MaxLucado.com: The Piranha Hour
We used to call 5:00 p.m. the “piranha hour.” It was that time of day when our girl s all wanted a piece of mom at the same time. And I, the ever-loving, ever-sensitive husband, wanted Denalyn to drop everything and talk to me about my day. When is your piranha hour? When do people in your world demand much and offer little?
Jesus teaches us how to live through them successfully. When hands extended and voices demanded, Jesus responded with love. He did so because the code within him disarmed the clock.
The code is worth noting: “People are precious.” He gave sight to eyes that would lust. He healed hands that would kill. Many of those he healed would never say “thank you” but he healed them anyway.
God’s goodness is spurred by His nature—not by our worthiness. He knows the value of people!
“…but the crowds learned about [what Jesus was doing] and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. Luke 9:11?
From In the Eye of the Storm
Leviticus 14
Cleansing From Defiling Skin Diseases
The Lord said to Moses, 2 “These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest: 3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease,[a] 4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. 5 Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. 6 He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7 Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.
8 “The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair and bathe with water; then they will be ceremonially clean. After this they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day they must shave off all their hair; they must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water, and they will be clean.
10 “On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah[b] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log[c] of oil. 11 The priest who pronounces them clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
12 “Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. 13 He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering[d] and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14 The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 15 The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand, 16 dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lord seven times. 17 The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed and make atonement for them before the Lord.
19 “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering 20 and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for them, and they will be clean.
21 “If, however, they are poor and cannot afford these, they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah[e] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, 22 and two doves or two young pigeons, such as they can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
23 “On the eighth day they must bring them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. 24 The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering, together with the log of oil, and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. 25 He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 26 The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord. 28 Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 29 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the Lord. 30 Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford, 31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.”
32 These are the regulations for anyone who has a defiling skin disease and who cannot afford the regular offerings for their cleansing.
Cleansing From Defiling Molds
33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, 35 the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’ 36 The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. 37 He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. 39 On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls, 40 he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. 41 He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. 42 Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.
43 “If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, 44 the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean. 45 It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.
46 “Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. 47 Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.
48 “But if the priest comes to examine it and the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the defiling mold is gone. 49 To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. 50 He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. 51 Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. 53 Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”
54 These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease, for a sore, 55 for defiling molds in fabric or in a house, 56 and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot, 57 to determine when something is clean or unclean.
These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.
Footnotes:
Leviticus 14:3 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 7, 32, 54 and 57.
Leviticus 14:10 That is, probably about 11 pounds or about 5 kilograms
Leviticus 14:10 That is, about 1/3 quart or about 0.3 liter; also in verses 12, 15, 21 and 24
Leviticus 14:13 Or purification offering; also in verses 19, 22 and 31
Leviticus 14:21 That is, probably about 3 1/2 pounds or about 1.6 kilograms
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, October 05, 2014
Read: John 10:7-18
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Footnotes:
John 10:9 Or kept safe
Insight
Attention is often given to the comparison between the believer and sheep. Today’s text focuses on Jesus as the Shepherd and on what He does for the sheep. He loves His sheep so much that He willingly died to save us, and now we are to love one another.
Pink Sheep
By Dave Branon
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. —John 13:35
While traveling on a road from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Scotland, I was enjoying the beautiful, pastoral countryside when a rather humorous sight captured my attention. There, on a small hilltop, was a rather large flock of pink sheep.
I know that sheep owners mark their animals with dots of spray paint to identify them—but these sheep really stood out. The owner had fully covered every animal with pink coloring. Everyone knew who those sheep belonged to.
Scripture calls followers of Christ sheep, and they too have a unique identifying mark. What is the “pink coloring” in a Christ-follower’s life? How can someone be identified as Jesus’ own?
In the gospel of John, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, told us what that identifier is: love. “Love one another; as I have loved you . . . . By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
In words and deeds, a believer should show love to all those around. “Beloved,” John writes, “if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). A Christian’s love for others should be as obvious as pink wool on a flock of Scottish sheep.
Dear Lord, remind me that this life is not about me
and my needs, but about others and how Your love
can shine through me to them. May Christlike love
be my distinguishing characteristic.
