MaxLucado.com: God is Enough
Let’s face it–anxiety or worry have no advantages! They ruin our health, rob us of joy, and change nothing! Our day stands no chance against the terrorists of the Land of Anxiety.
But Christ offers a worry-bazooka. Remember how He taught us to pray? “Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11” This simple sentence unveils God’s provision plan: live one day at a time.
Worry gives small problems big shadows. Corrie ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.” And Romans 8:28 affirms: “Every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”
Most anxiety stems, not from what we need, but from what we want. Philippians 4:4 says, “delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in Him at all times!”
If God is enough, you’ll always have enough!
From Great Day Every Day
Matthew 24:1-28
New International Version (NIV)
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
Footnotes:
Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 49:1-6
The Servant of the Lord
Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am[a] honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Footnotes:
Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be
Insight
Isaiah prophesied under Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, meaning that his ministry may have continued for more than 64 years. He was the son of Amoz (Isa.1:1), was married (his wife was referred to as “the prophetess,” 8:3), and had two sons, whose names symbolized the turbulent times in which Isaiah served his God. His first son’s name, Shear-Jashub (7:3), means “a remnant shall return” and his second son’s name, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8:3), means “spoil quickly, plunder speedily.”
Small Ways In Small Places
By David H. Roper
For who has despised the day of small things? —Zechariah 4:10
Often I meet with people who serve in what they think are seemingly small ways in small places. They are frequently discouraged by loneliness, feeling that their acts of service are insignificant. When I hear them speak, I think of one of the angels in C. S. Lewis’ book Out of the Silent Planet. He said: “My people have a law never to speak of sizes or numbers to you. . . . It makes you do reverence to nothings and pass by what is really great.”
Sometimes culture says bigger is better—that size is the truest measure of success. It takes a strong person to resist that trend, especially if he or she is laboring in a small place. But we must not “pass by what is really great.”
It’s not that numbers aren’t important (after all, the apostles counted their converts; see Acts 2:41). Numbers represent living people with eternal needs. We should all work and pray for large numbers of people to enter the kingdom, but numbers mustn’t be the basis for self-esteem.
God doesn’t call us to find fulfillment in the amount of work we do for Him, or the number of people who are a part of that work, but in faithfully doing our work for His sake. Serving our great God with His strength in a small way is not a stepping-stone to greatness—it is greatness.
Lord, help me remember that there are no
small places or small people. All are precious
in Your sight. May I see the value of my work
and cherish it as You do.
Anyone doing God’s work in God’s way is important in His sight.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Dependent on God’s Presence
Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint —Isaiah 40:31
There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:35-36). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).
When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.
Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though . . .” (Psalm 46:2)— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Exodus 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: 'Birthdays'
What is it about birthdays that causes us to quiver so? Certainly part of the problem is the mirror. Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician. But the real pain is deeper. Sometimes a dream-come-true-world has come true and it’s less than you’d hoped. Regret becomes a major pastime.
Luke 17:33 says, “Whoever tries to keep his life safe will lose it, and the one who’s prepared to lose his life will preserve it.” “There are two ways to view life,” Jesus is saying, “those who protect it or those who pursue it. The wisest are not the ones with the most years in their lives, but the most life in their years.”
You can take the safe route. Or you can hear the voice of adventure—God’s adventure. Adopt the child. Teach the class. Change careers. Make a difference. Sure it isn’t safe, but what is?
from He Still Moves Stones
Exodus 3
Moses and the Burning Bush
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[e] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[f] will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[g] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[h] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Footnotes:
Exodus 3:6 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see Acts 7:32) fathers
Exodus 3:12 The Hebrew is plural.
Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 102:18-28
Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life[a] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
Insight
How comforting to know that God is always the same and never changes! Despite the twists and turns, ups and downs, and constant changes of our lives, we know that standing powerful and constant above it all is our God. The wonderful things that God has done for us must be preserved and told to others (v.18).
Whoppers Or Adventures?
By Randy Kilgore
But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. —Psalm 102:27
My grandfather loved to tell stories, and I loved to listen. Papaw had two kinds of tales. “Whoppers” were stories with a whiff of truth, but which changed with each new telling. “Adventures” were stories that really happened, and the facts never changed when retold. One day my grandfather told a story that just seemed too far-fetched to be true. “Whopper,” I declared, but my grandfather insisted it was true. Although his telling never varied, I simply couldn’t believe it, it was that unusual.
Then one day, while I was listening to a radio program, I heard the announcer tell a story that confirmed the truth of my grandfather’s tale. My grandfather’s “whopper” suddenly became an “adventure.” It was a moving moment of remembrance that made him even more trustworthy in my eyes.
When the psalmist wrote about the unchanging nature of God (102:27), he was offering this same comfort—the trustworthiness of God—to us. The idea is repeated in Hebrews 13:8 with these words, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This can lift our hearts above our daily trials to remind us that an unchanging, trustworthy God rules over even the chaos of a changing world.
Our God is God—He does not change;
His truth, His love remain each day the same,
He’s faithful to His matchless name,
For God is God—He does not change. —D. DeHaan
Let the sameness of God waft over your heart with His peace in your storms.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 19, 2014
The Submission of the Believer
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13
Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.” No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It is a complete and effective domination, in which I acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord . . .” (Revelation 4:11). It is simply the unworthiness within me that refuses to bow down or to submit to one who is worthy. When I meet someone who is more holy than myself, and I don’t recognize his worthiness, nor obey his instructions for me, it is a sign of my own unworthiness being revealed. God teaches us by using these people who are a little better than we are; not better intellectually, but more holy. And He continues to do so until we willingly submit. Then the whole attitude of our life is one of obedience to Him.
If our Lord insisted on our obedience, He would simply become a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we truly see Him we will instantly obey Him. Then He is easily Lord of our life, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The level of my growth in grace is revealed by the way I look at obedience. We should have a much higher view of the word obedience, rescuing it from the mire of the world. Obedience is only possible between people who are equals in their relationship to each other; like the relationship between father and son, not that between master and servant. Jesus showed this relationship by saying, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). The Son was obedient as our Redeemer, because He was the Son, not in order to become God’s Son.
What is it about birthdays that causes us to quiver so? Certainly part of the problem is the mirror. Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician. But the real pain is deeper. Sometimes a dream-come-true-world has come true and it’s less than you’d hoped. Regret becomes a major pastime.
Luke 17:33 says, “Whoever tries to keep his life safe will lose it, and the one who’s prepared to lose his life will preserve it.” “There are two ways to view life,” Jesus is saying, “those who protect it or those who pursue it. The wisest are not the ones with the most years in their lives, but the most life in their years.”
You can take the safe route. Or you can hear the voice of adventure—God’s adventure. Adopt the child. Teach the class. Change careers. Make a difference. Sure it isn’t safe, but what is?
from He Still Moves Stones
Exodus 3
Moses and the Burning Bush
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[e] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[f] will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[g] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[h] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Footnotes:
Exodus 3:6 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see Acts 7:32) fathers
Exodus 3:12 The Hebrew is plural.
Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 102:18-28
Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life[a] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
Insight
How comforting to know that God is always the same and never changes! Despite the twists and turns, ups and downs, and constant changes of our lives, we know that standing powerful and constant above it all is our God. The wonderful things that God has done for us must be preserved and told to others (v.18).
Whoppers Or Adventures?
By Randy Kilgore
But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. —Psalm 102:27
My grandfather loved to tell stories, and I loved to listen. Papaw had two kinds of tales. “Whoppers” were stories with a whiff of truth, but which changed with each new telling. “Adventures” were stories that really happened, and the facts never changed when retold. One day my grandfather told a story that just seemed too far-fetched to be true. “Whopper,” I declared, but my grandfather insisted it was true. Although his telling never varied, I simply couldn’t believe it, it was that unusual.
Then one day, while I was listening to a radio program, I heard the announcer tell a story that confirmed the truth of my grandfather’s tale. My grandfather’s “whopper” suddenly became an “adventure.” It was a moving moment of remembrance that made him even more trustworthy in my eyes.
When the psalmist wrote about the unchanging nature of God (102:27), he was offering this same comfort—the trustworthiness of God—to us. The idea is repeated in Hebrews 13:8 with these words, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This can lift our hearts above our daily trials to remind us that an unchanging, trustworthy God rules over even the chaos of a changing world.
Our God is God—He does not change;
His truth, His love remain each day the same,
He’s faithful to His matchless name,
For God is God—He does not change. —D. DeHaan
Let the sameness of God waft over your heart with His peace in your storms.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 19, 2014
The Submission of the Believer
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13
Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.” No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It is a complete and effective domination, in which I acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord . . .” (Revelation 4:11). It is simply the unworthiness within me that refuses to bow down or to submit to one who is worthy. When I meet someone who is more holy than myself, and I don’t recognize his worthiness, nor obey his instructions for me, it is a sign of my own unworthiness being revealed. God teaches us by using these people who are a little better than we are; not better intellectually, but more holy. And He continues to do so until we willingly submit. Then the whole attitude of our life is one of obedience to Him.
If our Lord insisted on our obedience, He would simply become a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we truly see Him we will instantly obey Him. Then He is easily Lord of our life, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The level of my growth in grace is revealed by the way I look at obedience. We should have a much higher view of the word obedience, rescuing it from the mire of the world. Obedience is only possible between people who are equals in their relationship to each other; like the relationship between father and son, not that between master and servant. Jesus showed this relationship by saying, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). The Son was obedient as our Redeemer, because He was the Son, not in order to become God’s Son.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Exodus 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Sowing Seeds
Many parents aren’t proud of their family trees. The harvest was taken, but no seed was sown. Childhood memories bring more hurt than inspiration. If such is the case, put down the family scrapbook and pick up your Bible. John 3:6 reminds us, “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.” Your parents have given you genes, but God gives you grace.
