it.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal—
a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty;
it is king over all that are proud.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 14:1-11
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.
Footnotes:
John 14:1 Or Believe in God
John 14:7 Some manuscripts If you really knew me, you would know
Insight
John 13–17 records Jesus’ “farewell” speech, His last words to His disciples just hours before His crucifixion. Jesus spoke of humble and loving service (ch.13), of heaven (ch.14), of what it takes to be His disciple (ch.15), and of the Holy Spirit (chs.14,16). His speech culminated in a prayer for His disciples (ch.17).
Room And Board
By Dennis Fisher
I go to prepare a place for you. —John 14:2
On a recent trip to England, my wife and I visited Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Stratford-upon-Avon. The house is more than 400 years old, and it was the childhood and family home of William Shakespeare’s wife.
The tour guide drew our attention to a table made with wide boards. One side was used for eating meals and the other for chopping food. In English life, different expressions grew from this usage as the word board became associated with food, housing, honesty, and authority. An inn would offer “room and board”—that is, sleeping and eating accommodations. In taverns where customers played cards, they were told to keep their hands “above board” to make sure they weren’t cheating. And in the home, the father was given a special chair at the head of the table where he was called “chairman of the board.”
As I reflected on this, I thought about how Jesus is our “room and board.” He is our source of spiritual nourishment (John 6:35,54); He empowers us to live a life of integrity (14:21); He is our loving Master (Phil. 2:11); and He is even now preparing our eternal home. He promised: “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2; see also 14:1-4,23). His grace has provided our everlasting room and board.
Christ meets our needs now and for eternity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 04, 2014
The Never-forsaking God
He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you’ —Hebrews 13:5
What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
“I will never leave you . . .”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.
“I will never . . . forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Beautiful Scars - #7148
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Becky was my first serious crush. Well, as serious as you can be when you're 13! I thought she was beautiful. That's why I was so surprised when she said she had been in a violent automobile accident not long before that. She said it had done very serious damage to her face; all kinds of scars. But when I looked at that beautiful face I couldn't see any trace of it. Something had obviously happened to those scars. She told me that a plastic surgeon had worked on those scars. He had very skillfully taken those scars and recreated something beautiful!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful Scars."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Here's what the Apostle Paul says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." Now, these verses are about something that's common to all of us-the pain of life.
I don't know where your pain comes from, whether it's medical, or emotional. Maybe it's some terrible memories in the past. Maybe it's something you constantly replay in your mind. Maybe it's in living color right now. But this passage talks about what the Master Plastic Surgeon can make out of the pain of your life.
It says here that He turns trouble for us into comfort for others. He's the God of all compassion. He's the God of all comfort, and if we will open up our scars and our hurt and our pain to him, what He does for us gives us something then to give to other people who are hurting the rest of our lives. In other words, the ugly can in God's skillful hands become something beautiful.
Maybe the pain of your life is never very far away. Maybe you can even see scenes on the replaying of your mind. Or maybe it's happening right now, and you don't have a choice about having the pain. But you do have two choices about what you do with that hurt. One is you can turn it inward. That's what most people do.
And when you turn it inward, you continue to work on it and replay it and think about it, and be tormented by it. It turns into very ugly things, like self-pity, bitterness, and negative attitudes. You just make the ugly uglier, and you make the scars deeper.
Your other possibility that's suggested in these verses from God's Word is that you can turn it outward, and this pain can be turned outward in the form of sensitivity and compassion. In other words you say, "Lord, I want you to help me make something beautiful out of this pain. I had to go through it. It was ugly stuff, but I want it to become a ministry to other hurting people. I'll know how they feel. I'll be able to enter into their suffering. That's what You did when You came here, Jesus. You walked our trail so you could help us walk our trail. God of all compassion, instead of this turning into self-pity and hardness, Lord, turn it into compassion."
You know, the quickest way out of your pit is to help somebody else out of theirs. See, Christ alone can redeem life's big hurts. Why don't you let Him use all that junk to shape you into a make-a-difference person for other people? I mean, haven't you replayed those ugly scenes enough times? Do you really want to go over it again?
Why don't you let Him turn self-focus into others focus? Look around you. Find a need and meet it. Right now, instead of looking in the mirror at your scars, why don't you surrender yourself to the emotional rebuilding of the Master Surgeon? Let Him start changing you from someone who feels like a victim to someone who is beginning to be a victor. Dr. Jesus makes scars into something beautiful.
Each year God gives millions of parents a gift, a brand new baby. Like no one else, parents can unlock the door to a child's uncommonness. As dads, we accelerate or stifle…release or repress, our children's giftedness. They will spend much of life benefitting or recovering from our influence. But remember, our kids were God's kids first. We tend to forget this fact, regarding our children as our children, as though we have the final say in their health and future. We don't. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.
God never dismisses a parent's prayer. Keep giving your child to God, and in the right time and the right way, God will give your child back to you!
From Dad Time
Job 41
]“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird
or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6 Will traders barter for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false;
the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength and its graceful form.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat?
Who can penetrate its double coat of armor[b]?
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth,
ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15 Its back has[c] rows of shields
tightly sealed together;
16 each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flames stream from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from its mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck;
dismay goes before it.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.
24 Its chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before its thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron it treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee;
slingstones are like chaff to it.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal—
a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty;
it is king over all that are proud.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 14:1-11
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.
Footnotes:
John 14:1 Or Believe in God
John 14:7 Some manuscripts If you really knew me, you would know
Insight
John 13–17 records Jesus’ “farewell” speech, His last words to His disciples just hours before His crucifixion. Jesus spoke of humble and loving service (ch.13), of heaven (ch.14), of what it takes to be His disciple (ch.15), and of the Holy Spirit (chs.14,16). His speech culminated in a prayer for His disciples (ch.17).
Room And Board
By Dennis Fisher
I go to prepare a place for you. —John 14:2
On a recent trip to England, my wife and I visited Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Stratford-upon-Avon. The house is more than 400 years old, and it was the childhood and family home of William Shakespeare’s wife.
The tour guide drew our attention to a table made with wide boards. One side was used for eating meals and the other for chopping food. In English life, different expressions grew from this usage as the word board became associated with food, housing, honesty, and authority. An inn would offer “room and board”—that is, sleeping and eating accommodations. In taverns where customers played cards, they were told to keep their hands “above board” to make sure they weren’t cheating. And in the home, the father was given a special chair at the head of the table where he was called “chairman of the board.”
As I reflected on this, I thought about how Jesus is our “room and board.” He is our source of spiritual nourishment (John 6:35,54); He empowers us to live a life of integrity (14:21); He is our loving Master (Phil. 2:11); and He is even now preparing our eternal home. He promised: “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2; see also 14:1-4,23). His grace has provided our everlasting room and board.
Christ meets our needs now and for eternity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 04, 2014
The Never-forsaking God
He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you’ —Hebrews 13:5
What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
“I will never leave you . . .”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.
“I will never . . . forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Beautiful Scars - #7148
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Becky was my first serious crush. Well, as serious as you can be when you're 13! I thought she was beautiful. That's why I was so surprised when she said she had been in a violent automobile accident not long before that. She said it had done very serious damage to her face; all kinds of scars. But when I looked at that beautiful face I couldn't see any trace of it. Something had obviously happened to those scars. She told me that a plastic surgeon had worked on those scars. He had very skillfully taken those scars and recreated something beautiful!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful Scars."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Here's what the Apostle Paul says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." Now, these verses are about something that's common to all of us-the pain of life.
I don't know where your pain comes from, whether it's medical, or emotional. Maybe it's some terrible memories in the past. Maybe it's something you constantly replay in your mind. Maybe it's in living color right now. But this passage talks about what the Master Plastic Surgeon can make out of the pain of your life.
It says here that He turns trouble for us into comfort for others. He's the God of all compassion. He's the God of all comfort, and if we will open up our scars and our hurt and our pain to him, what He does for us gives us something then to give to other people who are hurting the rest of our lives. In other words, the ugly can in God's skillful hands become something beautiful.
Maybe the pain of your life is never very far away. Maybe you can even see scenes on the replaying of your mind. Or maybe it's happening right now, and you don't have a choice about having the pain. But you do have two choices about what you do with that hurt. One is you can turn it inward. That's what most people do.
And when you turn it inward, you continue to work on it and replay it and think about it, and be tormented by it. It turns into very ugly things, like self-pity, bitterness, and negative attitudes. You just make the ugly uglier, and you make the scars deeper.
Your other possibility that's suggested in these verses from God's Word is that you can turn it outward, and this pain can be turned outward in the form of sensitivity and compassion. In other words you say, "Lord, I want you to help me make something beautiful out of this pain. I had to go through it. It was ugly stuff, but I want it to become a ministry to other hurting people. I'll know how they feel. I'll be able to enter into their suffering. That's what You did when You came here, Jesus. You walked our trail so you could help us walk our trail. God of all compassion, instead of this turning into self-pity and hardness, Lord, turn it into compassion."