As followers of Christ, our love should make us stand out in a crowd.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, October 05, 2014
The Nature of Degeneration
Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned . . . —Romans 5:12
The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away— an infinitely more profound revelation (see Hebrews 9:26). The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, “I am my own god.” This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis— my claim to my right to myself. When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man (see John 2:25).
Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch— only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light . . . ” (John 3:19).
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Mark 7:14-37 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Definitive Answer
At some point, we all stand at an intersection and ask this question: Is God good when the outcome is not?
The definitive answer to the goodness of God comes in the person of Jesus Christ. He's the only picture of God ever taken. He pressed his fingers into the sore of the leper. He inclined his ear to the cry of the hungry. He didn't retreat at the sight of pain. Just the opposite. Cruel accusations of jealous men? Jesus knows their sting.
Is it possible that the wonder of heaven will make the most difficult life a good bargain? This was Paul's opinion. He said, "Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)
Your pain won't last forever, my friend, but you will. Whatever we go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us! You'll get through this! God is good even when the outcome is different. Hang onto this promise!
From You'll Get Through This
Mark 7:14-37
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [a]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[b] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[c] 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Footnotes:
Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts include here the words of 4:23.
Mark 7:24 Many early manuscripts Tyre and Sidon
Mark 7:31 That is, the Ten Cities
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, October 04, 2014
Read: Psalm 136:1-9,23-26
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
Insight
Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote of Psalm 136, “We know not by whom this Psalm was written, but we do know that it was sung in Solomon’s temple
(2 Chron. 7:3,6), and by the armies of Jehoshaphat when they sang themselves into victory in the wilderness of Tekoa. From the striking form of it we should infer that it was a popular hymn among the Lord’s ancient people. Most hymns with a solid, simple chorus become favourites with congregations, and this is sure to have been one of the best beloved.” (Treasury of David)
Disposable Culture
By Bill Crowder
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. —Psalm 136:1
More than ever, we live in a disposable culture. Think for a minute about some of the things that are made to be thrown away—razors, water bottles, lighters, paper plates, plastic eating utensils. Products are used, tossed, and then replaced.
This disposable culture is also reflected in more significant ways. Many times true commitment in relationships is seen as optional. Marriages struggle to survive. Long-term employees are discharged just before retirement for cheaper options. A highly revered athlete leaves to join another team. It seems as if nothing lasts.
Our unchanging God, however, has promised that His loving mercy endures forever. In Psalm 136, the singer celebrates this wonderful promise by making statements about God’s wonder, work, and character. He then punctuates each statement about God with the phrase, “For His mercy endures forever.” Whether it is the wonder of His creation (vv.4-9), the rescue of His people (vv.10-22), or His tender care for His own (vv.23-26), we can trust Him because His mercy will never fail. In a temporary world, the permanence of God’s mercy gives us hope. We can sing with the psalmist, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (v.1).
I sing of mercies that endure,
Forever builded firm and sure,
Of faithfulness that never dies,
Established changeless in the skies. —Psalter
God’s grace is immeasurable; His mercy inexhaustible; His peace inexpressible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 04, 2014
The Vision and The Reality
. . . to those who are . . . called to be saints . . . —1 Corinthians 1:2
Thank God for being able to see all that you have not yet been. You have had the vision, but you are not yet to the reality of it by any means. It is when we are in the valley, where we prove whether we will be the choice ones, that most of us turn back. We are not quite prepared for the bumps and bruises that must come if we are going to be turned into the shape of the vision. We have seen what we are not, and what God wants us to be, but are we willing to be battered into the shape of the vision to be used by God? The beatings will always come in the most common, everyday ways and through common, everyday people.
There are times when we do know what God’s purpose is; whether we will let the vision be turned into actual character depends on us, not on God. If we prefer to relax on the mountaintop and live in the memory of the vision, then we will be of no real use in the ordinary things of which human life is made. We have to learn to live in reliance upon what we saw in the vision, not simply live in ecstatic delight and conscious reflection upon God. This means living the realities of our lives in the light of the vision until the truth of the vision is actually realized in us. Every bit of our training is in that direction. Learn to thank God for making His demands known.