Didn’t have a good father? Galatians 4:7 says God will be your father. Didn’t have a good role model? Ephesians 5:1 says, “You are God’s child whom He loves, so try to be like Him.”
You cannot control the way your forefathers responded to God. But you can control the way you respond to Him. The past does not have to be your prison. Choose well and someday—generations from now—your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank God for the seeds you sowed!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Exodus 2
The Birth of Moses
Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket[b] for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,[c] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
Moses Flees to Midian
11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,[d] saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Jeremiah 17:5-10
This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Insight
The heart is the very basis of character, including the mind and will. Because of our sinful nature, the “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Jeremiah debunked the popular belief that people are basically good (cf. Job 25:4; Ps. 51:5). That God examines and tests the heart is the consistent teaching of Scripture (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chron. 28:9; 2 Chron. 6:30; Ps. 139:1-2; Jer. 11:20; Rom. 8:27; Heb. 4:12-13). Although we might try to hide our innermost thoughts and motives from others, God sees. He alone knows the true character of every person. God searches and knows us, but loves us despite our inherent sinfulness.
Living Bridges
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. —Jeremiah 17:7
People who live in Cherrapunji, India, have developed a unique way to get across the many rivers and streams in their land. They grow bridges from the roots of rubber trees. These “living bridges” take between 10 to 15 years to mature, but once they are established, they are extremely stable and last for hundreds of years.
The Bible compares a person who trusts in God to “a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river” (Jer. 17:8). Because its roots are well-nourished, this tree survives soaring temperatures. And during drought it continues to yield fruit.
Like a firmly rooted tree, people who rely on God have a sense of stability and vitality despite the worst circumstances. In contrast, people who place their trust in other humans often live with a sense of instability. The Bible compares them to desert shrubs that are frequently malnourished and stand alone (v.6). So it is with the spiritual lives of people who forsake God.
Where are our roots? Are we rooted in Jesus? (Col. 2:7). Are we a bridge that leads others to Him? If we know Christ, we can testify to this truth: Blessed are those who trust in the Lord (Jer. 17:7).
Jesus is all the world to me,
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day,
Without Him I would fall. —Thompson
Even strong trials cannot blow down a person who is rooted in God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 18, 2014
The Mystery of Believing
He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.
Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 18, 2014
STOLEN DAUGHTERS - #7180
Our firstborn - our daughter - was only a few days old when I first called her "Princess." She's been my princess ever since. I cannot imagine the agony of having her snatched from her school and taken who knows where.
That was the ordeal hundreds of Nigerian parents went through. Nearly 300 of their daughters were kidnapped from their school by terrorists. The kidnappers threatened to sell those girls for something like $12. Some daddy's princess, some mother's treasure, sold like cattle.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stolen Daughters."
Demonstrations demanding action spread far beyond Nigeria. In fact, one national newscast said, "This has touched a nerve in women around the world." What a nightmare; your daughter stolen and taken to a very bad place. That's the kind of nightmare that I have shared with too many families.
After years of working with young people, my wife and I have grieved over a lot of stolen daughters. Thankfully not our own, but girls who - though they might still be there physically - have been taken away to a bad place morally, emotionally, or spiritually.
We've been there when a girl not yet a woman finds out she's going to be a mother; when a parent weeps over their daughter's life-scarring choices. I've been there when a parent has no idea where their daughter disappeared to. Been in the emergency room as a mom or dad waits as the doctors fight to save their girl who's overdosed.
Through it all, we've seen four ways that we can lose our daughters. First, missing dads: missing physically, or missing emotionally, leaving a girl unsure of her father's love, with this gaping daddy deficit. Which she will try to fill often by looking for love in all the wrong places and often getting lost.
And then there are misguided moms who let their little girls become "teenagers" long before they're ready. Break out the makeup, the clothes, and the styles of high school when she hasn't even finished elementary school. Psychologist Neil Postman called it "the disappearance of childhood." So many years ahead to be grown-up. Can't we let them have those few short years of being a child? If they act like they're 14 when they're ten, they'll be acting like they're 20 when they're 14 and often going to a very bad place.
Here's the third way we lose our daughters: selfish boys. Oh they know the words "I love you," but they really mean is, "I'll use you." Their hormones are in charge, and they're takers not givers. If we've let our daughters buy the lie that a guy gives them worth, they'll do almost anything to get one and keep one. Giving what they cannot get back only to end up used and not loved. We need to teach our daughters that any boy who says, "If you love me, you will let me" doesn't love you.
Unchallenged lies. Yes, that's the other way we lose our daughters. How about this one, "It's all about how you look." And Hollywood tells our girls, "Here's what you should look like." Leaving most girls looking in the mirror and seeing someone they think is "fat" or "ugly" and not worth much; desperate to please anyone who gives her a little attention and so easily lost.
I've always thought an inventor knows best about what he's made. Right? And our Inventor says, "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty...you should clothe yourselves with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty..." (1 Peter 3:3-4).
You know, the real worth of a girl is rooted in something that is in God's Word and our word for today from the Word of God, Ephesians 2:10, to say to our daughters, "We are God's workmanship." "You are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works God prepared in advance for you to do." No one on earth gives a girl her worth, and no one on earth can take it away.
Every daughter is a princess. Make sure she knows that. That's the best way to keep her safe.
Many parents aren’t proud of their family trees. The harvest was taken, but no seed was sown. Childhood memories bring more hurt than inspiration. If such is the case, put down the family scrapbook and pick up your Bible. John 3:6 reminds us, “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.” Your parents have given you genes, but God gives you grace.
Didn’t have a good father? Galatians 4:7 says God will be your father. Didn’t have a good role model? Ephesians 5:1 says, “You are God’s child whom He loves, so try to be like Him.”
You cannot control the way your forefathers responded to God. But you can control the way you respond to Him. The past does not have to be your prison. Choose well and someday—generations from now—your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank God for the seeds you sowed!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Exodus 2
The Birth of Moses
Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket[b] for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,[c] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
Moses Flees to Midian
11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,[d] saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Jeremiah 17:5-10
This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Insight
The heart is the very basis of character, including the mind and will. Because of our sinful nature, the “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Jeremiah debunked the popular belief that people are basically good (cf. Job 25:4; Ps. 51:5). That God examines and tests the heart is the consistent teaching of Scripture (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chron. 28:9; 2 Chron. 6:30; Ps. 139:1-2; Jer. 11:20; Rom. 8:27; Heb. 4:12-13). Although we might try to hide our innermost thoughts and motives from others, God sees. He alone knows the true character of every person. God searches and knows us, but loves us despite our inherent sinfulness.
Living Bridges
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. —Jeremiah 17:7
People who live in Cherrapunji, India, have developed a unique way to get across the many rivers and streams in their land. They grow bridges from the roots of rubber trees. These “living bridges” take between 10 to 15 years to mature, but once they are established, they are extremely stable and last for hundreds of years.
The Bible compares a person who trusts in God to “a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river” (Jer. 17:8). Because its roots are well-nourished, this tree survives soaring temperatures. And during drought it continues to yield fruit.
Like a firmly rooted tree, people who rely on God have a sense of stability and vitality despite the worst circumstances. In contrast, people who place their trust in other humans often live with a sense of instability. The Bible compares them to desert shrubs that are frequently malnourished and stand alone (v.6). So it is with the spiritual lives of people who forsake God.
Where are our roots? Are we rooted in Jesus? (Col. 2:7). Are we a bridge that leads others to Him? If we know Christ, we can testify to this truth: Blessed are those who trust in the Lord (Jer. 17:7).
Jesus is all the world to me,
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day,
Without Him I would fall. —Thompson
Even strong trials cannot blow down a person who is rooted in God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 18, 2014
The Mystery of Believing
He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.
Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 18, 2014
STOLEN DAUGHTERS - #7180
Our firstborn - our daughter - was only a few days old when I first called her "Princess." She's been my princess ever since. I cannot imagine the agony of having her snatched from her school and taken who knows where.
That was the ordeal hundreds of Nigerian parents went through. Nearly 300 of their daughters were kidnapped from their school by terrorists. The kidnappers threatened to sell those girls for something like $12. Some daddy's princess, some mother's treasure, sold like cattle.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stolen Daughters."
Demonstrations demanding action spread far beyond Nigeria. In fact, one national newscast said, "This has touched a nerve in women around the world." What a nightmare; your daughter stolen and taken to a very bad place. That's the kind of nightmare that I have shared with too many families.
After years of working with young people, my wife and I have grieved over a lot of stolen daughters. Thankfully not our own, but girls who - though they might still be there physically - have been taken away to a bad place morally, emotionally, or spiritually.
We've been there when a girl not yet a woman finds out she's going to be a mother; when a parent weeps over their daughter's life-scarring choices. I've been there when a parent has no idea where their daughter disappeared to. Been in the emergency room as a mom or dad waits as the doctors fight to save their girl who's overdosed.
Through it all, we've seen four ways that we can lose our daughters. First, missing dads: missing physically, or missing emotionally, leaving a girl unsure of her father's love, with this gaping daddy deficit. Which she will try to fill often by looking for love in all the wrong places and often getting lost.
And then there are misguided moms who let their little girls become "teenagers" long before they're ready. Break out the makeup, the clothes, and the styles of high school when she hasn't even finished elementary school. Psychologist Neil Postman called it "the disappearance of childhood." So many years ahead to be grown-up. Can't we let them have those few short years of being a child? If they act like they're 14 when they're ten, they'll be acting like they're 20 when they're 14 and often going to a very bad place.