You know, the quickest way out of your pit is to help somebody else out of theirs. See, Christ alone can redeem life's big hurts. Why don't you let Him use all that junk to shape you into a make-a-difference person for other people? I mean, haven't you replayed those ugly scenes enough times? Do you really want to go over it again?
Why don't you let Him turn self-focus into others focus? Look around you. Find a need and meet it. Right now, instead of looking in the mirror at your scars, why don't you surrender yourself to the emotional rebuilding of the Master Surgeon? Let Him start changing you from someone who feels like a victim to someone who is beginning to be a victor. Dr. Jesus makes scars into something beautiful.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Matthew 15:21-39 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily:Desperate Dads Go to Jesus
In Mark 5:23 we meet Jairus-a leader of the synagogue-one of the most important men in the community. But the man in this story is a humble man, saying again and again, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." He doesn't barter with Jesus. He doesn't negotiate. He doesn't make excuses. He just pleads!
There are times when everything you have to offer is nothing compared to what you're asking to receive. What could a man offer in exchange for his child's life? So there are no games, no haggling. Jairus asks for help. Jesus, who loves the honest heart, goes to give it. And God, who knows what it's like to lose a child, empowers His Son!
From Dad Time
Matthew 15:21-39
New International Version (NIV)
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Deuteronomy 8:1-3, 11-16
Do Not Forget the Lord
8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Insight
Remembering the hunger Israel experienced during their 40 years in the wilderness, Moses told them it was “to do you good in the end” (Deut. 8:16). What good? To “make you know that . . . man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (v.3). Some lessons are best learned through trials and understood in perspective.
The View From The End
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
All things work together for good to those who love God. —Romans 8:28
Over the course of one year, Richard LeMieux’s lucrative publishing business collapsed. Soon, his wealth disappeared, and he became depressed. Eventually, LeMieux began to abuse alcohol and his family deserted him. At the lowest point in his life, he was homeless, broken, and destitute. However, it was during this time that he turned to God. He later wrote a book about what he learned.
The Israelites learned some valuable spiritual lessons when God allowed them to endure homelessness, uncertainty, and danger. Their hardships humbled them (Deut. 8:1-18).
They learned that God would provide for their needs. When they were hungry, He gave them manna. When they were thirsty, He gave them water from a rock. God taught them that, despite difficult times, He could bless them (v.1). Finally, the Israelites learned that adversity is not a sign of abandonment. Moses reminded them that God had been leading throughout their 40 years in the wilderness (v.2).
When we encounter desperate times, we can look for the spiritual lessons embedded in our difficulties—lessons that can help us rely on the One who causes all things to work together for our good and for His glory (Rom. 8:28).
Dear God, please give me the faith
to believe that You can bring good out of
any situation. Help me to see what You
want to show me during adversity.
The clearest view of everything that happens comes from heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
“The Secret of the Lord”
06
03
2014
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him . . . —Psalm 25:14
What is the sign of a friend? Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his secret joys. Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their secret joys with you. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys? Or are we continually telling God our secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to us? At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself— to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ’s idea of prayer— “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10)— that we catch the secrets of God? What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us— He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.
“Him shall He teach in the way He chooses” (Psalm 25:12). At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God. But then as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us. If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices. And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed. Whenever there is doubt, stop at once. Never try to reason it out, saying, “I wonder why I shouldn’t do this?” God instructs us in what we choose; that is, He actually guides our common sense. And when we yield to His teachings and guidance, we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually asking, “Now, Lord, what is Your will?”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Memory Loss - #7147
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
I guess I'll always feel like a visitor in the world of computers. I don't think I'm alone in my generation. My grandchildren, of course, were kind of born knowing what to do with them. I can remember when I first got my very first laptop computer. We had some struggles. I mean, they talked to me about a hard drive, and I thought that was like, you know, New York to Chicago in one day. That was a hard drive. And, you know, they were talking about like megabytes, and I thought that was like big mosquitoes in Minnesota or something like that. But now, listen. I'm a little more computer literate. My little laptop is my friend. I don't always understand it. But then, I don't always understand my friends anyway.
Anyway, I was preparing for a message, and I had typed some very important notes into my laptop. I went to print them out and they were not there anywhere to be found. Well, it ended up that the problem was my computer memory. I had maxed it out, and those notes, I guess, fell into a black hole somewhere in the computer abyss. This happens to my own memory sometimes. Just when I needed that information the most, there was a crisis because of a memory loss.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Memory Loss."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 6, beginning at verse 45. Here's what it says, "Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, He went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and He was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night He went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw Him walking on the lake, they thought He was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw Him and were terrified. Immediately He spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.' Then He climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed."
Okay, the disciples are in a major storm, maybe like you are right now. They were there because they were doing what Jesus said. That's exactly where Jesus had told them to go. They were doing everything they could to get control. They were straining at the oars. They were really afraid, and they must have been asking, "Where is Jesus right now?" But you need to know what these men had seen Jesus do recently. They were there when He fed the 5,000 not very long before this. They had just watched Him heal sick people, cast out demons, raise a dead girl, and even calm a storm.
If only the memory of what Christ had done before could have helped them believe Him for this current crisis. But, "No." When they needed the memory of past miracles, they couldn't bring it up on their screen. They had a memory loss of God's never failing faithfulness. So instead of facing the storm with faith, they surrendered to fear.
And nothing has changed with Jesus' disciples over 2,000 years. We go through so much unnecessary stress and anxiety because we cannot bring into this present need all that we've learned about our Lord in all the past needs. Like the disciples, we often can't see Jesus, so we assume He's doing nothing while we're struggling. He saw them, He was praying for them. He was planning to come at the time when they could learn the most about His power and His love. And that's what He's doing for you right now in your storm. Even when you can't see any activity, when you can't see any possible solution, He will walk on water to deliver you if necessary.
Maybe you've been suffering from memory loss in the times when you need that "miracle memory" the most. Thank God daily for the work He's doing for you. Write it down so you'll remember He did it. And then today, in this storm, remember that the Savior who has carried you through every storm in your life is not about to abandon you now.
In Mark 5:23 we meet Jairus-a leader of the synagogue-one of the most important men in the community. But the man in this story is a humble man, saying again and again, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." He doesn't barter with Jesus. He doesn't negotiate. He doesn't make excuses. He just pleads!
There are times when everything you have to offer is nothing compared to what you're asking to receive. What could a man offer in exchange for his child's life? So there are no games, no haggling. Jairus asks for help. Jesus, who loves the honest heart, goes to give it. And God, who knows what it's like to lose a child, empowers His Son!
From Dad Time
Matthew 15:21-39
New International Version (NIV)
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Deuteronomy 8:1-3, 11-16
Do Not Forget the Lord
8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Insight
Remembering the hunger Israel experienced during their 40 years in the wilderness, Moses told them it was “to do you good in the end” (Deut. 8:16). What good? To “make you know that . . . man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (v.3). Some lessons are best learned through trials and understood in perspective.
The View From The End
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
All things work together for good to those who love God. —Romans 8:28
Over the course of one year, Richard LeMieux’s lucrative publishing business collapsed. Soon, his wealth disappeared, and he became depressed. Eventually, LeMieux began to abuse alcohol and his family deserted him. At the lowest point in his life, he was homeless, broken, and destitute. However, it was during this time that he turned to God. He later wrote a book about what he learned.
The Israelites learned some valuable spiritual lessons when God allowed them to endure homelessness, uncertainty, and danger. Their hardships humbled them (Deut. 8:1-18).
They learned that God would provide for their needs. When they were hungry, He gave them manna. When they were thirsty, He gave them water from a rock. God taught them that, despite difficult times, He could bless them (v.1). Finally, the Israelites learned that adversity is not a sign of abandonment. Moses reminded them that God had been leading throughout their 40 years in the wilderness (v.2).
When we encounter desperate times, we can look for the spiritual lessons embedded in our difficulties—lessons that can help us rely on the One who causes all things to work together for our good and for His glory (Rom. 8:28).
Dear God, please give me the faith
to believe that You can bring good out of
any situation. Help me to see what You
want to show me during adversity.
The clearest view of everything that happens comes from heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
“The Secret of the Lord”
06
03
2014
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him . . . —Psalm 25:14
What is the sign of a friend? Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his secret joys. Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their secret joys with you. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys? Or are we continually telling God our secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to us? At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself— to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ’s idea of prayer— “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10)— that we catch the secrets of God? What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us— He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.