Our little “I am” always sulks and pouts when God says do. Let your little “I am” be shriveled up in God’s wrath and indignation–“I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). He must dominate. Isn’t it piercing to realize that God not only knows where we live, but also knows the gutters into which we crawl! He will hunt us down as fast as a flash of lightning. No human being knows human beings as God does.
At some point, we all stand at an intersection and ask this question: Is God good when the outcome is not?
The definitive answer to the goodness of God comes in the person of Jesus Christ. He's the only picture of God ever taken. He pressed his fingers into the sore of the leper. He inclined his ear to the cry of the hungry. He didn't retreat at the sight of pain. Just the opposite. Cruel accusations of jealous men? Jesus knows their sting.
Is it possible that the wonder of heaven will make the most difficult life a good bargain? This was Paul's opinion. He said, "Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)
Your pain won't last forever, my friend, but you will. Whatever we go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us! You'll get through this! God is good even when the outcome is different. Hang onto this promise!
From You'll Get Through This
Mark 7:14-37
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [a]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[b] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[c] 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Footnotes:
Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts include here the words of 4:23.
Mark 7:24 Many early manuscripts Tyre and Sidon
Mark 7:31 That is, the Ten Cities
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, October 04, 2014
Read: Psalm 136:1-9,23-26
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
Insight
Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote of Psalm 136, “We know not by whom this Psalm was written, but we do know that it was sung in Solomon’s temple
(2 Chron. 7:3,6), and by the armies of Jehoshaphat when they sang themselves into victory in the wilderness of Tekoa. From the striking form of it we should infer that it was a popular hymn among the Lord’s ancient people. Most hymns with a solid, simple chorus become favourites with congregations, and this is sure to have been one of the best beloved.” (Treasury of David)
Disposable Culture
By Bill Crowder
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. —Psalm 136:1
More than ever, we live in a disposable culture. Think for a minute about some of the things that are made to be thrown away—razors, water bottles, lighters, paper plates, plastic eating utensils. Products are used, tossed, and then replaced.
This disposable culture is also reflected in more significant ways. Many times true commitment in relationships is seen as optional. Marriages struggle to survive. Long-term employees are discharged just before retirement for cheaper options. A highly revered athlete leaves to join another team. It seems as if nothing lasts.
Our unchanging God, however, has promised that His loving mercy endures forever. In Psalm 136, the singer celebrates this wonderful promise by making statements about God’s wonder, work, and character. He then punctuates each statement about God with the phrase, “For His mercy endures forever.” Whether it is the wonder of His creation (vv.4-9), the rescue of His people (vv.10-22), or His tender care for His own (vv.23-26), we can trust Him because His mercy will never fail. In a temporary world, the permanence of God’s mercy gives us hope. We can sing with the psalmist, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (v.1).
I sing of mercies that endure,
Forever builded firm and sure,
Of faithfulness that never dies,
Established changeless in the skies. —Psalter
God’s grace is immeasurable; His mercy inexhaustible; His peace inexpressible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 04, 2014
The Vision and The Reality
. . . to those who are . . . called to be saints . . . —1 Corinthians 1:2
Thank God for being able to see all that you have not yet been. You have had the vision, but you are not yet to the reality of it by any means. It is when we are in the valley, where we prove whether we will be the choice ones, that most of us turn back. We are not quite prepared for the bumps and bruises that must come if we are going to be turned into the shape of the vision. We have seen what we are not, and what God wants us to be, but are we willing to be battered into the shape of the vision to be used by God? The beatings will always come in the most common, everyday ways and through common, everyday people.
There are times when we do know what God’s purpose is; whether we will let the vision be turned into actual character depends on us, not on God. If we prefer to relax on the mountaintop and live in the memory of the vision, then we will be of no real use in the ordinary things of which human life is made. We have to learn to live in reliance upon what we saw in the vision, not simply live in ecstatic delight and conscious reflection upon God. This means living the realities of our lives in the light of the vision until the truth of the vision is actually realized in us. Every bit of our training is in that direction. Learn to thank God for making His demands known.
Our little “I am” always sulks and pouts when God says do. Let your little “I am” be shriveled up in God’s wrath and indignation–“I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). He must dominate. Isn’t it piercing to realize that God not only knows where we live, but also knows the gutters into which we crawl! He will hunt us down as fast as a flash of lightning. No human being knows human beings as God does.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Leviticus 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Prayer Guidance
When I pray, I think of a thousand things I need to do. I forget the one thing I set out to do: pray! Can you relate? But wouldn't we all like to pray. . More? Better? Deeper? Stronger? With more fire, faith, or fervency?