Here's the third way we lose our daughters: selfish boys. Oh they know the words "I love you," but they really mean is, "I'll use you." Their hormones are in charge, and they're takers not givers. If we've let our daughters buy the lie that a guy gives them worth, they'll do almost anything to get one and keep one. Giving what they cannot get back only to end up used and not loved. We need to teach our daughters that any boy who says, "If you love me, you will let me" doesn't love you.
Unchallenged lies. Yes, that's the other way we lose our daughters. How about this one, "It's all about how you look." And Hollywood tells our girls, "Here's what you should look like." Leaving most girls looking in the mirror and seeing someone they think is "fat" or "ugly" and not worth much; desperate to please anyone who gives her a little attention and so easily lost.
I've always thought an inventor knows best about what he's made. Right? And our Inventor says, "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty...you should clothe yourselves with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty..." (1 Peter 3:3-4).
You know, the real worth of a girl is rooted in something that is in God's Word and our word for today from the Word of God, Ephesians 2:10, to say to our daughters, "We are God's workmanship." "You are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works God prepared in advance for you to do." No one on earth gives a girl her worth, and no one on earth can take it away.
Every daughter is a princess. Make sure she knows that. That's the best way to keep her safe.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Exodus 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: You Have a Choice
Early in the reign of King Josiah he made a brave choice. II Kings 22:2 tells us, "He lived as his ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right." He flipped through his family scrapbook until he found an ancestor worthy of emulation. He found David and resolved, "I'm going to be like him."
The principle? We can't choose our parents, but we can choose our mentors. And since Josiah chose David, who had chosen God, things began to happen. Josiah broke up the idols. He broke down the altars. He was out to make a statement: What my fathers taught, I don't teach. What they embraced, I reject. Josiah had found the God of David and made Him his own. God has not left you adrift on a sea of heredity. You have a choice in the path you take. Choose well!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Exodus 1
The Israelites Oppressed
These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy[a] in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 10:19-25
A Call to Persevere in Faith
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Insight
One of the great ongoing debates among Bible scholars involves the authorship of the letter to the Hebrews. In the early days of the church, it was generally regarded to have been written by the apostle Paul, but scholars disagree about its authorship today. Along with stylistic elements of the content that these scholars say does not match the writings of Paul, one often-cited argument against Pauline authorship is that Hebrews is anonymous, and Paul declared that he always signed his letters (2 Thess. 3:17). Some of the names offered as the possible human author of this inspired letter include Luke, Apollos, Barnabas, and Priscilla.
Lookin’ Good!
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. —Hebrews 10:24
After trying on my new sunglasses in the car one day, my daughter handed them back and said, “These are not sunglasses, Mom. They’re just fashion lenses. Let me guess,” she teased, “you bought them because you look cute in them.”
Okay, I have to admit—my daughter knows me. I hadn’t given a passing thought to UV rays or even whether those glasses would actually block the sun. I just really liked the way they looked on me.
Most of us like to look good. We want to appear that we “have it all together”—with no struggles or fears or temptations or heartaches.
Trying to maintain a façade of perfection on our spiritual journey doesn’t help us or our fellow travelers. But sharing our lives with others in the body of Christ benefits us as well as others. When we are a bit more transparent, we may find people who are struggling in a similar situation. And as we enjoy a growing fellowship with God and become more aware of our own brokenness and inadequacy, God is able to use us more fully to help others.
Let’s allow God to strip away any pretense and “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24 niv).
Wearing a mask that shows everything’s fine
Says that life’s struggles are not God’s design;
But when we’re open, transparent, and true,
People will trust God to meet their needs too. —Sper
Believers stand strong when they don’t stand alone.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 17, 2014
The Miracle of Belief
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4
Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest degree; he was not speaking here out of a deep sense of humility, but was saying that when he preached the gospel, he would veil the power of God if he impressed people with the excellency of his speech. Belief in Jesus is a miracle produced only by the effectiveness of redemption, not by impressive speech, nor by wooing and persuading, but only by the sheer unaided power of God. The creative power of redemption comes through the preaching of the gospel, but never because of the personality of the preacher.
Real and effective fasting by a preacher is not fasting from food, but fasting from eloquence, from impressive diction, and from everything else that might hinder the gospel of God being presented. The preacher is there as the representative of God— “. . . as though God were pleading through us . . .” (2 Corinthians 5:20). He is there to present the gospel of God. If it is only because of my preaching that people desire to be better, they will never get close to Jesus Christ. Anything that flatters me in my preaching of the gospel will result in making me a traitor to Jesus, and I prevent the creative power of His redemption from doing its work.
“And I, if I am lifted up. . . , will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 17, 2014
New Glasses - #7179
Our son-in-law is pretty used to the scenery in Wheaton, Illinois. He lived there until he graduated from college. But one day he saw something sort of new that got his attention. He and my daughter were driving along, and my son-in-law pulled up to this stop sign on the street that he'd seen hundreds of times. He looked at the street sign and he said, "Hey, you know, I'm used to that sign being dull. It's not supposed to be that clear. I can really read it!" You want to guess why it suddenly had a sharpness to it that he didn't remember? Same sign; it hadn't changed. He just got his new glasses.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "New Glasses."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 1. I'll begin reading at verse 35. Now, Jesus has just come through a full day of teaching, followed by a full night of healing many sick people and even dealing with the Devil in people's lives. So sleep must have felt awfully good that night, and I'll bet morning came quickly.
Well, here's what it says, "Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where He prayed. Simon and His companions were looking for Him. When they found Him they exclaimed, 'Everyone is looking for You.' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So He traveled throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
Here is Jesus, surrounded by demands and decisions about priorities - needs all around Him. And in the midst of this relentless schedule there's one thing Jesus will not sacrifice - His Father time. Even if it costs Him sleep. After He's been with His Father, He comes away knowing what He has to do. "I must go preach in those other villages." It's as if He's been able to put on spiritual glasses to see His choices clearly for that day.
Well, in this simple daily meeting with God, Jesus is showing us - modeling for us - how we can sort out everything that's crowding in on us. See, you've got to be alone with God before you hear any other voices to discern what He wants from you that day before all those other people hit you. You need God's glasses to see the needs around you, and then which ones He wants you to say yes to and which ones He wants you to say no to.
Father time is time to get His orders from what you read in His Word; time to off-load all the burdens you're carrying so they don't have to distort your vision. It's time for you to let Him put in proper perspective the relatively little things that have become very big to you, and the really big things that you've allowed to become small. If you don't begin a day talking with and listening to your Heavenly Father, the other voices and the other choices will probably pull you right off course. The other voices frankly are louder than God's voice. That's why you need to be alone with Him to hear Him.
So, open God's Word early in the day and open your heart. Ask Him this: "Lord, help me to see what You see when you look at my family, when you look at my marriage, when you look at my need, when you look at my work. What do you see when you see that relationship, or this decision I have to make?" The question is this: "Is your daily time with your Lord optional or is it non-negotiable?" For Jesus, it was non-negotiable. How about you? Isn't it time to say, "Lord, no one can have my time with You. Beginning now, it will be each day the highest priority of my personal schedule."
Our son-in-law never knew how clear things could be until he looked at them through new glasses. Your life could be a lot less cloudy, a lot clearer, if you will begin each day with your Heavenly Father; looking at your world through His eyes.
Early in the reign of King Josiah he made a brave choice. II Kings 22:2 tells us, "He lived as his ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right." He flipped through his family scrapbook until he found an ancestor worthy of emulation. He found David and resolved, "I'm going to be like him."
The principle? We can't choose our parents, but we can choose our mentors. And since Josiah chose David, who had chosen God, things began to happen. Josiah broke up the idols. He broke down the altars. He was out to make a statement: What my fathers taught, I don't teach. What they embraced, I reject. Josiah had found the God of David and made Him his own. God has not left you adrift on a sea of heredity. You have a choice in the path you take. Choose well!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Exodus 1
The Israelites Oppressed
These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy[a] in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 10:19-25
A Call to Persevere in Faith
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Insight
One of the great ongoing debates among Bible scholars involves the authorship of the letter to the Hebrews. In the early days of the church, it was generally regarded to have been written by the apostle Paul, but scholars disagree about its authorship today. Along with stylistic elements of the content that these scholars say does not match the writings of Paul, one often-cited argument against Pauline authorship is that Hebrews is anonymous, and Paul declared that he always signed his letters (2 Thess. 3:17). Some of the names offered as the possible human author of this inspired letter include Luke, Apollos, Barnabas, and Priscilla.
Lookin’ Good!
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. —Hebrews 10:24
After trying on my new sunglasses in the car one day, my daughter handed them back and said, “These are not sunglasses, Mom. They’re just fashion lenses. Let me guess,” she teased, “you bought them because you look cute in them.”
Okay, I have to admit—my daughter knows me. I hadn’t given a passing thought to UV rays or even whether those glasses would actually block the sun. I just really liked the way they looked on me.
Most of us like to look good. We want to appear that we “have it all together”—with no struggles or fears or temptations or heartaches.
Trying to maintain a façade of perfection on our spiritual journey doesn’t help us or our fellow travelers. But sharing our lives with others in the body of Christ benefits us as well as others. When we are a bit more transparent, we may find people who are struggling in a similar situation. And as we enjoy a growing fellowship with God and become more aware of our own brokenness and inadequacy, God is able to use us more fully to help others.
Let’s allow God to strip away any pretense and “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24 niv).
Wearing a mask that shows everything’s fine
Says that life’s struggles are not God’s design;
But when we’re open, transparent, and true,
People will trust God to meet their needs too. —Sper
Believers stand strong when they don’t stand alone.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 17, 2014
The Miracle of Belief
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4
Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest degree; he was not speaking here out of a deep sense of humility, but was saying that when he preached the gospel, he would veil the power of God if he impressed people with the excellency of his speech. Belief in Jesus is a miracle produced only by the effectiveness of redemption, not by impressive speech, nor by wooing and persuading, but only by the sheer unaided power of God. The creative power of redemption comes through the preaching of the gospel, but never because of the personality of the preacher.