“Him shall He teach in the way He chooses” (Psalm 25:12). At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God. But then as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us. If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices. And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed. Whenever there is doubt, stop at once. Never try to reason it out, saying, “I wonder why I shouldn’t do this?” God instructs us in what we choose; that is, He actually guides our common sense. And when we yield to His teachings and guidance, we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually asking, “Now, Lord, what is Your will?”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Memory Loss - #7147
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
I guess I'll always feel like a visitor in the world of computers. I don't think I'm alone in my generation. My grandchildren, of course, were kind of born knowing what to do with them. I can remember when I first got my very first laptop computer. We had some struggles. I mean, they talked to me about a hard drive, and I thought that was like, you know, New York to Chicago in one day. That was a hard drive. And, you know, they were talking about like megabytes, and I thought that was like big mosquitoes in Minnesota or something like that. But now, listen. I'm a little more computer literate. My little laptop is my friend. I don't always understand it. But then, I don't always understand my friends anyway.
Anyway, I was preparing for a message, and I had typed some very important notes into my laptop. I went to print them out and they were not there anywhere to be found. Well, it ended up that the problem was my computer memory. I had maxed it out, and those notes, I guess, fell into a black hole somewhere in the computer abyss. This happens to my own memory sometimes. Just when I needed that information the most, there was a crisis because of a memory loss.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Memory Loss."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 6, beginning at verse 45. Here's what it says, "Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, He went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and He was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night He went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw Him walking on the lake, they thought He was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw Him and were terrified. Immediately He spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.' Then He climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed."
Okay, the disciples are in a major storm, maybe like you are right now. They were there because they were doing what Jesus said. That's exactly where Jesus had told them to go. They were doing everything they could to get control. They were straining at the oars. They were really afraid, and they must have been asking, "Where is Jesus right now?" But you need to know what these men had seen Jesus do recently. They were there when He fed the 5,000 not very long before this. They had just watched Him heal sick people, cast out demons, raise a dead girl, and even calm a storm.
If only the memory of what Christ had done before could have helped them believe Him for this current crisis. But, "No." When they needed the memory of past miracles, they couldn't bring it up on their screen. They had a memory loss of God's never failing faithfulness. So instead of facing the storm with faith, they surrendered to fear.
And nothing has changed with Jesus' disciples over 2,000 years. We go through so much unnecessary stress and anxiety because we cannot bring into this present need all that we've learned about our Lord in all the past needs. Like the disciples, we often can't see Jesus, so we assume He's doing nothing while we're struggling. He saw them, He was praying for them. He was planning to come at the time when they could learn the most about His power and His love. And that's what He's doing for you right now in your storm. Even when you can't see any activity, when you can't see any possible solution, He will walk on water to deliver you if necessary.
Maybe you've been suffering from memory loss in the times when you need that "miracle memory" the most. Thank God daily for the work He's doing for you. Write it down so you'll remember He did it. And then today, in this storm, remember that the Savior who has carried you through every storm in your life is not about to abandon you now.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Job 40, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Blessed Man
My daughters are too old for this now, but when they were young, crib-size and diaper-laden-I'd come home, shout their names, and watch them run to me with extended arms and squealing voices. For the next few moments we would speak the language of love. We'd roll on the floor, gobble bellies, and tickle tummies and laugh and play. We delighted in each other's presence. They made no requests of me, with the exception of "Let's play, Daddy." And I made no demands of them, except, "Don't hit Daddy with the hammer." In this very special dad time-my kids let me love them!
Psalm 127:3-5 reminds us, "Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them."
I am a blessed man!
From Dad Time
Job 40
The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12 look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
17 Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
20 The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround it.
23 A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 5:1-17
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Footnotes:
Ephesians 5:5 Or kingdom of the Messiah and God
The Careful Walk
By Dave Branon
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. —Ephesians 5:15
One of my favorite places to visit in Jamaica is Ocho Rios, home of Dunn’s River Falls—a spectacle that never ceases to amaze. Water cascades down a long series of rocks as it makes its way to the Caribbean Sea. Adventurers can climb the falls, scrambling over rounded rocks on an invigorating trek to the top. The flowing water, the potentially slippery surface, and the steep angles make the going slow and a bit treacherous.
To make it safely to the top, climbers must watch every step. If a person is not careful, he or she could fall on the journey. The keys to a successful climb are concentration and caution.
I can’t think of a better picture of what Paul is saying in Ephesians 5:15 when he says, “walk circumspectly.” We should “be very careful . . . how [we] live” (niv). Clearly, with all of life’s possible dangers coming our way as we climb through life, it is vital that we take each step with Jesus wisely and cautiously. A fool, the passage says, lives carelessly; a wise person watches each step so he does not stumble or fall.
Our goal of being “imitators of God” (v.1) is met, Paul says, as we walk carefully in love (vv.2,15). Through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we can walk in a way that honors God.
Consistency! How much we need
To walk a measured pace,
To live the life of which we speak,
Until we see Christ’s face. —Anon.
As we trust God to rule our hearts our feet can walk His way.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 02, 2014
Are You Obsessed by Something?
Who is the man that fears the Lord? —Psalm 25:12
Are you obsessed by something? You will probably say, “No, by nothing,” but all of us are obsessed by something— usually by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our own experience of the Christian life. But the psalmist says that we are to be obsessed by God. The abiding awareness of the Christian life is to be God Himself, not just thoughts about Him. The total being of our life inside and out is to be absolutely obsessed by the presence of God. A child’s awareness is so absorbed in his mother that although he is not consciously thinking of her, when a problem arises, the abiding relationship is that with the mother. In that same way, we are to “live and move and have our being” in God (Acts 17:28), looking at everything in relation to Him, because our abiding awareness of Him continually pushes itself to the forefront of our lives.
If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives— not concerns, nor tribulation, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we dare to be so absolutely unbelieving when God totally surrounds us? To be obsessed by God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.
“He himself shall dwell in prosperity . . .” (Psalm 25:13). God will cause us to “dwell in prosperity,” keeping us at ease, even in the midst of tribulation, misunderstanding, and slander, if our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). We rob ourselves of the miraculous, revealed truth of this abiding companionship with God. “God is our refuge . . .” (Psalm 46:1). Nothing can break through His shelter of protection.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Noah - and God's End Game - #7146
Monday, June 2, 2014
The real Noah really stirred things up when he was here. And guess what? He's done it again recently. Well, on the big screen this time. Noah and his ark - the movie version - had a big launch when it came out. And actually Captain Noah proved that he still has the ability to be controversial. Except this time, mostly among Bible people.
Some are objecting to all that the movie adds and subtracts from the original account. And then others have expressed hope that it would interest some un-Bible people in the real Story. And, in fact, that is what happened. There was a sudden spike in Bible reading and Bible websites. That's a good thing.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Noah - and God's End Game."
What is interesting is that thousands of years later, Jesus was talking about Noah. And He actually was suggesting that when people are thinking about Noah, they should be looking for Him.
Here's what He said in our word for today from the Word of God. In Luke 17:26-27, "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
So what we've got here is Jesus establishing this linkage between Noah and the time Jesus is going to come back to earth. It's worth thinking about. Jesus used the story of Noah as a picture of what the world would look like on the eve of the climactic event of all human history - His return. When He said, "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). Bottom line? The world isn't done with Jesus Christ. Jesus is our future. Actually, Jesus is your future.
See, He will come to a world that, basically using the Noah example that He did, will be busy ignoring Him; too busy to have time for Him, living for their appetites, caught up in the gerbil wheel of their lives, spinning and spinning, doing whatever they feel like and oblivious to the flood of God that's coming.
But at the same time, there will be an ark where they can be rescued. His name is Jesus. But see, nobody took Noah seriously. Nobody took his message seriously, so none of them were in the ark. So Jesus is going to write final chapter of human history. It won't be some president or prime minister or powerful nation. No, it will be Jesus.
By the way, Jesus will write the final chapter of your personal history. See, the Bible says, "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" Salvation is a rescue word isn't it? Jesus came here to pay the price for the sin that carries a death penalty. I was on death row spiritually, except for the fact that Jesus came and became my substitute on the cross; paid my death penalty for my sin. Then He walked out of His grave to prove that if I would let Him walk into my life He could give me the eternal life that He has demonstrated He has that first Easter morning.
He said one thing about His return. He said, "You must be ready" (Matthew 24:44). I wonder if you're ready to meet Him, either when He comes back or when your last breath is taken. Because the Bible says, "It is appointed to man to die once, and after this the judgment." The judgment that Jesus took on the cross; the judgment that you can have cancelled by your decision this very day to say, "Jesus, I am Yours."
If you've never done that, I would love to help you do that. And our website is there for that express purpose. I invite you to go to ANewStory.com right away and let's get this settled. See, Jesus isn't just the future of this world. He's my future. He's your future. Be ready.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Job 39, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The State of Your Heart
The State of Your Heart
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart.” Luke 6:45, NIV
When you are offered a morsel of gossip marinated in slander, do you turn it down or pass it on? That depends on the state of your heart . . .
The state of your heart dictates whether you harbor a grudge or give grace, seek self-pity or seek Christ, drink human misery or taste God’s mercy.
Job 39
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Philippians 3:12-17
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Following Paul’s Example
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.