Yet we have kids to feed, bills to pay, deadlines to meet. We want to pray, but when? We want to pray, but why? We have our doubts about prayer, our checkered history of unmet expectations, unanswered questions. We aren't the first. The sign-up for Prayer 101 contains familiar names: John, James, Andrew, and Peter. The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance.
So here's my challenge to you! Sign on at BeforeAmen.com. It will encourage you and give you a building block for your growth in prayer. Then get ready to change your life forever!
Leviticus 13
Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease,[a] they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons[b] who is a priest. 3 The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them ceremonially unclean. 4 If the shiny spot on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days. 5 On the seventh day the priest is to examine them, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate them for another seven days. 6 On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them clean; it is only a rash. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 7 But if the rash does spread in their skin after they have shown themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean, they must appear before the priest again. 8 The priest is to examine that person, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease.
9 “When anyone has a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to the priest. 10 The priest is to examine them, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and if there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic skin disease and the priest shall pronounce them unclean. He is not to isolate them, because they are already unclean.
12 “If the disease breaks out all over their skin and, so far as the priest can see, it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot, 13 the priest is to examine them, and if the disease has covered their whole body, he shall pronounce them clean. Since it has all turned white, they are clean. 14 But whenever raw flesh appears on them, they will be unclean. 15 When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce them unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; they have a defiling disease. 16 If the raw flesh changes and turns white, they must go to the priest. 17 The priest is to examine them, and if the sores have turned white, the priest shall pronounce the affected person clean; then they will be clean.
18 “When someone has a boil on their skin and it heals, 19 and in the place where the boil was, a white swelling or reddish-white spot appears, they must present themselves to the priest. 20 The priest is to examine it, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce that person unclean. It is a defiling skin disease that has broken out where the boil was. 21 But if, when the priest examines it, there is no white hair in it and it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to isolate them for seven days. 22 If it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling disease. 23 But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread, it is only a scar from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce them clean.
24 “When someone has a burn on their skin and a reddish-white or white spot appears in the raw flesh of the burn, 25 the priest is to examine the spot, and if the hair in it has turned white, and it appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease. 26 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and if it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to isolate them for seven days. 27 On the seventh day the priest is to examine that person, and if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease. 28 If, however, the spot is unchanged and has not spread in the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce them clean; it is only a scar from the burn.
29 “If a man or woman has a sore on their head or chin, 30 the priest is to examine the sore, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease on the head or chin. 31 But if, when the priest examines the sore, it does not seem to be more than skin deep and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days. 32 On the seventh day the priest is to examine the sore, and if it has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and it does not appear to be more than skin deep, 33 then the man or woman must shave themselves, except for the affected area, and the priest is to keep them isolated another seven days. 34 On the seventh day the priest is to examine the sore, and if it has not spread in the skin and appears to be no more than skin deep, the priest shall pronounce them clean. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 35 But if the sore does spread in the skin after they are pronounced clean, 36 the priest is to examine them, and if he finds that the sore has spread in the skin, he does not need to look for yellow hair; they are unclean. 37 If, however, the sore is unchanged so far as the priest can see, and if black hair has grown in it, the affected person is healed. They are clean, and the priest shall pronounce them clean.
38 “When a man or woman has white spots on the skin, 39 the priest is to examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; they are clean.
40 “A man who has lost his hair and is bald is clean. 41 If he has lost his hair from the front of his scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean. 42 But if he has a reddish-white sore on his bald head or forehead, it is a defiling disease breaking out on his head or forehead. 43 The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like a defiling skin disease, 44 the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head.
45 “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt,[c] cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.
Regulations About Defiling Molds
47 “As for any fabric that is spoiled with a defiling mold—any woolen or linen clothing, 48 any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather— 49 if the affected area in the fabric, the leather, the woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a defiling mold and must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest is to examine the affected area and isolate the article for seven days. 51 On the seventh day he is to examine it, and if the mold has spread in the fabric, the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use, it is a persistent defiling mold; the article is unclean. 52 He must burn the fabric, the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has been spoiled; because the defiling mold is persistent, the article must be burned.