Real and effective fasting by a preacher is not fasting from food, but fasting from eloquence, from impressive diction, and from everything else that might hinder the gospel of God being presented. The preacher is there as the representative of God— “. . . as though God were pleading through us . . .” (2 Corinthians 5:20). He is there to present the gospel of God. If it is only because of my preaching that people desire to be better, they will never get close to Jesus Christ. Anything that flatters me in my preaching of the gospel will result in making me a traitor to Jesus, and I prevent the creative power of His redemption from doing its work.
“And I, if I am lifted up. . . , will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 17, 2014
New Glasses - #7179
Our son-in-law is pretty used to the scenery in Wheaton, Illinois. He lived there until he graduated from college. But one day he saw something sort of new that got his attention. He and my daughter were driving along, and my son-in-law pulled up to this stop sign on the street that he'd seen hundreds of times. He looked at the street sign and he said, "Hey, you know, I'm used to that sign being dull. It's not supposed to be that clear. I can really read it!" You want to guess why it suddenly had a sharpness to it that he didn't remember? Same sign; it hadn't changed. He just got his new glasses.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "New Glasses."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 1. I'll begin reading at verse 35. Now, Jesus has just come through a full day of teaching, followed by a full night of healing many sick people and even dealing with the Devil in people's lives. So sleep must have felt awfully good that night, and I'll bet morning came quickly.
Well, here's what it says, "Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where He prayed. Simon and His companions were looking for Him. When they found Him they exclaimed, 'Everyone is looking for You.' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So He traveled throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
Here is Jesus, surrounded by demands and decisions about priorities - needs all around Him. And in the midst of this relentless schedule there's one thing Jesus will not sacrifice - His Father time. Even if it costs Him sleep. After He's been with His Father, He comes away knowing what He has to do. "I must go preach in those other villages." It's as if He's been able to put on spiritual glasses to see His choices clearly for that day.
Well, in this simple daily meeting with God, Jesus is showing us - modeling for us - how we can sort out everything that's crowding in on us. See, you've got to be alone with God before you hear any other voices to discern what He wants from you that day before all those other people hit you. You need God's glasses to see the needs around you, and then which ones He wants you to say yes to and which ones He wants you to say no to.
Father time is time to get His orders from what you read in His Word; time to off-load all the burdens you're carrying so they don't have to distort your vision. It's time for you to let Him put in proper perspective the relatively little things that have become very big to you, and the really big things that you've allowed to become small. If you don't begin a day talking with and listening to your Heavenly Father, the other voices and the other choices will probably pull you right off course. The other voices frankly are louder than God's voice. That's why you need to be alone with Him to hear Him.
So, open God's Word early in the day and open your heart. Ask Him this: "Lord, help me to see what You see when you look at my family, when you look at my marriage, when you look at my need, when you look at my work. What do you see when you see that relationship, or this decision I have to make?" The question is this: "Is your daily time with your Lord optional or is it non-negotiable?" For Jesus, it was non-negotiable. How about you? Isn't it time to say, "Lord, no one can have my time with You. Beginning now, it will be each day the highest priority of my personal schedule."
Our son-in-law never knew how clear things could be until he looked at them through new glasses. Your life could be a lot less cloudy, a lot clearer, if you will begin each day with your Heavenly Father; looking at your world through His eyes.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Max Lucado Daily: Rise Above the Past
Maybe your past isn't much to brag about. Maybe you've seen evil, and now you have to make a choice. Do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses?
Many choose the latter. Many choose the convalescent homes of the heart. Healthy bodies, sharp minds, but retired dreams. Lean closely and you'll hear them. If only… If only I'd had kinder parents, more money, greater opportunities. If only I'd been treated fairly… Maybe you've used those words. Maybe you have every right to use them.
God is willing to give you what your family didn't. Galatians 4:7 says, "Through God you are a son; and, if you are a son, then you are certainly an heir." Never had a parent who wiped away your tears? Think again. God has noted each one!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Matthew 23:23-39
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
Footnotes:
Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
A miktam[a] of David.
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful[b] one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Footnotes:
Psalm 16:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 16:10 Or holy
Insight
David affirms that God is his protector and provider (Ps. 16:1-2). In response to who God is, David delights in the fellowship of like-minded believers and disassociates himself from idolatry (vv.3-4). He depends on God’s Word and celebrates the security and safety he has in the Lord’s presence, not only in this present life but also beyond this life (vv.5-11).
Feeling Chained?
By Dennis Fisher
I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. —Philippians 4:11
Boethius lived in sixth-century Italy and served the royal court as a highly skilled politician. Unfortunately, he fell into disfavor with the king. He was accused of treason and imprisoned. While awaiting execution, he asked for writing materials so he could compose his reflections. Later, these became an enduring spiritual classic on consolation.
As Boethius sat in prison, pondering his bleak prospects, his faith in Christ infused his perspective: “Nothing is miserable but what is thought so, and contrariwise, every estate is happy if he that bears it be content.” He understood that our view of changing circumstances and contentment is a personal choice.
The apostle Paul reinforced the idea that the way we view our circumstances is more important than the circumstances themselves. While he too was in prison, he wrote: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11). Both men could be content because they drew their ultimate satisfaction from God, who never changes.
Do you feel chained to difficult circumstances? God can give you contentment. Lasting satisfaction can be found only with Him, for in His “presence is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).
Lord, lead me today as You see best. Use the gifts
You’ve given me to encourage others on
their journey. Help me not to compare
myself with others but to be content.
When all you have is God, you have all you need.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
The Concept of Divine Control
. . . how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11
Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.
Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!” This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?
Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Unnecessary Drowning - #7178
You know it can't be good news when someone yells, "Everybody out of the water!" That's exactly what I heard the day I was in the water at the Jersey Shore. My first thought was Jaws. And since I didn't have my shark repellent, I got out pretty quickly.
But sharks weren't the problem. Drowning kids were. These kids got too close to a jetty, and it was high tide. They were in big trouble! So the lifeguards cleared the water; plunged into the surf. They were swimming, they were rowing. Hundreds of people were lined up along the beach watching this life-or-death drama. I was one of them. And the Beach Patrol guys got there before those kids disappeared, and it was a good thing. There was no way those kids were going to be able to swim their way out of that. They were rescued. And you know what they contributed to being saved? Nothing.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unnecessary Drowning."
Let's go to the Word of God for our word for today from it. We're in Matthew chapter 14, beginning at verse 27. It's an incident from the life of Jesus and His disciples. But more importantly, it's also a picture of how a person begins their own very personal relationship with God. There is a major surprise in here, even to many of us who know Jesus. Here's what it says.
Jesus and His disciples, of course, are out in a terrible storm. He has not been with them, and He comes walking on the water to them and He says, "'Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid!' 'Lord, if it's you,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.' 'Come' He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!' and immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' He said, 'why did you doubt?'"
Peter was like those children on the Jersey Shore, drowning and not able to rescue themselves. And Peter prayed this simple but powerful prayer, "Lord, save me!" Maybe it's time for you to finally pray that to Jesus. Somehow we want to be able to get to heaven ourselves. After all, we believe in God, we believe in Jesus, we believe in His causes, we've learned his commandments, we go to His meetings. We pretty much agree with everything Jesus said. And yet, somehow there has never been that desperate reaching out for Him as our only hope.
God gives us a pretty sobering description of our true spiritual condition in Ephesians 2:1. He says, "You are dead in your sins." Oh we're still breathing. What does it mean by dead? Well, since we were created by Him and for Him, when we're away from Him we're dead inside. We don't know our reason for being here. We don't have the love that we were made for. So without meaning, without purpose, without hope we are adrift. So we're away from God, and that's a terrible place to be; a horrible place to be to try to get through life without the God who put you here. And He's the only one who knows why you're here.
Worse yet, if you die without Him, it's an unthinkable thing to be away from God forever. Sin is running your own life instead of God running it. And that is the verdict God has passed on every one of us. "All of us have sinned." But the Apostle Paul talked about having all of that sin erased so that we could replace a death penalty with eternal life. Ephesians 2:8 says, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works." You can't save you. "Not by works, so that no one can boast." You are saved by the Rescuer God sent here for us-His Son, Jesus.
But those who believe that they can rescue themselves aren't going to make it. None of us will. So many of us have believed the lies that eternal life is a reward for our performance. It's not by works. Eternal life is not a reward, it's a rescue. If you could have made it, God's Son would have never given His life. The only possibility we have for being saved is to put all our trust in God's Rescuer, Jesus.
If you've never done that, let this be your day to cry out in saving faith, "Jesus, you're my only hope." If you're not sure you belong to Him, would you spend a couple of minutes at our website and make sure. Find out how to know you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. I'd love to help you find Him.
This is your day to pin all your hopes on Jesus and that simple prayer, "Lord, save me."
Maybe your past isn't much to brag about. Maybe you've seen evil, and now you have to make a choice. Do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses?
Many choose the latter. Many choose the convalescent homes of the heart. Healthy bodies, sharp minds, but retired dreams. Lean closely and you'll hear them. If only… If only I'd had kinder parents, more money, greater opportunities. If only I'd been treated fairly… Maybe you've used those words. Maybe you have every right to use them.
God is willing to give you what your family didn't. Galatians 4:7 says, "Through God you are a son; and, if you are a son, then you are certainly an heir." Never had a parent who wiped away your tears? Think again. God has noted each one!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Matthew 23:23-39
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
Footnotes:
Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
A miktam[a] of David.