Insight
Paul the apostle had an interesting writing style. One aspect of this is seen in Ephesians 1, where verses 3-10 form one long sentence. Another element of Paul’s novel approach is found in Philippians 3:13-14. Here Paul declares, “one thing I do”; then he goes on to list not one but three things! His one thing? Forgetting the things behind, reaching to the things ahead, and pressing toward the goal of the upward call of Christ. Though marked by Paul’s unique style, the wisdom of his words regarding spiritual priorities still rings true.
Kangaroos And Emus
By Bill Crowder
Forgetting those things which are behind . . . I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:13-14
Two of Australia’s indigenous creatures, kangaroos and emus, have something in common—they seldom move backward. Kangaroos, because of the shape of their body and the length of their strong tail, can bounce along with forward movement, but they cannot shift easily into reverse. Emus can run fast on their strong legs, but the joints in their knees seem to make backward movement difficult. Both animals appear on Australia’s coat of arms as a symbol that the nation is to be ever moving forward and making progress.
The apostle Paul called for a similar approach to the life of faith in his letter to the Philippians: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13-14).
While it is wise to learn from the past, we shouldn’t live in the past. We cannot redo or undo the past, but by God’s grace we can press forward and serve God faithfully today and in the future. The life of faith is a journey forward as we become like Christ.
I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.” —Oatman
I will go anywhere—provided it is forward.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 01, 2014
The Staggering Question
He said to me, ’Son of man, can these bones live?’ —Ezekiel 37:3
Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.”
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves . . .” (Ezekiel 37:12). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.
The State of Your Heart
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart.” Luke 6:45, NIV
When you are offered a morsel of gossip marinated in slander, do you turn it down or pass it on? That depends on the state of your heart . . .
The state of your heart dictates whether you harbor a grudge or give grace, seek self-pity or seek Christ, drink human misery or taste God’s mercy.
Job 39
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Philippians 3:12-17
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Following Paul’s Example
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.
Insight
Paul the apostle had an interesting writing style. One aspect of this is seen in Ephesians 1, where verses 3-10 form one long sentence. Another element of Paul’s novel approach is found in Philippians 3:13-14. Here Paul declares, “one thing I do”; then he goes on to list not one but three things! His one thing? Forgetting the things behind, reaching to the things ahead, and pressing toward the goal of the upward call of Christ. Though marked by Paul’s unique style, the wisdom of his words regarding spiritual priorities still rings true.
Kangaroos And Emus
By Bill Crowder
Forgetting those things which are behind . . . I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:13-14
Two of Australia’s indigenous creatures, kangaroos and emus, have something in common—they seldom move backward. Kangaroos, because of the shape of their body and the length of their strong tail, can bounce along with forward movement, but they cannot shift easily into reverse. Emus can run fast on their strong legs, but the joints in their knees seem to make backward movement difficult. Both animals appear on Australia’s coat of arms as a symbol that the nation is to be ever moving forward and making progress.
The apostle Paul called for a similar approach to the life of faith in his letter to the Philippians: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13-14).
While it is wise to learn from the past, we shouldn’t live in the past. We cannot redo or undo the past, but by God’s grace we can press forward and serve God faithfully today and in the future. The life of faith is a journey forward as we become like Christ.
I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.” —Oatman
I will go anywhere—provided it is forward.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 01, 2014
The Staggering Question
He said to me, ’Son of man, can these bones live?’ —Ezekiel 37:3
Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.”
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves . . .” (Ezekiel 37:12). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Job 38, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: We’ve Figured it Out
Ironic isn’t it? The more we know, the less we believe! Strange, don’t you think?
We understand how storms are created. We map solar systems and transplant hearts. We measure the depths of the ocean and send signals to distant planets. We’re learning how it all works! And for some, the loss of mystery has led to the loss of majesty! The more we know, the less we believe.
But knowledge of the workings should not negate wonder. It should stir wonder! Who has more reason to worship than the astronomer who has seen the stars? Why then should we worship less? We’re more impressed with our discovery of the light switch than with the one who invented electricity. And rather than worship the Creator, we worship the creation!
No wonder there is no wonder! We think we have figured it all out!
From Grace for the Moment
Job 38
The Lord Speaks
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains[b] of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons[c]
or lead out the Bear[d] with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s[e] dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[f]
or gives the rooster understanding?[g]
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 1:1-4,12-18
The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
A Rebellious Nation
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
As White As Snow
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Your sins . . . shall be as white as snow. —Isaiah 1:18
Iwas driving my son home from school one day when snow began to fall. The cottony fluff came down steadily and quickly. Eventually, we slowed to a stop, boxed in by traffic. From inside our vehicle, we watched a transformation take place. Dark patches of soil turned white. Snow softened the sharp outlines of buildings; it coated the cars around us, and accumulated on every tree in sight.
That snowfall reminded me of a spiritual truth: Just as that snow covered everything in sight, God’s grace covers our sin. But grace doesn’t just cover sin, grace erases sin. Through the prophet Isaiah, God appealed to the Israelites, saying, “Come now, and let us reason together . . . though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isa. 1:18). When God made this promise, His children had a painful problem with sin. God compared them to a physical body plagued with “wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil” (v.6 niv).
As bad as their sin was, God was willing to extend His grace to them. As His children today, we have the same assurance. Sin may stain our lives, but when we repent and confess it, we have “the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of [God’s] grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Lord, give me courage to confess,
To bare my sinful heart to Thee;
Forgiving love You long to show
And from my sin to set me free. —D. DeHaan
The weight of sin is balanced only by the blood of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Put God First
Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . .for He knew what was in man —John 2:24-25
Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be— absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.
Put God’s Will First. “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:9).
A person’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need— our Lord’s obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, “We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him.” But we must first make sure that God’s “needs” and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, “. . . tarry . . . until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the “needs” of God and His will. Once God’s “needs” in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His “needs” elsewhere.
Put God’s Son First. “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:5).
God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.” Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.
Ironic isn’t it? The more we know, the less we believe! Strange, don’t you think?
We understand how storms are created. We map solar systems and transplant hearts. We measure the depths of the ocean and send signals to distant planets. We’re learning how it all works! And for some, the loss of mystery has led to the loss of majesty! The more we know, the less we believe.
But knowledge of the workings should not negate wonder. It should stir wonder! Who has more reason to worship than the astronomer who has seen the stars? Why then should we worship less? We’re more impressed with our discovery of the light switch than with the one who invented electricity. And rather than worship the Creator, we worship the creation!
No wonder there is no wonder! We think we have figured it all out!
From Grace for the Moment
Job 38
The Lord Speaks
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains[b] of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons[c]
or lead out the Bear[d] with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s[e] dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[f]
or gives the rooster understanding?[g]
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 1:1-4,12-18
The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
A Rebellious Nation
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
As White As Snow
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Your sins . . . shall be as white as snow. —Isaiah 1:18
Iwas driving my son home from school one day when snow began to fall. The cottony fluff came down steadily and quickly. Eventually, we slowed to a stop, boxed in by traffic. From inside our vehicle, we watched a transformation take place. Dark patches of soil turned white. Snow softened the sharp outlines of buildings; it coated the cars around us, and accumulated on every tree in sight.
That snowfall reminded me of a spiritual truth: Just as that snow covered everything in sight, God’s grace covers our sin. But grace doesn’t just cover sin, grace erases sin. Through the prophet Isaiah, God appealed to the Israelites, saying, “Come now, and let us reason together . . . though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isa. 1:18). When God made this promise, His children had a painful problem with sin. God compared them to a physical body plagued with “wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil” (v.6 niv).
As bad as their sin was, God was willing to extend His grace to them. As His children today, we have the same assurance. Sin may stain our lives, but when we repent and confess it, we have “the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of [God’s] grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Lord, give me courage to confess,
To bare my sinful heart to Thee;
Forgiving love You long to show
And from my sin to set me free. —D. DeHaan
The weight of sin is balanced only by the blood of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Put God First
Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . .for He knew what was in man —John 2:24-25
Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be— absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.
Put God’s Will First. “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:9).
A person’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need— our Lord’s obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, “We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him.” But we must first make sure that God’s “needs” and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, “. . . tarry . . . until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the “needs” of God and His will. Once God’s “needs” in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His “needs” elsewhere.
Put God’s Son First. “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:5).
God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.” Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Matthew 15:1-20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Gives Hope
My grandmother canned her own peach preserves and stored them in an underground cellar. It was a deep hole with wooden steps and a musty smell. As a youngster, I'd climb in, close the door and see how long I could last in the darkness. Not even a slit of light entered that underground hole. I'd sit listening to my breath and heartbeats, until I couldn't take it anymore. Then I would race up the stairs and throw open the door! Light would avalanche into the cellar. What a change! Moments before I couldn't see anything-then, all of a sudden I could see everything!
Just as light poured into the cellar, God's hope pours into your world. Upon the sick, He shines the ray of healing. To the confused, He offers the light of Scripture. God gives hope! Your cup overflows with joy-with grace. Shouldn't your heart overflow with gratitude?