53 “But if, when the priest examines it, the mold has not spread in the fabric, the woven or knitted material, or the leather article, 54 he shall order that the spoiled article be washed. Then he is to isolate it for another seven days. 55 After the article has been washed, the priest is to examine it again, and if the mold has not changed its appearance, even though it has not spread, it is unclean. Burn it, no matter which side of the fabric has been spoiled. 56 If, when the priest examines it, the mold has faded after the article has been washed, he is to tear the spoiled part out of the fabric, the leather, or the woven or knitted material. 57 But if it reappears in the fabric, in the woven or knitted material, or in the leather article, it is a spreading mold; whatever has the mold must be burned. 58 Any fabric, woven or knitted material, or any leather article that has been washed and is rid of the mold, must be washed again. Then it will be clean.”
59 These are the regulations concerning defiling molds in woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted material, or any leather article, for pronouncing them clean or unclean.
Footnotes:
Leviticus 13:2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin; here and throughout verses 3-46.
Leviticus 13:2 Or descendants
Leviticus 13:45 Or clothes, uncover their head
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 03, 2014
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:1-12
Present Weakness and Resurrection Life
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Footnotes:
2 Corinthians 4:6 Gen. 1:3
Insight
Despite the high price Paul paid to remain faithful to God (2 Cor. 11:23-28), he remained resilient and did not lose heart (4:1,14). He had been sustained by God’s sovereign power and sufficient grace (vv.7-9) and Christ’s resurrected life (vv.10-12).
Filtered Light
By David C. McCasland
It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts. —2 Corinthians 4:6
The painting A Trail of Light by Colorado Springs artist Bob Simpich shows a grove of aspen trees with golden leaves lit by the autumn sun. The topmost leaves are brilliantly illuminated while the ground beneath the trees is a mixture of sunlight and shadows. The painter said of this contrast, “I can’t resist the light filtered through to the forest floor. It weaves a special magic.”
The apostle Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in Corinth, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Paul goes on to describe the reality of life in which “we are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; . . . perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (vv.8-9).
There are times when it seems that the light of God’s face is dimmed because of our difficulty, sorrow, or loss. Yet, even in these dark shadows, we can see evidence of His presence with us.
If we walk in filtered light today, may we discover anew that God’s light—Jesus—is always shining in our hearts.
Lord, shine the light of Your face on us that we may
find our way to Your salvation. Shine Your light into
the darkness that envelops our world that we may
see who You are and show others the way to You.
In dark circumstances, God’s light is still shining in our hearts.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 03, 2014
The Place of Ministry
He said to them, ’This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’ —Mark 9:29
His disciples asked Him privately, ’Why could we not cast it out?’ ” (Mark 9:28). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “This kind can come out by nothing but” concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him.
When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face.
We must be able to “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), but we must also know how to come down. The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and what he was referring to were mostly humiliating things. And yet it is in our power to refuse to be humiliated and to say, “No, thank you, I much prefer to be on the mountaintop with God.” Can I face things as they actually are in the light of the reality of Jesus Christ, or do things as they really are destroy my faith in Him, and put me into a panic?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 03, 2014
Two Goats and a Cross - #7235
Now, I wasn't expecting a goat to be my teacher. But something kind of special happened. A good friend of ours actually helped a new baby goat come into the world. You might say he was "kidding" around. But you wouldn't say that. No, you shouldn't.
Right after this little wobbly thing arrived; his mother ran off and abandoned him. Which, unfortunately, is a sad picture of what happens to too many human children. Well, that is when Sandy, the Great Pyrenees guard dog, came to the rescue. Our friend tried to remedy this heartbreaking situation by leaving the baby in a grassy area, near where the little guy had arrived. Nope! No deal. Then Sandy, the dog, went over to the newborn and the dog started licking off the little goat's birth residue.
Here's how the barnyard drama played out: Sandy, who now was carrying the newborn's scent, gently nudged the mother, "Come on! Get over to your baby." And they ended up walking over there together, and mama goat got the point. Her mom instinct kicked in; she started licking her kid. Now, in the animal kingdom, when you give your kid a licking, that's actually a nice thing.