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful[b] one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Footnotes:
Psalm 16:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 16:10 Or holy
Insight
David affirms that God is his protector and provider (Ps. 16:1-2). In response to who God is, David delights in the fellowship of like-minded believers and disassociates himself from idolatry (vv.3-4). He depends on God’s Word and celebrates the security and safety he has in the Lord’s presence, not only in this present life but also beyond this life (vv.5-11).
Feeling Chained?
By Dennis Fisher
I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. —Philippians 4:11
Boethius lived in sixth-century Italy and served the royal court as a highly skilled politician. Unfortunately, he fell into disfavor with the king. He was accused of treason and imprisoned. While awaiting execution, he asked for writing materials so he could compose his reflections. Later, these became an enduring spiritual classic on consolation.
As Boethius sat in prison, pondering his bleak prospects, his faith in Christ infused his perspective: “Nothing is miserable but what is thought so, and contrariwise, every estate is happy if he that bears it be content.” He understood that our view of changing circumstances and contentment is a personal choice.
The apostle Paul reinforced the idea that the way we view our circumstances is more important than the circumstances themselves. While he too was in prison, he wrote: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11). Both men could be content because they drew their ultimate satisfaction from God, who never changes.
Do you feel chained to difficult circumstances? God can give you contentment. Lasting satisfaction can be found only with Him, for in His “presence is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).
Lord, lead me today as You see best. Use the gifts
You’ve given me to encourage others on
their journey. Help me not to compare
myself with others but to be content.
When all you have is God, you have all you need.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
The Concept of Divine Control
. . . how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11
Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.
Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!” This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?
Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Unnecessary Drowning - #7178
You know it can't be good news when someone yells, "Everybody out of the water!" That's exactly what I heard the day I was in the water at the Jersey Shore. My first thought was Jaws. And since I didn't have my shark repellent, I got out pretty quickly.
But sharks weren't the problem. Drowning kids were. These kids got too close to a jetty, and it was high tide. They were in big trouble! So the lifeguards cleared the water; plunged into the surf. They were swimming, they were rowing. Hundreds of people were lined up along the beach watching this life-or-death drama. I was one of them. And the Beach Patrol guys got there before those kids disappeared, and it was a good thing. There was no way those kids were going to be able to swim their way out of that. They were rescued. And you know what they contributed to being saved? Nothing.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unnecessary Drowning."
Let's go to the Word of God for our word for today from it. We're in Matthew chapter 14, beginning at verse 27. It's an incident from the life of Jesus and His disciples. But more importantly, it's also a picture of how a person begins their own very personal relationship with God. There is a major surprise in here, even to many of us who know Jesus. Here's what it says.
Jesus and His disciples, of course, are out in a terrible storm. He has not been with them, and He comes walking on the water to them and He says, "'Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid!' 'Lord, if it's you,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.' 'Come' He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!' and immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' He said, 'why did you doubt?'"
Peter was like those children on the Jersey Shore, drowning and not able to rescue themselves. And Peter prayed this simple but powerful prayer, "Lord, save me!" Maybe it's time for you to finally pray that to Jesus. Somehow we want to be able to get to heaven ourselves. After all, we believe in God, we believe in Jesus, we believe in His causes, we've learned his commandments, we go to His meetings. We pretty much agree with everything Jesus said. And yet, somehow there has never been that desperate reaching out for Him as our only hope.
God gives us a pretty sobering description of our true spiritual condition in Ephesians 2:1. He says, "You are dead in your sins." Oh we're still breathing. What does it mean by dead? Well, since we were created by Him and for Him, when we're away from Him we're dead inside. We don't know our reason for being here. We don't have the love that we were made for. So without meaning, without purpose, without hope we are adrift. So we're away from God, and that's a terrible place to be; a horrible place to be to try to get through life without the God who put you here. And He's the only one who knows why you're here.
Worse yet, if you die without Him, it's an unthinkable thing to be away from God forever. Sin is running your own life instead of God running it. And that is the verdict God has passed on every one of us. "All of us have sinned." But the Apostle Paul talked about having all of that sin erased so that we could replace a death penalty with eternal life. Ephesians 2:8 says, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works." You can't save you. "Not by works, so that no one can boast." You are saved by the Rescuer God sent here for us-His Son, Jesus.
But those who believe that they can rescue themselves aren't going to make it. None of us will. So many of us have believed the lies that eternal life is a reward for our performance. It's not by works. Eternal life is not a reward, it's a rescue. If you could have made it, God's Son would have never given His life. The only possibility we have for being saved is to put all our trust in God's Rescuer, Jesus.
If you've never done that, let this be your day to cry out in saving faith, "Jesus, you're my only hope." If you're not sure you belong to Him, would you spend a couple of minutes at our website and make sure. Find out how to know you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. I'd love to help you find Him.
This is your day to pin all your hopes on Jesus and that simple prayer, "Lord, save me."
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Genesis 50, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Faith is Trusting
Faith is trusting what the eye cannot see! Eyes see storms. Faith sees Noah's rainbow. Your eyes see your faults. Your faith sees your Savior. Your eyes see your guilt. Your faith sees His blood. Your eyes look in the mirror and see a sinner, a failure. But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger and the kiss of your Father on your face.
How do I know this is true? someone might ask. It's nice prose, but give me the facts. "God's power is very great for those who believe," Paul taught. Ephesians 1:19-20 says, "That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead."
Next time you wonder if God can forgive you, read that verse. The very hands that were nailed to the cross are open for you!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Genesis 50
Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, 3 taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5 ‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’”
6 Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt— 8 besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. 9 Chariots and horsemen[q] also went up with him. It was a very large company.
10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.[r]
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
The Death of Joseph
22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.[s]
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”
26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Genesis 50:9 Or charioteers
Genesis 50:11 Abel Mizraim means mourning of the Egyptians.
Genesis 50:23 That is, were counted as his
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 11:23-31
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.
Insight
To modern-day followers of Christ, the apostle Paul is held in the highest regard for his tireless work of teaching, church-planting, and writing of biblical letters. This, however, was not the case in the first century. Even after years of faithful service, Paul had to write the letter of 2 Corinthians to defend his calling and ministry, which was being questioned by people in Corinth. Today’s reading is a part of that defense of his ministry.
True Loyalty
By David C. McCasland
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. —2 Corinthians 11:30
By one estimate, more than 14 trillion frequent-flyer miles have been accumulated by people worldwide. It all started in the early 1980s, when airlines began the first frequent-flyer programs to encourage repeat business by rewarding customers for their loyalty. Accumulated miles could be redeemed for free travel, goods, and services, so it wasn’t long before people began planning their travel based as much on personal reward as on price or schedule.
The apostle Paul was an avid first-century traveler, but he wasn’t in it for the “frequent-sailor miles.” His goal was to reach as many people as he could with the good news of forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus. When some people in the city of Corinth questioned his authority, he wrote a letter describing the price he had paid to bring the gospel to others: “Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep” (2 Cor. 11:25). God gave Paul the grace and endurance to risk his life to tell people about Jesus with no thought of personal gain.
Whether we receive persecution or praise for our service to the Lord, may our focus always be loyalty to Him and gratitude for His sacrifice of love.
I am Yours, Lord, yet teach me all it means,
All it involves of love and loyalty,
Of holy service, full and glad,
In unreserved obedience to Thee! —Bennett
Our loyalty to Jesus grows from His love for us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
My Life’s Spiritual Honor and Duty
I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians . . . —Romans 1:14
Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.
I am not a superior person among other people— I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Paul said, “. . . you are not your own . . . you were bought at a price . . .” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ and he said, in effect, “I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His.” That is the characteristic of a Christian’s life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real. Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
The Mission and the Pain - #7177
They're some of the best of the best in America's military. They're known as the Navy Seals. And when there's a mission that almost looks impossible, they send the Seals behind enemy lines, or on highly sensitive covert missions, against enormous odds. They're trained in most any military skill you can think of. In fact, their training was the subject of a cover story in a national magazine a while back; especially that brutal final week that decides who will and who will not be a Navy Seal.
Cold, wet, fatigue, pain, a pace - are more than most human beings could bear. And some might call it cruel and extreme. But the Navy is trying to prepare these men for heroism. They say they're trying to build men who learn one mindset that is often the difference between a hero and a zero. Turn off the pain and focus on the mission.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Mission and the Pain."
Here's our word for today from the Word of God - 2 Timothy 2:1. God says, "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." See, God doesn't need any more spiritual wimps. That's why He's calling for warriors here. And in verse 4 He says, "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer."
Well, what does that take? Verse 3, "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Endurance: staying with the mission even when you're hurting. Those Navy Seals do it for their country. We do it for our Savior. Our mission is to be like Jesus so the people in our world can get a good look at what He's like. And to be His personal representative to people who are lost and needy and have no hope for eternity without Him.
There's one problem. Instead of turning off the pain and focusing on the mission, our tendency is to focus on our pain and forget our mission, and put the work of the Lord at the mercy of how we're feeling. When we're hurting, let's face it, we usually get pretty self-focused don't we? We're consumed with our survival and our needs and our hurt. And that's natural. It's understandable, but it's unacceptable for a soldier of Jesus Christ.
No matter how great the pain was, He never abandoned His mission; not when His family turned against Him, not when the crowds turned against Him, not when His life was threatened, not when He was arrested or beaten or humiliated or nailed to a cross. Even when He was dying, Jesus was looking out for His mother. He was reaching out to a dying thief and He was forgiving His crucifiers.
We will never begin to face the pain that our leader did. But we do have our share of pain. The question is: Do we retreat from what we've been doing for the Lord when it gets hard or when we're hurting? Are we so full of our own agenda that we shut down to the needs of others? Do we quit when it's dark?