From Traveling Light
Matthew 15:1-20
New International Version (NIV)
That Which Defiles
15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[c]”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Footnotes:
Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13
Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Philippians 4:10-13
Thanks for Their Gifts
10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Insight
The spiritual vitality and confidence found in the inspiring words of today’s text have sustained the faith of believers for hundreds of years. Here Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (v.13). When we read these words we also need to take into consideration their context. Paul, while unjustly incarcerated for his faith, has just received a gracious gift from the congregation in Philippi. The apostle sees a pattern of grace provision in this generous gift. He has learned to rejoice in plenty and to be thankful and satisfied in want. The reason for this is that Jesus Christ, who indwells him and who engineers life’s circumstances, provides him with the power to be resilient in whatever circumstance he must face.
Jordyn’s Journey
By Dennis Fisher
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. —Philippians 4:13
Jordyn Castor was born blind. But this doesn’t hold her back from living a full and productive life. The documentary Can You See How I See? tells her story. She excels at school and with a little help she enjoys biking and downhill skiing.
Of her sight, Jordyn says: “If I could give my blindness back, I wouldn’t do it. I think God made all of us the way we are for a reason . . . and I think my blindness is part of what I am going to do with my life.” She is now a university student majoring in computer technology. Her dream is to assist in developing new computer software that will help the blind.
How can Jordyn maintain such a positive outlook on life? As a Christ-follower, she understands that God is in control of the circumstances of life. This gives her confidence to pursue opportunities that others might not have believed possible. Certainly, Jordyn’s life illustrates this truth from Philippians: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (4:13).
No matter what our strengths or weaknesses might be, God’s providential hand can give us what we need to make a difference for Him in our world. Rely on His strength to help you as you take a step of faith.
“I will strengthen,” so take courage,
Child of God, so weak and frail;
God has said so, and it must be,
For His promise cannot fail! —Anon.
God’s call to a task includes His strength to complete it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 30, 2014
“Yes— But . . .!”
Lord, I will follow You, but . . . —Luke 9:61
Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.
By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Salt Storage - #7145
Friday, May 30, 2014
It was the early winter of 1994 - the one the Sanitation Department of New York City would not forget for a while. Much of the East Coast got hit big time with this parade of snow and ice storms. At one point, they were coming about every other day. You take a hard freeze and frequent storms; well, it just created layers of frozen precipitation on the ground. Kind of like geological strata except slippery. Olympic skaters could have practiced on Broadway or Fifth Avenue.
Needless to say, the sand and salt trucks were working around the clock, and drivers worked such long hours they had to wear name tags when they got home because it was so late when they finally got there! But, ultimately, the slippery stuff wasn't the biggest problem. No, the real crisis was a salt shortage. Now, snow and ice are bad. But no salt on the snow and ice? Well, that's terrible. People were saying, "Hey, they ran out of salt!" Actually, one city official explained that was not the problem. He said, "There's plenty of salt. The problem is we can't get the salt from where it is to where it's needed."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Salt Storage."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 5, beginning at verse 13, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt looses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again. It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men." God goes on to describe us, then, as "the light of the world, like a city set on a hill." And then He says, "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
If you're a follower of Jesus, there are two things you need to know that your Savior says you are. You are salt and you are light. Now, it doesn't take a lot of salt to change the environment. I mean, you don't need a pound of salt for a pound of meat, right? You don't have to have as much salt as there is ice. But in order for salt to do any good, it has to be in contact with the thing it is needed to change; on the street or on the meat. It doesn't do anything in a salt shaker or piled in a salt mountain somewhere in a big storage yard.
God's problem with getting Jesus to lost and dying people is the same as that winter emergency in New York; the salt wasn't getting where it was needed. We - who know Christ - often are not in enough meaningful contact with the people who need us most. It's as if there are these great mountains of spiritual salt in a very cold and frozen world. We salt people spend so much time in meetings with each other, doing programs for each other, having concerts with each other, serving on committees for each other, and doing books and music for each other. We're disconnected from the people who are dying without our Jesus.
Isn't it time for the salt to get out where it's needed? We need to leave the comfort of Salt Mountain and dare to risk getting involved in places where lost people are; to look at the unbelieving people around us and start building some bridges into their lives; building intentional rescue relationships. More than picketers, protestors, politickers, or promoters, God needs some of His people to just move close to some people who are not His people.
Would you dare to ask God today to lay some lost person on your heart? Maybe He already has. Ask Him, "God, go ahead and break my heart for the people within my reach who do not have You." And then invest yourself in what Jesus did. He came "to seek and to save those who are lost."
Too many people are slipping away, falling, crashing because there is no salt making a difference where they are. Please, if you know Jesus, be where you are needed the most.
My grandmother canned her own peach preserves and stored them in an underground cellar. It was a deep hole with wooden steps and a musty smell. As a youngster, I'd climb in, close the door and see how long I could last in the darkness. Not even a slit of light entered that underground hole. I'd sit listening to my breath and heartbeats, until I couldn't take it anymore. Then I would race up the stairs and throw open the door! Light would avalanche into the cellar. What a change! Moments before I couldn't see anything-then, all of a sudden I could see everything!
Just as light poured into the cellar, God's hope pours into your world. Upon the sick, He shines the ray of healing. To the confused, He offers the light of Scripture. God gives hope! Your cup overflows with joy-with grace. Shouldn't your heart overflow with gratitude?
From Traveling Light
Matthew 15:1-20
New International Version (NIV)
That Which Defiles
15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[c]”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Footnotes:
Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13
Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Philippians 4:10-13
Thanks for Their Gifts
10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Insight
The spiritual vitality and confidence found in the inspiring words of today’s text have sustained the faith of believers for hundreds of years. Here Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (v.13). When we read these words we also need to take into consideration their context. Paul, while unjustly incarcerated for his faith, has just received a gracious gift from the congregation in Philippi. The apostle sees a pattern of grace provision in this generous gift. He has learned to rejoice in plenty and to be thankful and satisfied in want. The reason for this is that Jesus Christ, who indwells him and who engineers life’s circumstances, provides him with the power to be resilient in whatever circumstance he must face.
Jordyn’s Journey
By Dennis Fisher
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. —Philippians 4:13
Jordyn Castor was born blind. But this doesn’t hold her back from living a full and productive life. The documentary Can You See How I See? tells her story. She excels at school and with a little help she enjoys biking and downhill skiing.
Of her sight, Jordyn says: “If I could give my blindness back, I wouldn’t do it. I think God made all of us the way we are for a reason . . . and I think my blindness is part of what I am going to do with my life.” She is now a university student majoring in computer technology. Her dream is to assist in developing new computer software that will help the blind.
How can Jordyn maintain such a positive outlook on life? As a Christ-follower, she understands that God is in control of the circumstances of life. This gives her confidence to pursue opportunities that others might not have believed possible. Certainly, Jordyn’s life illustrates this truth from Philippians: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (4:13).
No matter what our strengths or weaknesses might be, God’s providential hand can give us what we need to make a difference for Him in our world. Rely on His strength to help you as you take a step of faith.
“I will strengthen,” so take courage,
Child of God, so weak and frail;
God has said so, and it must be,
For His promise cannot fail! —Anon.
God’s call to a task includes His strength to complete it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 30, 2014
“Yes— But . . .!”
Lord, I will follow You, but . . . —Luke 9:61
Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.
By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Salt Storage - #7145
Friday, May 30, 2014
It was the early winter of 1994 - the one the Sanitation Department of New York City would not forget for a while. Much of the East Coast got hit big time with this parade of snow and ice storms. At one point, they were coming about every other day. You take a hard freeze and frequent storms; well, it just created layers of frozen precipitation on the ground. Kind of like geological strata except slippery. Olympic skaters could have practiced on Broadway or Fifth Avenue.
Needless to say, the sand and salt trucks were working around the clock, and drivers worked such long hours they had to wear name tags when they got home because it was so late when they finally got there! But, ultimately, the slippery stuff wasn't the biggest problem. No, the real crisis was a salt shortage. Now, snow and ice are bad. But no salt on the snow and ice? Well, that's terrible. People were saying, "Hey, they ran out of salt!" Actually, one city official explained that was not the problem. He said, "There's plenty of salt. The problem is we can't get the salt from where it is to where it's needed."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Salt Storage."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 5, beginning at verse 13, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt looses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again. It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men." God goes on to describe us, then, as "the light of the world, like a city set on a hill." And then He says, "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
If you're a follower of Jesus, there are two things you need to know that your Savior says you are. You are salt and you are light. Now, it doesn't take a lot of salt to change the environment. I mean, you don't need a pound of salt for a pound of meat, right? You don't have to have as much salt as there is ice. But in order for salt to do any good, it has to be in contact with the thing it is needed to change; on the street or on the meat. It doesn't do anything in a salt shaker or piled in a salt mountain somewhere in a big storage yard.