Well, that's when my grandson weighed in. When he heard about all this, and he heard about how the guard dog had lovingly intervened, he instinctively said, "Well, that's just like Jesus!" I had two reactions. First, "He's right." Second, "Why didn't I think of that?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Two Goats and a Cross."
Our grandson explained that he saw the baby was us, the mother was God and the dog who came to the rescue represented Jesus. Now we've got a little theological tweaking we need to do here, because it wasn't God who walked away from me. It was me who walked away from God. Or as the Bible says, "All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own" (Isaiah 53:6 - NLB). In a word, that's sin. Fact is, God and I were hopelessly apart. Away from our Father's love, we just wander all alone and clueless.
In the Old Testament, and by the way, today around the world the Jewish people are celebrating the highest holy day of the year – the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. It goes back to Leviticus 16 where there were goats involved. "And two goats came to the place of worship and the High Priest (it says) shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering." This was kind of an advance picture of what one-day God's Son would come and do. And that is to take the sin of my life and pay for it with His blood.
Jesus came, and here's what the Bible says in our word for today from the Word of God. That final Day of Atonement was that Good Friday. 1 Timothy 2:5, "There is only one God and there is one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus. He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone." One person who can bring God, who is a holy, perfect, sinless God, together with a guy like me, who has broken God's laws, run my life my way, and tried to act like I was my own god. There's only one person who could do that, and that's the person who died to bring us together and that is Jesus; one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity.
So, from a barnyard birth drama-a dog and a couple of goats-I got a good glimpse of that first Good Friday; Jesus hanging on that cruel cross. I can almost see Him with one nail-pierced hand in God's hand and the other hand reaching for me to bring us together. When He was reaching for God, He was reaching for you too. It was your sin He was paying for too. And this very day He's nudging you, and pushing you in the direction of the God you were made by and the God you were made for. There's nobody else who can get you to Him, because nobody else died to pay for the sin that separates you from your God.
And this day I've got to believe your heart is restless for the God who made you. You've got this cosmic loneliness. You're lonely for God. You're ready for that relationship you were made for. Well, tell Him that, "Jesus, I have sinned. I have broken Your laws. But You died for those sins, and You're alive. You walked out of Your grave. You are my Savior from this day on."
Our website is really there to be there for you at a time like this to begin with Jesus; to help you know how. A lot of good information there that will help you get started with Him. Will you check it out as soon as you can get to it today – ANewStory.com?
Yeah, you're being nudged in the direction of the God who made you right now, so you can experience the love that your life depends on.
When I pray, I think of a thousand things I need to do. I forget the one thing I set out to do: pray! Can you relate? But wouldn't we all like to pray. . More? Better? Deeper? Stronger? With more fire, faith, or fervency?
Yet we have kids to feed, bills to pay, deadlines to meet. We want to pray, but when? We want to pray, but why? We have our doubts about prayer, our checkered history of unmet expectations, unanswered questions. We aren't the first. The sign-up for Prayer 101 contains familiar names: John, James, Andrew, and Peter. The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance.
So here's my challenge to you! Sign on at BeforeAmen.com. It will encourage you and give you a building block for your growth in prayer. Then get ready to change your life forever!
Leviticus 13
Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease,[a] they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons[b] who is a priest. 3 The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them ceremonially unclean. 4 If the shiny spot on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days. 5 On the seventh day the priest is to examine them, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate them for another seven days. 6 On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them clean; it is only a rash. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 7 But if the rash does spread in their skin after they have shown themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean, they must appear before the priest again. 8 The priest is to examine that person, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease.
9 “When anyone has a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to the priest. 10 The priest is to examine them, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and if there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic skin disease and the priest shall pronounce them unclean. He is not to isolate them, because they are already unclean.
12 “If the disease breaks out all over their skin and, so far as the priest can see, it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot, 13 the priest is to examine them, and if the disease has covered their whole body, he shall pronounce them clean. Since it has all turned white, they are clean. 14 But whenever raw flesh appears on them, they will be unclean. 15 When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce them unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; they have a defiling disease. 16 If the raw flesh changes and turns white, they must go to the priest. 17 The priest is to examine them, and if the sores have turned white, the priest shall pronounce the affected person clean; then they will be clean.