If you forget your mission because of your pain, you can still belong to Jesus. His love for us is unconditional. This isn't about His love for you. It's about your love and service for Him. He wants to trust you with some heroic assignments for Him. He's got so much to be done! Looking for heroes like the song says, "Jesus needs a few good men." And I might add, "...a few good women."
In the rigors of your life right now the training and testing of Jesus are not to hurt or to sink you. They're His tools to strengthen you and prepare you for a great work for Him. So be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Faith is trusting what the eye cannot see! Eyes see storms. Faith sees Noah's rainbow. Your eyes see your faults. Your faith sees your Savior. Your eyes see your guilt. Your faith sees His blood. Your eyes look in the mirror and see a sinner, a failure. But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger and the kiss of your Father on your face.
How do I know this is true? someone might ask. It's nice prose, but give me the facts. "God's power is very great for those who believe," Paul taught. Ephesians 1:19-20 says, "That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead."
Next time you wonder if God can forgive you, read that verse. The very hands that were nailed to the cross are open for you!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Genesis 50
Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, 3 taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5 ‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’”
6 Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt— 8 besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. 9 Chariots and horsemen[q] also went up with him. It was a very large company.
10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.[r]
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
The Death of Joseph
22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.[s]
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”
26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Genesis 50:9 Or charioteers
Genesis 50:11 Abel Mizraim means mourning of the Egyptians.
Genesis 50:23 That is, were counted as his
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 11:23-31
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.
Insight
To modern-day followers of Christ, the apostle Paul is held in the highest regard for his tireless work of teaching, church-planting, and writing of biblical letters. This, however, was not the case in the first century. Even after years of faithful service, Paul had to write the letter of 2 Corinthians to defend his calling and ministry, which was being questioned by people in Corinth. Today’s reading is a part of that defense of his ministry.
True Loyalty
By David C. McCasland
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. —2 Corinthians 11:30
By one estimate, more than 14 trillion frequent-flyer miles have been accumulated by people worldwide. It all started in the early 1980s, when airlines began the first frequent-flyer programs to encourage repeat business by rewarding customers for their loyalty. Accumulated miles could be redeemed for free travel, goods, and services, so it wasn’t long before people began planning their travel based as much on personal reward as on price or schedule.
The apostle Paul was an avid first-century traveler, but he wasn’t in it for the “frequent-sailor miles.” His goal was to reach as many people as he could with the good news of forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus. When some people in the city of Corinth questioned his authority, he wrote a letter describing the price he had paid to bring the gospel to others: “Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep” (2 Cor. 11:25). God gave Paul the grace and endurance to risk his life to tell people about Jesus with no thought of personal gain.
Whether we receive persecution or praise for our service to the Lord, may our focus always be loyalty to Him and gratitude for His sacrifice of love.
I am Yours, Lord, yet teach me all it means,
All it involves of love and loyalty,
Of holy service, full and glad,
In unreserved obedience to Thee! —Bennett
Our loyalty to Jesus grows from His love for us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
My Life’s Spiritual Honor and Duty
I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians . . . —Romans 1:14
Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.
I am not a superior person among other people— I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Paul said, “. . . you are not your own . . . you were bought at a price . . .” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ and he said, in effect, “I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His.” That is the characteristic of a Christian’s life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real. Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
The Mission and the Pain - #7177
They're some of the best of the best in America's military. They're known as the Navy Seals. And when there's a mission that almost looks impossible, they send the Seals behind enemy lines, or on highly sensitive covert missions, against enormous odds. They're trained in most any military skill you can think of. In fact, their training was the subject of a cover story in a national magazine a while back; especially that brutal final week that decides who will and who will not be a Navy Seal.
Cold, wet, fatigue, pain, a pace - are more than most human beings could bear. And some might call it cruel and extreme. But the Navy is trying to prepare these men for heroism. They say they're trying to build men who learn one mindset that is often the difference between a hero and a zero. Turn off the pain and focus on the mission.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Mission and the Pain."
Here's our word for today from the Word of God - 2 Timothy 2:1. God says, "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." See, God doesn't need any more spiritual wimps. That's why He's calling for warriors here. And in verse 4 He says, "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer."
Well, what does that take? Verse 3, "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Endurance: staying with the mission even when you're hurting. Those Navy Seals do it for their country. We do it for our Savior. Our mission is to be like Jesus so the people in our world can get a good look at what He's like. And to be His personal representative to people who are lost and needy and have no hope for eternity without Him.
There's one problem. Instead of turning off the pain and focusing on the mission, our tendency is to focus on our pain and forget our mission, and put the work of the Lord at the mercy of how we're feeling. When we're hurting, let's face it, we usually get pretty self-focused don't we? We're consumed with our survival and our needs and our hurt. And that's natural. It's understandable, but it's unacceptable for a soldier of Jesus Christ.
No matter how great the pain was, He never abandoned His mission; not when His family turned against Him, not when the crowds turned against Him, not when His life was threatened, not when He was arrested or beaten or humiliated or nailed to a cross. Even when He was dying, Jesus was looking out for His mother. He was reaching out to a dying thief and He was forgiving His crucifiers.
We will never begin to face the pain that our leader did. But we do have our share of pain. The question is: Do we retreat from what we've been doing for the Lord when it gets hard or when we're hurting? Are we so full of our own agenda that we shut down to the needs of others? Do we quit when it's dark?
If you forget your mission because of your pain, you can still belong to Jesus. His love for us is unconditional. This isn't about His love for you. It's about your love and service for Him. He wants to trust you with some heroic assignments for Him. He's got so much to be done! Looking for heroes like the song says, "Jesus needs a few good men." And I might add, "...a few good women."
In the rigors of your life right now the training and testing of Jesus are not to hurt or to sink you. They're His tools to strengthen you and prepare you for a great work for Him. So be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Genesis 49 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Revenge is Natural, Not Spiritual
When we are mistreated, our animalistic response is to go on the hunt. Getting even is only natural. Which, incidentally, is precisely the problem. Revenge is natural, not spiritual. Getting even is the rule of the jungle. Giving grace is the rule of the kingdom.
You may be thinking, easy for you to say, Max, you have no idea how hard my life has been. You are right, I don’t. But I have a very clear idea how miserable your future will be unless you deal with your anger.
X-ray the soul of the vengeful and behold the tumor of bitterness; menacing, malignant. Yesterday you cannot alter, but your reaction to yesterday you can. After all, don’t we have enough things to do without trying to do God’s work too? Forgiveness is not saying the one who hurt you was right. Forgiveness is stating that God will do what is right.
From When God Whispers Your Name
Genesis 49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords[a] are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
8 “Judah,[b] your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[c]
until he to whom it belongs[d] shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.[e]
13 “Zebulun will live by the seashore
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a rawboned[f] donkey
lying down among the sheep pens.[g]
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and submit to forced labor.
16 “Dan[h] will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 “I look for your deliverance, Lord.
19 “Gad[i] will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will attack them at their heels.
20 “Asher’s food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21 “Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.[j]
22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.[k]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed[l] limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of your father’s God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty,[m] who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,
blessings of the breast and womb.
26 Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than[n] the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among[o] his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.[p]”
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 72:12-20
For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
May the crops flourish like Lebanon
and thrive[a] like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.
Then all nations will be blessed through him,[b]
and they will call him blessed.
18 Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.
Footnotes:
Psalm 72:16 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text Lebanon, / from the city
Psalm 72:17 Or will use his name in blessings (see Gen. 48:20)
Insight
Solomon and wisdom are virtually synonymous. As great as Solomon was and as much as he did for Israel through his kingship—economic prosperity, peace, arts, and culture—he still fell short of what God can do. In today’s psalm, Solomon, the man who built golden temples and palaces, reflects on the power of God to save souls and to bring growth to barren places (72:13,16). God is the only one who truly does wondrous things (v.18).
Grain On The Mountaintop
By David H. Roper
There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains. —Psalm 72:16
I’ve been on a number of mountaintops in the US in my time, and I can tell you that not much grows up there. The summits of mountains are bare rock and lichen. That’s not where you would normally find an abundance of grain.
But Solomon, who wrote Psalm 72, asked God for “an abundance of grain . . . on the top of the mountains,” to characterize his reign as king. If grain on the mountain is so unusual, what is Solomon suggesting? That God’s power can produce results in even the most unpromising soil?
Perhaps you think of yourself as a little person, with very little to bring to the kingdom. Take courage: God can produce an abundant harvest through you. This is one of the ironies of faith: God uses the insignificant to accomplish the great. Not many of us are wise or noble; most of us are anonymous and far from extraordinary. Yet all of us can be used. And contrary to what we might think, it is because of our weakness that we can be used by God (1 Cor. 1:27-29; 2 Cor. 12:10).
It’s possible to be too big or proud for God to use, but we can never be too little. “Out of weakness” we are “made strong” (Heb. 11:34). By God’s great power, we can do all that He has called us to do.
Lord, You work through such common things—
those of us with flaws and weaknesses.
We are in awe of Your power and humbled by Your
choice of us. Our hearts long to be faithful to You.
To experience God’s power, we must first admit that we are weak.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 14, 2014
Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also —Matthew 5:39
This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.
Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, July 14, 2014
Camera Ready - #7176
My wife and I had just visited her father and we were driving on this busy Interstate that's right near a large city. Suddenly everyone was coming to a complete stop, and we immediately thought, "Oh, there's got to be an accident, or maybe it could be construction."
Well, my wife was driving, and as we inch along we see that there is a road block ahead that was stopping everything. A man with a hard hat stuck his head in the window and began asking questions. "Where did you begin your journey today? How long have you been driving? Where are you headed?" My wife said, "What's this for?" He replied, "Oh, we're just taking a survey here to see if we need to widen the road."