God's problem with getting Jesus to lost and dying people is the same as that winter emergency in New York; the salt wasn't getting where it was needed. We - who know Christ - often are not in enough meaningful contact with the people who need us most. It's as if there are these great mountains of spiritual salt in a very cold and frozen world. We salt people spend so much time in meetings with each other, doing programs for each other, having concerts with each other, serving on committees for each other, and doing books and music for each other. We're disconnected from the people who are dying without our Jesus.
Isn't it time for the salt to get out where it's needed? We need to leave the comfort of Salt Mountain and dare to risk getting involved in places where lost people are; to look at the unbelieving people around us and start building some bridges into their lives; building intentional rescue relationships. More than picketers, protestors, politickers, or promoters, God needs some of His people to just move close to some people who are not His people.
Would you dare to ask God today to lay some lost person on your heart? Maybe He already has. Ask Him, "God, go ahead and break my heart for the people within my reach who do not have You." And then invest yourself in what Jesus did. He came "to seek and to save those who are lost."
Too many people are slipping away, falling, crashing because there is no salt making a difference where they are. Please, if you know Jesus, be where you are needed the most.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Job 37, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Let Him Decide
You've shared your disappointments with your neighbor, your relatives, your friends. But have you taken them to God? James 5:13 says, 'Anyone who is having troubles should pray."
Before you go anywhere else with your disappointments, go to God. Maybe you don't want to trouble Him with your hurts. "He's got famines and wars; He won't care about my little struggles," you think. Why don't you let Him decide that?
He cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about Peter's tax payment to give him a coin. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers. He cares about you! Your first step is to go to the right person. Go to God. Your second step is to assume the right posture. Bow before God. And-trust in Him!
Go. Bow. Trust. Worth a try-don't you think?
From Traveling Light
Job 37
“At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4 After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
7 So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor.[f]
8 The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.
9 The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.
10 The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.
11 He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
12 At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.
13 He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.
14 “Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.
15 Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
17 You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
18 can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
19 “Tell us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?
21 Now no one can look at the sun,
bright as it is in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.
22 Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;
God comes in awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
24 Therefore, people revere him,
for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?[g]”
Job 37:7 Or work, / he fills all people with fear by his power
Job 37:24 Or for he does not have regard for any who think they are wise.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 4:18-22
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Insight
These two pairs of brothers (Peter and Andrew, James and John) were the earliest disciples to respond to Jesus’ call. Most likely, Peter, Andrew, and John had an earlier encounter with Jesus (John 1:35-42). In today’s passage, the Lord is calling them to abandon their fishing trade and to follow Him fully and permanently (Matt. 4:20,22). Later, Peter declared that they had left all to follow Jesus (19:27). These four had been partners in the fishing business (Luke 5:10). Peter, James, and John were also privileged to become the inner circle among Jesus’ 12 disciples (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).
Quest For Stolen Treasure
By Joe Stowell
[Jesus] said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” —Matthew 4:19
In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the dwarfs gathered to go up against Smaug, the fierce dragon, to retrieve their stolen treasure. In spite of the dangerously frightening quest, Balin, the dwarfs’ second-in-command, expressed confidence in Thorin: “There is one I could follow. There is one I could call King.” His commitment to the mission, as dangerous as it was, was empowered by his confidence in his leader.
At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He gathered a group around Him that would join Him in the kingdom task of rescuing the treasure of lost souls from our enemy, Satan. When He called them, He said, “Follow Me” (Matt. 4:19). For them, following Jesus would mean a radical transition from catching fish to the enterprise of being fishers of men and women who were lost in the grip of sin. But the task would not always be easy; Jesus referred to the quest as taking up our cross to follow Him (see Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).
How do we stay engaged in the battle to reclaim Christ’s lost treasures when it seems intimidating or awkward? By keeping our eye on our Leader. He indeed is worthy—One we can follow, the One we call King!
Lord, in the face of intimidation and fear when
seeking to engage others with the gospel, remind
me that they are Your lost treasures. I count it
a privilege to follow You into others’ lives.
Follow your Leader into the lives of those around you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Trademark - #7144
Thursday, May 29, 2014
We tend to remember people by what they are most known for. Like, if you're from an older generation, well they would know Sinatra's "Old Blue Eyes" or you might remember Bob Hope. He had a trademark song, "Thanks for the Memories." Or let's say, "Linus" what do you think of? Right, the blanket - he's known for that. That's his trademark. Of course you have a trademark too...something that the people you work with, the people you go to school with, remember about you. That's your trademark. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, I know what your trademark should be, and it is so rare in our world today it's really noticeable. Didn't use to be rare, but it is now. And if you have it, you'll be noticed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trademark."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in the life of the Old Testament character Nehemiah. He had been carried away in the captivity of the Jews and taken to Persia where he's now a servant. As a Jew, he had worked his way up into the Persian hierarchy. He was actually a servant to King Artaxerxes - cupbearer of the king, which meant that he sampled every meal and participated every time there was a mealtime. He was pretty close to the king. He was a man with a trademark. I think it ought to be every believer's trademark.
And we pick it up in Nehemiah 2. "In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes when wine was brought for him, I took the wine..." This is Nehemiah speaking in the first person, "...and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, 'Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.'"
This little conversation, by the way, led to historic results. Nehemiah was able to talk about his burden for the walls of his city, Jerusalem, which had been torn down, and the king gave him the resources and the permission to go back and rebuild that city - the city of God - and really bring about part of the restoration of Israel in that day. It all started when the king said, "How come you're not smiling? I'm not used to seeing you like this."
You know what? Nehemiah was a man with big problems but a predictable smile. I mean, he's basically a captive. He's being treated well, but he is a captive in another country, he's been ripped away from home, he's got a tremendous burden - a problem he doesn't know how to solve in terms of the city of Jerusalem, but he's always smiling. You could always count on Nehemiah being the positive guy in the room. So, when he was down, it was an event.
How is it for you? I wonder when you are down, is that unusual? Does everybody take note? I wonder what kind of atmosphere you have around you? Well, I can tell you what. Around Nehemiah it was positive, it was radiant, it was happy. Later in this book, Nehemiah shared his secret. Here's what he said, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Not the joy of your situation. A lot of times there's no joy in the situation but the joy of the Lord.
In our world smiles have been replaced by being "cool." You just don't see many smiles. Stand along the street, in a school hallway, in an office building. There are not many smiles. But if you can relax in the great plans of God for your life and stifle the sarcasm and the negativity, your smile could become a fixture where you work like it was where Nehemiah worked.
When it's tense, and late, pressured, fatigued, and worrisome where you are, watch what your smile can do. Let the joy of the Lord light up your life. Let it be your trademark, and it will light up all those stressed out lives of all those people around you.
You've shared your disappointments with your neighbor, your relatives, your friends. But have you taken them to God? James 5:13 says, 'Anyone who is having troubles should pray."
Before you go anywhere else with your disappointments, go to God. Maybe you don't want to trouble Him with your hurts. "He's got famines and wars; He won't care about my little struggles," you think. Why don't you let Him decide that?
He cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about Peter's tax payment to give him a coin. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers. He cares about you! Your first step is to go to the right person. Go to God. Your second step is to assume the right posture. Bow before God. And-trust in Him!
Go. Bow. Trust. Worth a try-don't you think?
From Traveling Light
Job 37
“At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4 After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
7 So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor.[f]
8 The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.
9 The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.
10 The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.
11 He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
12 At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.
13 He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.
14 “Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.
15 Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
17 You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
18 can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
19 “Tell us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?
21 Now no one can look at the sun,
bright as it is in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.
22 Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;
God comes in awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
24 Therefore, people revere him,
for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?[g]”
Job 37:7 Or work, / he fills all people with fear by his power
Job 37:24 Or for he does not have regard for any who think they are wise.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 4:18-22
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Insight
These two pairs of brothers (Peter and Andrew, James and John) were the earliest disciples to respond to Jesus’ call. Most likely, Peter, Andrew, and John had an earlier encounter with Jesus (John 1:35-42). In today’s passage, the Lord is calling them to abandon their fishing trade and to follow Him fully and permanently (Matt. 4:20,22). Later, Peter declared that they had left all to follow Jesus (19:27). These four had been partners in the fishing business (Luke 5:10). Peter, James, and John were also privileged to become the inner circle among Jesus’ 12 disciples (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).
Quest For Stolen Treasure
By Joe Stowell
[Jesus] said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” —Matthew 4:19
In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the dwarfs gathered to go up against Smaug, the fierce dragon, to retrieve their stolen treasure. In spite of the dangerously frightening quest, Balin, the dwarfs’ second-in-command, expressed confidence in Thorin: “There is one I could follow. There is one I could call King.” His commitment to the mission, as dangerous as it was, was empowered by his confidence in his leader.
At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He gathered a group around Him that would join Him in the kingdom task of rescuing the treasure of lost souls from our enemy, Satan. When He called them, He said, “Follow Me” (Matt. 4:19). For them, following Jesus would mean a radical transition from catching fish to the enterprise of being fishers of men and women who were lost in the grip of sin. But the task would not always be easy; Jesus referred to the quest as taking up our cross to follow Him (see Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).