18 “When someone has a boil on their skin and it heals, 19 and in the place where the boil was, a white swelling or reddish-white spot appears, they must present themselves to the priest. 20 The priest is to examine it, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce that person unclean. It is a defiling skin disease that has broken out where the boil was. 21 But if, when the priest examines it, there is no white hair in it and it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to isolate them for seven days. 22 If it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling disease. 23 But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread, it is only a scar from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce them clean.
24 “When someone has a burn on their skin and a reddish-white or white spot appears in the raw flesh of the burn, 25 the priest is to examine the spot, and if the hair in it has turned white, and it appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease. 26 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and if it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to isolate them for seven days. 27 On the seventh day the priest is to examine that person, and if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease. 28 If, however, the spot is unchanged and has not spread in the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce them clean; it is only a scar from the burn.
29 “If a man or woman has a sore on their head or chin, 30 the priest is to examine the sore, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease on the head or chin. 31 But if, when the priest examines the sore, it does not seem to be more than skin deep and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days. 32 On the seventh day the priest is to examine the sore, and if it has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and it does not appear to be more than skin deep, 33 then the man or woman must shave themselves, except for the affected area, and the priest is to keep them isolated another seven days. 34 On the seventh day the priest is to examine the sore, and if it has not spread in the skin and appears to be no more than skin deep, the priest shall pronounce them clean. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 35 But if the sore does spread in the skin after they are pronounced clean, 36 the priest is to examine them, and if he finds that the sore has spread in the skin, he does not need to look for yellow hair; they are unclean. 37 If, however, the sore is unchanged so far as the priest can see, and if black hair has grown in it, the affected person is healed. They are clean, and the priest shall pronounce them clean.
38 “When a man or woman has white spots on the skin, 39 the priest is to examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; they are clean.
40 “A man who has lost his hair and is bald is clean. 41 If he has lost his hair from the front of his scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean. 42 But if he has a reddish-white sore on his bald head or forehead, it is a defiling disease breaking out on his head or forehead. 43 The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like a defiling skin disease, 44 the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head.
45 “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt,[c] cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.
Regulations About Defiling Molds
47 “As for any fabric that is spoiled with a defiling mold—any woolen or linen clothing, 48 any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather— 49 if the affected area in the fabric, the leather, the woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a defiling mold and must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest is to examine the affected area and isolate the article for seven days. 51 On the seventh day he is to examine it, and if the mold has spread in the fabric, the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use, it is a persistent defiling mold; the article is unclean. 52 He must burn the fabric, the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has been spoiled; because the defiling mold is persistent, the article must be burned.
53 “But if, when the priest examines it, the mold has not spread in the fabric, the woven or knitted material, or the leather article, 54 he shall order that the spoiled article be washed. Then he is to isolate it for another seven days. 55 After the article has been washed, the priest is to examine it again, and if the mold has not changed its appearance, even though it has not spread, it is unclean. Burn it, no matter which side of the fabric has been spoiled. 56 If, when the priest examines it, the mold has faded after the article has been washed, he is to tear the spoiled part out of the fabric, the leather, or the woven or knitted material. 57 But if it reappears in the fabric, in the woven or knitted material, or in the leather article, it is a spreading mold; whatever has the mold must be burned. 58 Any fabric, woven or knitted material, or any leather article that has been washed and is rid of the mold, must be washed again. Then it will be clean.”
59 These are the regulations concerning defiling molds in woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted material, or any leather article, for pronouncing them clean or unclean.
Footnotes:
Leviticus 13:2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin; here and throughout verses 3-46.
Leviticus 13:2 Or descendants
Leviticus 13:45 Or clothes, uncover their head
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 03, 2014
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:1-12
Present Weakness and Resurrection Life
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Footnotes:
2 Corinthians 4:6 Gen. 1:3
Insight
Despite the high price Paul paid to remain faithful to God (2 Cor. 11:23-28), he remained resilient and did not lose heart (4:1,14). He had been sustained by God’s sovereign power and sufficient grace (vv.7-9) and Christ’s resurrected life (vv.10-12).