So, they are stopping the busiest highway in the area to do a survey as the traffic is backing up behind us? My wife then notices this video camera filming the conversation with Mr. Hard Hat, and a woman with a microphone in her hand. And she saw the letters on the microphone. We've got a TV anchor woman here. And suddenly my wife began to think, what any of us would think if we suddenly saw a TV camera filming us, "Oh, what do I look like?" Well, that morning we had hurried to get started on a long drive, so no makeup, no hair grooming, kind of crummy travel clothes. As we pulled away, my wife pulled down the visor mirror and she said, "Is that what they saw?" Well, you never know when folks are going to be seeing you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Camera Ready."
Here's our word for today from the Word of God from John chapter 3, beginning at verse 19, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been through God."
Now, this verse makes me think about people who have one of life's great freedoms-nothing to hide. "I've got nothing to hide. Stop me any time. I'm living in the light. I don't care what's exposed. Roll the film, roll the tape. I don't fear discovery." See, that's a great way to live isn't it? I mean, you never know when someone will be watching, as my wife discovered on that busy Interstate that day.You can be sure that God's tape is rolling on every conversation you have, no matter how secret you think it is. His camera is rolling on every activity, no matter how alone you may think you are, and usually people find out too. The Bible says, "Be sure your sin will find you out." It's often not right away, but at a later time when the disclosure can do the greatest damage to your family, or your ministry, or to your representation of Christ.
It's a good idea to never leave home without making sure you look okay inside. Each new day, why don't we deal with the attitudes that we don't want recorded that day, the compromises, the selfish way we get things done, that runaway mouth that keeps hurting people, the immoral thoughts, the sins that beat you yesterday. Repentance is what makes you a camera-ready person who's got nothing to hide."Hey, I've confessed it to Jesus. I've let Him clean me up today." And repentance honestly should be a regular part of getting dressed spiritually every morning. It just feels so good to know you can welcome the light; you can welcome exposure. You don't need to hide in a dark corner because somebody might find out.
Maybe God is using our visit today to speak to you about some dark secret. Would you listen to His voice? It's not mine; it's His. Come clean with Jesus about it today, and then you'll have no fear of any film or any tape on earth.
By the way, the Bible says that when Jesus comes and when we stand before Him that "all men's secrets will be revealed." And we will be judged based on the things that were in the dark. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have all that erased from God's Book so you would never meet them on Judgment Day? There's one person who can do that; the man who died to make it happen. That would be Jesus. The day you say, "Jesus, I'm Yours" is the day that every sin of your life is forgiven forever.
This could be that day. I'd love to help you know how to make that happen. Would you visit our website? It's ANewStory.com. Let's get this done. The cameras are rolling in heaven and they're rolling on earth, in public or in private. So always provide a picture that you can be proud of.
When we are mistreated, our animalistic response is to go on the hunt. Getting even is only natural. Which, incidentally, is precisely the problem. Revenge is natural, not spiritual. Getting even is the rule of the jungle. Giving grace is the rule of the kingdom.
You may be thinking, easy for you to say, Max, you have no idea how hard my life has been. You are right, I don’t. But I have a very clear idea how miserable your future will be unless you deal with your anger.
X-ray the soul of the vengeful and behold the tumor of bitterness; menacing, malignant. Yesterday you cannot alter, but your reaction to yesterday you can. After all, don’t we have enough things to do without trying to do God’s work too? Forgiveness is not saying the one who hurt you was right. Forgiveness is stating that God will do what is right.
From When God Whispers Your Name
Genesis 49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords[a] are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
8 “Judah,[b] your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[c]
until he to whom it belongs[d] shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.[e]
13 “Zebulun will live by the seashore
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a rawboned[f] donkey
lying down among the sheep pens.[g]
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and submit to forced labor.
16 “Dan[h] will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 “I look for your deliverance, Lord.
19 “Gad[i] will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will attack them at their heels.
20 “Asher’s food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21 “Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.[j]
22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.[k]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed[l] limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of your father’s God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty,[m] who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,
blessings of the breast and womb.
26 Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than[n] the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among[o] his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.[p]”
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 72:12-20
For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
May the crops flourish like Lebanon
and thrive[a] like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.
Then all nations will be blessed through him,[b]
and they will call him blessed.
18 Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.
Footnotes:
Psalm 72:16 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text Lebanon, / from the city
Psalm 72:17 Or will use his name in blessings (see Gen. 48:20)
Insight
Solomon and wisdom are virtually synonymous. As great as Solomon was and as much as he did for Israel through his kingship—economic prosperity, peace, arts, and culture—he still fell short of what God can do. In today’s psalm, Solomon, the man who built golden temples and palaces, reflects on the power of God to save souls and to bring growth to barren places (72:13,16). God is the only one who truly does wondrous things (v.18).
Grain On The Mountaintop
By David H. Roper
There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains. —Psalm 72:16
I’ve been on a number of mountaintops in the US in my time, and I can tell you that not much grows up there. The summits of mountains are bare rock and lichen. That’s not where you would normally find an abundance of grain.
But Solomon, who wrote Psalm 72, asked God for “an abundance of grain . . . on the top of the mountains,” to characterize his reign as king. If grain on the mountain is so unusual, what is Solomon suggesting? That God’s power can produce results in even the most unpromising soil?
Perhaps you think of yourself as a little person, with very little to bring to the kingdom. Take courage: God can produce an abundant harvest through you. This is one of the ironies of faith: God uses the insignificant to accomplish the great. Not many of us are wise or noble; most of us are anonymous and far from extraordinary. Yet all of us can be used. And contrary to what we might think, it is because of our weakness that we can be used by God (1 Cor. 1:27-29; 2 Cor. 12:10).
It’s possible to be too big or proud for God to use, but we can never be too little. “Out of weakness” we are “made strong” (Heb. 11:34). By God’s great power, we can do all that He has called us to do.
Lord, You work through such common things—
those of us with flaws and weaknesses.
We are in awe of Your power and humbled by Your
choice of us. Our hearts long to be faithful to You.
To experience God’s power, we must first admit that we are weak.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 14, 2014
Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also —Matthew 5:39
This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.
Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, July 14, 2014
Camera Ready - #7176
My wife and I had just visited her father and we were driving on this busy Interstate that's right near a large city. Suddenly everyone was coming to a complete stop, and we immediately thought, "Oh, there's got to be an accident, or maybe it could be construction."
Well, my wife was driving, and as we inch along we see that there is a road block ahead that was stopping everything. A man with a hard hat stuck his head in the window and began asking questions. "Where did you begin your journey today? How long have you been driving? Where are you headed?" My wife said, "What's this for?" He replied, "Oh, we're just taking a survey here to see if we need to widen the road."
So, they are stopping the busiest highway in the area to do a survey as the traffic is backing up behind us? My wife then notices this video camera filming the conversation with Mr. Hard Hat, and a woman with a microphone in her hand. And she saw the letters on the microphone. We've got a TV anchor woman here. And suddenly my wife began to think, what any of us would think if we suddenly saw a TV camera filming us, "Oh, what do I look like?" Well, that morning we had hurried to get started on a long drive, so no makeup, no hair grooming, kind of crummy travel clothes. As we pulled away, my wife pulled down the visor mirror and she said, "Is that what they saw?" Well, you never know when folks are going to be seeing you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Camera Ready."
Here's our word for today from the Word of God from John chapter 3, beginning at verse 19, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been through God."
Now, this verse makes me think about people who have one of life's great freedoms-nothing to hide. "I've got nothing to hide. Stop me any time. I'm living in the light. I don't care what's exposed. Roll the film, roll the tape. I don't fear discovery." See, that's a great way to live isn't it? I mean, you never know when someone will be watching, as my wife discovered on that busy Interstate that day.You can be sure that God's tape is rolling on every conversation you have, no matter how secret you think it is. His camera is rolling on every activity, no matter how alone you may think you are, and usually people find out too. The Bible says, "Be sure your sin will find you out." It's often not right away, but at a later time when the disclosure can do the greatest damage to your family, or your ministry, or to your representation of Christ.
It's a good idea to never leave home without making sure you look okay inside. Each new day, why don't we deal with the attitudes that we don't want recorded that day, the compromises, the selfish way we get things done, that runaway mouth that keeps hurting people, the immoral thoughts, the sins that beat you yesterday. Repentance is what makes you a camera-ready person who's got nothing to hide."Hey, I've confessed it to Jesus. I've let Him clean me up today." And repentance honestly should be a regular part of getting dressed spiritually every morning. It just feels so good to know you can welcome the light; you can welcome exposure. You don't need to hide in a dark corner because somebody might find out.
Maybe God is using our visit today to speak to you about some dark secret. Would you listen to His voice? It's not mine; it's His. Come clean with Jesus about it today, and then you'll have no fear of any film or any tape on earth.
By the way, the Bible says that when Jesus comes and when we stand before Him that "all men's secrets will be revealed." And we will be judged based on the things that were in the dark. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have all that erased from God's Book so you would never meet them on Judgment Day? There's one person who can do that; the man who died to make it happen. That would be Jesus. The day you say, "Jesus, I'm Yours" is the day that every sin of your life is forgiven forever.
This could be that day. I'd love to help you know how to make that happen. Would you visit our website? It's ANewStory.com. Let's get this done. The cameras are rolling in heaven and they're rolling on earth, in public or in private. So always provide a picture that you can be proud of.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Matthew 23:1-22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Important But Not Essential
Do you want to snatch a day from the grip of boredom? Do overly generous deeds, acts beyond reimbursement. Kindness without compensation. Here’s another idea…Get over yourself!
Sound too harsh?