How do we stay engaged in the battle to reclaim Christ’s lost treasures when it seems intimidating or awkward? By keeping our eye on our Leader. He indeed is worthy—One we can follow, the One we call King!
Lord, in the face of intimidation and fear when
seeking to engage others with the gospel, remind
me that they are Your lost treasures. I count it
a privilege to follow You into others’ lives.
Follow your Leader into the lives of those around you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Trademark - #7144
Thursday, May 29, 2014
We tend to remember people by what they are most known for. Like, if you're from an older generation, well they would know Sinatra's "Old Blue Eyes" or you might remember Bob Hope. He had a trademark song, "Thanks for the Memories." Or let's say, "Linus" what do you think of? Right, the blanket - he's known for that. That's his trademark. Of course you have a trademark too...something that the people you work with, the people you go to school with, remember about you. That's your trademark. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, I know what your trademark should be, and it is so rare in our world today it's really noticeable. Didn't use to be rare, but it is now. And if you have it, you'll be noticed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trademark."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in the life of the Old Testament character Nehemiah. He had been carried away in the captivity of the Jews and taken to Persia where he's now a servant. As a Jew, he had worked his way up into the Persian hierarchy. He was actually a servant to King Artaxerxes - cupbearer of the king, which meant that he sampled every meal and participated every time there was a mealtime. He was pretty close to the king. He was a man with a trademark. I think it ought to be every believer's trademark.
And we pick it up in Nehemiah 2. "In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes when wine was brought for him, I took the wine..." This is Nehemiah speaking in the first person, "...and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, 'Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.'"
This little conversation, by the way, led to historic results. Nehemiah was able to talk about his burden for the walls of his city, Jerusalem, which had been torn down, and the king gave him the resources and the permission to go back and rebuild that city - the city of God - and really bring about part of the restoration of Israel in that day. It all started when the king said, "How come you're not smiling? I'm not used to seeing you like this."
You know what? Nehemiah was a man with big problems but a predictable smile. I mean, he's basically a captive. He's being treated well, but he is a captive in another country, he's been ripped away from home, he's got a tremendous burden - a problem he doesn't know how to solve in terms of the city of Jerusalem, but he's always smiling. You could always count on Nehemiah being the positive guy in the room. So, when he was down, it was an event.
How is it for you? I wonder when you are down, is that unusual? Does everybody take note? I wonder what kind of atmosphere you have around you? Well, I can tell you what. Around Nehemiah it was positive, it was radiant, it was happy. Later in this book, Nehemiah shared his secret. Here's what he said, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Not the joy of your situation. A lot of times there's no joy in the situation but the joy of the Lord.
In our world smiles have been replaced by being "cool." You just don't see many smiles. Stand along the street, in a school hallway, in an office building. There are not many smiles. But if you can relax in the great plans of God for your life and stifle the sarcasm and the negativity, your smile could become a fixture where you work like it was where Nehemiah worked.
When it's tense, and late, pressured, fatigued, and worrisome where you are, watch what your smile can do. Let the joy of the Lord light up your life. Let it be your trademark, and it will light up all those stressed out lives of all those people around you.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Job 36, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Sitting Duck
If you go to the grocery store on an empty stomach, you're a sitting duck! You buy everything you don't need. Doesn't matter if it's good for you, you just want to fill your tummy.
When you're lonely-you do the same, pulling stuff off the shelf, not because you need it, but because you're hungry for love. For fear of not fitting in, we take drugs. For fear of appearing small, we go into debt and buy the house. For fear of going unnoticed, we dress to impress. But all that changes when we discover God's perfect love. The perfect love that 1 John 4:18 says "casts out fear."
Loneliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? If a season of solitude is His way to teach you to know His love, don't you think it's worth it? So do I.
From Traveling Light
Job 36
“Bear with me a little longer and I will show you
that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.
3 I get my knowledge from afar;
I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
4 Be assured that my words are not false;
one who has perfect knowledge is with you.
5 “God is mighty, but despises no one;
he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.
6 He does not keep the wicked alive
but gives the afflicted their rights.
7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous;
he enthrones them with kings
and exalts them forever.
8 But if people are bound in chains,
held fast by cords of affliction,
9 he tells them what they have done—
that they have sinned arrogantly.
10 He makes them listen to correction
and commands them to repent of their evil.
11 If they obey and serve him,
they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity
and their years in contentment.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will perish by the sword[a]
and die without knowledge.
13 “The godless in heart harbor resentment;
even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.
14 They die in their youth,
among male prostitutes of the shrines.
15 But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;
he speaks to them in their affliction.
16 “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress
to a spacious place free from restriction,
to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.
17 But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;
judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
18 Be careful that no one entices you by riches;
do not let a large bribe turn you aside.
19 Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts
sustain you so you would not be in distress?
20 Do not long for the night,
to drag people away from their homes.[b]
21 Beware of turning to evil,
which you seem to prefer to affliction.
22 “God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has prescribed his ways for him,
or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?
24 Remember to extol his work,
which people have praised in song.
25 All humanity has seen it;
mortals gaze on it from afar.
26 How great is God—beyond our understanding!
The number of his years is past finding out.
27 “He draws up the drops of water,
which distill as rain to the streams[c];
28 the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind.
29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion?
30 See how he scatters his lightning about him,
bathing the depths of the sea.
31 This is the way he governs[d] the nations
and provides food in abundance.
32 He fills his hands with lightning
and commands it to strike its mark.
33 His thunder announces the coming storm;
even the cattle make known its approach.[e]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Micah 7:8-9,18-20
Israel Will Rise
Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the Lord’s wrath,
until he pleads my case
and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness.
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago.
Insight
Today’s reading contains a song of victory. Israel, who has been judged for a cold heart and acts of disobedience, will one day respond gladly with obedience to God. The nation will find light in the Lord’s presence. Interestingly, the passage shares a similar spirit to Moses’ Song of the Sea: “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11).
Micah underscores that God detests those leaders who unscrupulously use their position of power to fleece the helpless and to corrupt courts of justice. But the message of hope is clear to all who repent with heartfelt sincerity and wish to return to a place of genuine obedience.
The Crash
By Randy Kilgore
He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness. —Micah 7:9
For years after the Great Depression, the stock market struggled to win back investors’ confidence. Then, in 1952, Harry Markowitz suggested that investors spread their stock holdings over several companies and industries. He developed a theory for portfolio selection that helped investors in uncertain times. In 1990, Markowitz and two others won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their theory.
Like those jittery investors, we followers of Jesus may also find ourselves frozen in fear after a “crash” in our personal lives, unsure how to pick up the pieces and move on. We might even spend our remaining lives waiting for a “Markowitz moment,” when one big idea or action can help us recover from a previous failure.
We forget that Jesus has already done that on our behalf. He covered our shame, and He set us free to fellowship with God and serve Him daily. Because He gave His life, and rose from the dead, when we “fall,” we can “arise” with Him, for “He delights in mercy” (Micah 7:8,18).
The moment we find Jesus, our eternity with Him begins. He walks alongside us so He can change us into the people we long to be and were created to be.
Father, my actions aren’t adequate to fix my
failures. Thank You for doing that through
Your Son Jesus who gave Himself for us.
Help me to look up and walk with You.
Look up from your failure, and you’ll find God standing ready to receive you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Unquestion Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Knowing When It's Time To Run - #7143
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Our son-in-law can only sit still for so long. When we lived back East, there was this one time when he was visiting us that he reached his limit regarding that. So he grabbed his basketball and went out to the hoop in our back yard. Now, it was a pretty primitive basketball setup. It was just several boards nailed to a tree at the back of our driveway. So, you know, very homemade, wooden backboard.
He was working up a sweat out there, shooting and dribbling. And suddenly he noticed a big bee buzzing around his head. He realized that it had come from around the hoop and the backboard. Upon closer inspection, he saw a beehive there. Not too much closer, he just looked and there it was.
Apparently, those bees were not happy about that basketball causing repeated hive-quakes, or whatever you call it. So they began to respond. My son-in-law told me what he had to do. He didn't try to ignore the bees and keep playing his game. No! He didn't try to kill the bees. He ran into the house as fast as he could. He really was smart and ran into the house. He demonstrated his intelligence.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knowing When It's Time To Run."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 2:22. It says, "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace." Notice, "flee the evil desires of youth." Now, lots of people have ended up in a sexual sin that they thought they would never commit. Very few people of character plan to fall into adultery or sexual sin or premarital sex or going farther than their standards and God's standards would allow them.
I once received a letter from a young listener, and she poured out her heart in it. I had begun a program talking about some of the statistics about how many young people have had pre-marital sex. And she said, "Until a month ago, I never dreamed I'd be one of those statistics." She went on to talk about how she had made a series of choices that brought her into a situation where she was vulnerable, where there was an opportunity to sin. She never wanted to, she never planned to, but she did. She was really hurting. It was a heartbreaking letter.