Well, Moses did. Numbers 12:3 says, he was a “very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”
Mary did. When Jesus called her womb His home, she did not boast; she simple confessed: “I am the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.”
Most of all–Jesus did. Jesus chose the servants’ quarters. Can’t we?
We’re important but not essential, valuable but not indispensable. We have a song to sing, but we’re not the featured act. God is!
He did well before our births; he’ll do fine after our deaths. He started it all, sustains it all, and will bring it all to a glorious climax!
From Great Day Every Day
Matthew 23:1-22
New International Version (NIV)
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14] [b]
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
Footnotes:
Matthew 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
Matthew 23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Living for God
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
“No Grace”
By Julie Ackerman Link
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression. —Proverbs 19:11
I have nicknamed our car “No Grace.” Sunday mornings are the worst. I load the car with all the stuff I need for church, get myself in my seat, close the door, and Jay starts backing out of the garage. While I am still getting settled, the seat belt warning starts buzzing. “Please,” I say to it, “all I need is another minute.” The answer, apparently, is no, because it continues buzzing until I am buckled in.
This minor annoyance is a good reminder of what life would be like if indeed there were no grace. Each of us would immediately be called to account for every indiscretion. There would be no time for repentance or change of behavior. There would be no forgiveness. No mercy. No hope.
Living in this world sometimes feels like falling into a no-grace sinkhole. When minor flaws are blown up into major indiscretions or when people refuse to overlook the faults and offenses of others, we end up burdened by the weight of guilt that we were never meant to carry. God, in His grace, sent Jesus to carry the burden for us. Those who receive God’s gift of grace have the privilege of offering it to others on Christ’s behalf: “Above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” (1 Peter 4:8).
Father God, the culture around us can seem so
harsh and hard on people when they fail. Help
me to show grace and patience, because You have
been gracious to me and have forgiven my sin.
When we gratefully acknowledge the grace we’ve received, we joyfully give it to those in need.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 13, 2014
The Price of the Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
Do you want to snatch a day from the grip of boredom? Do overly generous deeds, acts beyond reimbursement. Kindness without compensation. Here’s another idea…Get over yourself!
Sound too harsh?
Well, Moses did. Numbers 12:3 says, he was a “very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”
Mary did. When Jesus called her womb His home, she did not boast; she simple confessed: “I am the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.”
Most of all–Jesus did. Jesus chose the servants’ quarters. Can’t we?
We’re important but not essential, valuable but not indispensable. We have a song to sing, but we’re not the featured act. God is!
He did well before our births; he’ll do fine after our deaths. He started it all, sustains it all, and will bring it all to a glorious climax!
From Great Day Every Day
Matthew 23:1-22
New International Version (NIV)
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14] [b]
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
Footnotes:
Matthew 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
Matthew 23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Living for God
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
“No Grace”
By Julie Ackerman Link
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression. —Proverbs 19:11
I have nicknamed our car “No Grace.” Sunday mornings are the worst. I load the car with all the stuff I need for church, get myself in my seat, close the door, and Jay starts backing out of the garage. While I am still getting settled, the seat belt warning starts buzzing. “Please,” I say to it, “all I need is another minute.” The answer, apparently, is no, because it continues buzzing until I am buckled in.
This minor annoyance is a good reminder of what life would be like if indeed there were no grace. Each of us would immediately be called to account for every indiscretion. There would be no time for repentance or change of behavior. There would be no forgiveness. No mercy. No hope.
Living in this world sometimes feels like falling into a no-grace sinkhole. When minor flaws are blown up into major indiscretions or when people refuse to overlook the faults and offenses of others, we end up burdened by the weight of guilt that we were never meant to carry. God, in His grace, sent Jesus to carry the burden for us. Those who receive God’s gift of grace have the privilege of offering it to others on Christ’s behalf: “Above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” (1 Peter 4:8).
Father God, the culture around us can seem so
harsh and hard on people when they fail. Help
me to show grace and patience, because You have
been gracious to me and have forgiven my sin.
When we gratefully acknowledge the grace we’ve received, we joyfully give it to those in need.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 13, 2014
The Price of the Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Genesis 48, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Your Place at God’s Table
Angry. Sullen. Accusatory. Whiny. Put them all together in one word and spell it b-i-t-t-e-r. If you put them all in one person, that person’s in the pit, the dungeon of bitterness. The dungeon calls you to enter. You can, you know. You’ve experienced enough hurt. You’ve been betrayed enough times. You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt.
Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts. You can choose to go to the party. You have a place there. If you’re a child of God, no one can take away your sonship. Which is precisely what the father said to his prodigal son in Luke 15. “You are always with me; all that I have is yours.”
What you have is more important than what you don’t have, and that is, your relationship with God the Father! Your place at God’s table is permanent!
from He Still Moves Stones
Genesis 48
Manasseh and Ephraim
Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[m] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’
5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan,[n] to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”
10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”
12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day and said,
“In your[o] name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you[p] and take you[q] back to the land of your[r] fathers. 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land[s] than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 18:1-10
An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.
2 Fools find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing their own opinions.
3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt,
and with shame comes reproach.
4 The words of the mouth are deep waters,
but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.
5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked
and so deprive the innocent of justice.
6 The lips of fools bring them strife,
and their mouths invite a beating.
7 The mouths of fools are their undoing,
and their lips are a snare to their very lives.
8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.
9 One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.
Insight
The book of Proverbs provides us with insight on everything from words to work to relationships. Interestingly, sprinkled throughout the book are sayings that don’t tell us something about life but rather about God. Yet those theological truths should not be separated from the idea of practical day-to-day living. It is as important to know that the name of the Lord is strong and provides safety (18:10) as it is to know that a fool’s mouth leads to his destruction (v.7).
The Power Of A Name
By Joe Stowell
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. —Proverbs 18:10
Nicknames are often descriptive of some noticeable aspect of a person’s character or physical attributes. Growing up, my elementary school friends brutally called me “liver lips” since at that stage of development my lips seemed disproportionately large. Needless to say, I have always been glad that the name didn’t stick.
Unlike my nickname, I love the names of God that describe His magnificent characteristics. God is so wonderfully multifaceted that He has many names that communicate His capabilities and character. To name just a few, He is:
Elohim, the God above all gods
Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides
El-Shaddai, the almighty God
Jehovah Rapha, our healer God
Jehovah Shalom, our God of peace
Jehovah Shamma, our God who is present
Jehovah Yahweh, our loving, covenant-keeping God
It’s no wonder the writer of Proverbs encourages us to remember that “the name of the Lord is a strong tower,” that in times of need God-fearing people run to it and “are safe” (Prov. 18:10). When unwelcome circumstances threaten you and you feel vulnerable, reflect on one of God’s names. Be assured—He will be faithful to His name.
Lord, remind us that Your names reveal Your
character. Help us to remember them in our times
of need and distress. Thank You for the assurance
that You are faithful to Your name.
God’s names, which describe His character, can bring comfort when we need it most.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 12, 2014
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?
Angry. Sullen. Accusatory. Whiny. Put them all together in one word and spell it b-i-t-t-e-r. If you put them all in one person, that person’s in the pit, the dungeon of bitterness. The dungeon calls you to enter. You can, you know. You’ve experienced enough hurt. You’ve been betrayed enough times. You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt.
Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts. You can choose to go to the party. You have a place there. If you’re a child of God, no one can take away your sonship. Which is precisely what the father said to his prodigal son in Luke 15. “You are always with me; all that I have is yours.”
What you have is more important than what you don’t have, and that is, your relationship with God the Father! Your place at God’s table is permanent!
from He Still Moves Stones
Genesis 48
Manasseh and Ephraim
Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[m] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’
5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan,[n] to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”
10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”
12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day and said,
“In your[o] name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you[p] and take you[q] back to the land of your[r] fathers. 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land[s] than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 18:1-10
An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.
2 Fools find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing their own opinions.
3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt,
and with shame comes reproach.
4 The words of the mouth are deep waters,
but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.
5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked
and so deprive the innocent of justice.
6 The lips of fools bring them strife,
and their mouths invite a beating.
7 The mouths of fools are their undoing,
and their lips are a snare to their very lives.
8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.
9 One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.
Insight
The book of Proverbs provides us with insight on everything from words to work to relationships. Interestingly, sprinkled throughout the book are sayings that don’t tell us something about life but rather about God. Yet those theological truths should not be separated from the idea of practical day-to-day living. It is as important to know that the name of the Lord is strong and provides safety (18:10) as it is to know that a fool’s mouth leads to his destruction (v.7).
The Power Of A Name
By Joe Stowell
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. —Proverbs 18:10
Nicknames are often descriptive of some noticeable aspect of a person’s character or physical attributes. Growing up, my elementary school friends brutally called me “liver lips” since at that stage of development my lips seemed disproportionately large. Needless to say, I have always been glad that the name didn’t stick.
Unlike my nickname, I love the names of God that describe His magnificent characteristics. God is so wonderfully multifaceted that He has many names that communicate His capabilities and character. To name just a few, He is:
Elohim, the God above all gods
Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides
El-Shaddai, the almighty God
Jehovah Rapha, our healer God
Jehovah Shalom, our God of peace
Jehovah Shamma, our God who is present
Jehovah Yahweh, our loving, covenant-keeping God
It’s no wonder the writer of Proverbs encourages us to remember that “the name of the Lord is a strong tower,” that in times of need God-fearing people run to it and “are safe” (Prov. 18:10). When unwelcome circumstances threaten you and you feel vulnerable, reflect on one of God’s names. Be assured—He will be faithful to His name.
Lord, remind us that Your names reveal Your
character. Help us to remember them in our times
of need and distress. Thank You for the assurance
that You are faithful to Your name.
God’s names, which describe His character, can bring comfort when we need it most.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 12, 2014
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?
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