Now, this verse addresses how to avoid that. "Flee evil desires of youth." There are three things you can do with sexual temptation. One, you can flirt with it. That would be like if our son-in-law got on a ladder and inspected that beehive; trying to see how close he could get to it without getting stung. That would be dumb. And it's dumb when you try to do that with sexual temptation. The Bible calls sexual desire "fire in your lap." That's pretty explicit language to describe how you're only going to get burned if you flirt with it.
The second thing you can do is you can fight sexual temptation. Well, that would be like our son-in-law staying out there still shooting his baskets, just trying to swat or kill every bee. Sexual desire will almost always ultimately win unless you get away from it. It's overpowering stuff if you allow yourself to be in a situation where you can dwell on it, where you can act on it, or be around it for very long.
The third thing is what the Bible says to do. "Flee from it." Be realistic. Don't underestimate sexual temptation. Don't underestimate your ability to fall. Don't get anywhere close to it. You're never going to win morally unless you get as far from sexual temptation as possible. That girl in that letter spoke for millions who have had sex before marriage or outside their marriage vows. She said it just isn't worth it.
So get rid of any input that feeds your lust; a movie channel, a website, music, a magazine, humor, certain things on television. And avoid settings where you're alone with someone of the opposite sex for any extended time. Change what you're doing at the very first thought of anything wrong.
Hey, our son-in-law was smart. He knew you don't flirt with or you don't even fight what can really sting you. He ran! That's how you win against temptation. Believe me, too many people have already been stung.
If you go to the grocery store on an empty stomach, you're a sitting duck! You buy everything you don't need. Doesn't matter if it's good for you, you just want to fill your tummy.
When you're lonely-you do the same, pulling stuff off the shelf, not because you need it, but because you're hungry for love. For fear of not fitting in, we take drugs. For fear of appearing small, we go into debt and buy the house. For fear of going unnoticed, we dress to impress. But all that changes when we discover God's perfect love. The perfect love that 1 John 4:18 says "casts out fear."
Loneliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? If a season of solitude is His way to teach you to know His love, don't you think it's worth it? So do I.
From Traveling Light
Job 36
“Bear with me a little longer and I will show you
that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.
3 I get my knowledge from afar;
I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
4 Be assured that my words are not false;
one who has perfect knowledge is with you.
5 “God is mighty, but despises no one;
he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.
6 He does not keep the wicked alive
but gives the afflicted their rights.
7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous;
he enthrones them with kings
and exalts them forever.
8 But if people are bound in chains,
held fast by cords of affliction,
9 he tells them what they have done—
that they have sinned arrogantly.
10 He makes them listen to correction
and commands them to repent of their evil.
11 If they obey and serve him,
they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity
and their years in contentment.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will perish by the sword[a]
and die without knowledge.
13 “The godless in heart harbor resentment;
even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.
14 They die in their youth,
among male prostitutes of the shrines.
15 But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;
he speaks to them in their affliction.
16 “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress
to a spacious place free from restriction,
to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.
17 But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;
judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
18 Be careful that no one entices you by riches;
do not let a large bribe turn you aside.
19 Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts
sustain you so you would not be in distress?
20 Do not long for the night,
to drag people away from their homes.[b]
21 Beware of turning to evil,
which you seem to prefer to affliction.
22 “God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has prescribed his ways for him,
or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?
24 Remember to extol his work,
which people have praised in song.
25 All humanity has seen it;
mortals gaze on it from afar.
26 How great is God—beyond our understanding!
The number of his years is past finding out.
27 “He draws up the drops of water,
which distill as rain to the streams[c];
28 the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind.
29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion?
30 See how he scatters his lightning about him,
bathing the depths of the sea.
31 This is the way he governs[d] the nations
and provides food in abundance.
32 He fills his hands with lightning
and commands it to strike its mark.
33 His thunder announces the coming storm;
even the cattle make known its approach.[e]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Micah 7:8-9,18-20
Israel Will Rise
Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the Lord’s wrath,
until he pleads my case
and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness.
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago.
Insight
Today’s reading contains a song of victory. Israel, who has been judged for a cold heart and acts of disobedience, will one day respond gladly with obedience to God. The nation will find light in the Lord’s presence. Interestingly, the passage shares a similar spirit to Moses’ Song of the Sea: “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11).
Micah underscores that God detests those leaders who unscrupulously use their position of power to fleece the helpless and to corrupt courts of justice. But the message of hope is clear to all who repent with heartfelt sincerity and wish to return to a place of genuine obedience.
The Crash
By Randy Kilgore
He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness. —Micah 7:9
For years after the Great Depression, the stock market struggled to win back investors’ confidence. Then, in 1952, Harry Markowitz suggested that investors spread their stock holdings over several companies and industries. He developed a theory for portfolio selection that helped investors in uncertain times. In 1990, Markowitz and two others won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their theory.
Like those jittery investors, we followers of Jesus may also find ourselves frozen in fear after a “crash” in our personal lives, unsure how to pick up the pieces and move on. We might even spend our remaining lives waiting for a “Markowitz moment,” when one big idea or action can help us recover from a previous failure.
We forget that Jesus has already done that on our behalf. He covered our shame, and He set us free to fellowship with God and serve Him daily. Because He gave His life, and rose from the dead, when we “fall,” we can “arise” with Him, for “He delights in mercy” (Micah 7:8,18).
The moment we find Jesus, our eternity with Him begins. He walks alongside us so He can change us into the people we long to be and were created to be.
Father, my actions aren’t adequate to fix my
failures. Thank You for doing that through
Your Son Jesus who gave Himself for us.
Help me to look up and walk with You.
Look up from your failure, and you’ll find God standing ready to receive you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Unquestion Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Knowing When It's Time To Run - #7143
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Our son-in-law can only sit still for so long. When we lived back East, there was this one time when he was visiting us that he reached his limit regarding that. So he grabbed his basketball and went out to the hoop in our back yard. Now, it was a pretty primitive basketball setup. It was just several boards nailed to a tree at the back of our driveway. So, you know, very homemade, wooden backboard.
He was working up a sweat out there, shooting and dribbling. And suddenly he noticed a big bee buzzing around his head. He realized that it had come from around the hoop and the backboard. Upon closer inspection, he saw a beehive there. Not too much closer, he just looked and there it was.
Apparently, those bees were not happy about that basketball causing repeated hive-quakes, or whatever you call it. So they began to respond. My son-in-law told me what he had to do. He didn't try to ignore the bees and keep playing his game. No! He didn't try to kill the bees. He ran into the house as fast as he could. He really was smart and ran into the house. He demonstrated his intelligence.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knowing When It's Time To Run."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 2:22. It says, "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace." Notice, "flee the evil desires of youth." Now, lots of people have ended up in a sexual sin that they thought they would never commit. Very few people of character plan to fall into adultery or sexual sin or premarital sex or going farther than their standards and God's standards would allow them.
I once received a letter from a young listener, and she poured out her heart in it. I had begun a program talking about some of the statistics about how many young people have had pre-marital sex. And she said, "Until a month ago, I never dreamed I'd be one of those statistics." She went on to talk about how she had made a series of choices that brought her into a situation where she was vulnerable, where there was an opportunity to sin. She never wanted to, she never planned to, but she did. She was really hurting. It was a heartbreaking letter.
Now, this verse addresses how to avoid that. "Flee evil desires of youth." There are three things you can do with sexual temptation. One, you can flirt with it. That would be like if our son-in-law got on a ladder and inspected that beehive; trying to see how close he could get to it without getting stung. That would be dumb. And it's dumb when you try to do that with sexual temptation. The Bible calls sexual desire "fire in your lap." That's pretty explicit language to describe how you're only going to get burned if you flirt with it.
The second thing you can do is you can fight sexual temptation. Well, that would be like our son-in-law staying out there still shooting his baskets, just trying to swat or kill every bee. Sexual desire will almost always ultimately win unless you get away from it. It's overpowering stuff if you allow yourself to be in a situation where you can dwell on it, where you can act on it, or be around it for very long.
The third thing is what the Bible says to do. "Flee from it." Be realistic. Don't underestimate sexual temptation. Don't underestimate your ability to fall. Don't get anywhere close to it. You're never going to win morally unless you get as far from sexual temptation as possible. That girl in that letter spoke for millions who have had sex before marriage or outside their marriage vows. She said it just isn't worth it.
So get rid of any input that feeds your lust; a movie channel, a website, music, a magazine, humor, certain things on television. And avoid settings where you're alone with someone of the opposite sex for any extended time. Change what you're doing at the very first thought of anything wrong.
Hey, our son-in-law was smart. He knew you don't flirt with or you don't even fight what can really sting you. He ran! That's how you win against temptation. Believe me, too many people have already been stung.
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