Filtered Light
By David C. McCasland
It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts. —2 Corinthians 4:6
 |
| Bob Simpich |
The apostle Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in Corinth, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Paul goes on to describe the reality of life in which “we are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; . . . perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (vv.8-9).
There are times when it seems that the light of God’s face is dimmed because of our difficulty, sorrow, or loss. Yet, even in these dark shadows, we can see evidence of His presence with us.
If we walk in filtered light today, may we discover anew that God’s light—Jesus—is always shining in our hearts.
Lord, shine the light of Your face on us that we may
find our way to Your salvation. Shine Your light into
the darkness that envelops our world that we may
see who You are and show others the way to You.
In dark circumstances, God’s light is still shining in our hearts.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 03, 2014
The Place of Ministry
He said to them, ’This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’ —Mark 9:29
His disciples asked Him privately, ’Why could we not cast it out?’ ” (Mark 9:28). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “This kind can come out by nothing but” concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him.
When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face.
We must be able to “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), but we must also know how to come down. The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and what he was referring to were mostly humiliating things. And yet it is in our power to refuse to be humiliated and to say, “No, thank you, I much prefer to be on the mountaintop with God.” Can I face things as they actually are in the light of the reality of Jesus Christ, or do things as they really are destroy my faith in Him, and put me into a panic?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 03, 2014
Two Goats and a Cross - #7235
Now, I wasn't expecting a goat to be my teacher. But something kind of special happened. A good friend of ours actually helped a new baby goat come into the world. You might say he was "kidding" around. But you wouldn't say that. No, you shouldn't.
Right after this little wobbly thing arrived; his mother ran off and abandoned him. Which, unfortunately, is a sad picture of what happens to too many human children. Well, that is when Sandy, the Great Pyrenees guard dog, came to the rescue. Our friend tried to remedy this heartbreaking situation by leaving the baby in a grassy area, near where the little guy had arrived. Nope! No deal. Then Sandy, the dog, went over to the newborn and the dog started licking off the little goat's birth residue.
Here's how the barnyard drama played out: Sandy, who now was carrying the newborn's scent, gently nudged the mother, "Come on! Get over to your baby." And they ended up walking over there together, and mama goat got the point. Her mom instinct kicked in; she started licking her kid. Now, in the animal kingdom, when you give your kid a licking, that's actually a nice thing.
Well, that's when my grandson weighed in. When he heard about all this, and he heard about how the guard dog had lovingly intervened, he instinctively said, "Well, that's just like Jesus!" I had two reactions. First, "He's right." Second, "Why didn't I think of that?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Two Goats and a Cross."
Our grandson explained that he saw the baby was us, the mother was God and the dog who came to the rescue represented Jesus. Now we've got a little theological tweaking we need to do here, because it wasn't God who walked away from me. It was me who walked away from God. Or as the Bible says, "All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own" (Isaiah 53:6 - NLB). In a word, that's sin. Fact is, God and I were hopelessly apart. Away from our Father's love, we just wander all alone and clueless.
In the Old Testament, and by the way, today around the world the Jewish people are celebrating the highest holy day of the year – the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. It goes back to Leviticus 16 where there were goats involved. "And two goats came to the place of worship and the High Priest (it says) shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering." This was kind of an advance picture of what one-day God's Son would come and do. And that is to take the sin of my life and pay for it with His blood.
Jesus came, and here's what the Bible says in our word for today from the Word of God. That final Day of Atonement was that Good Friday. 1 Timothy 2:5, "There is only one God and there is one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus. He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone." One person who can bring God, who is a holy, perfect, sinless God, together with a guy like me, who has broken God's laws, run my life my way, and tried to act like I was my own god. There's only one person who could do that, and that's the person who died to bring us together and that is Jesus; one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity.
So, from a barnyard birth drama-a dog and a couple of goats-I got a good glimpse of that first Good Friday; Jesus hanging on that cruel cross. I can almost see Him with one nail-pierced hand in God's hand and the other hand reaching for me to bring us together. When He was reaching for God, He was reaching for you too. It was your sin He was paying for too. And this very day He's nudging you, and pushing you in the direction of the God you were made by and the God you were made for. There's nobody else who can get you to Him, because nobody else died to pay for the sin that separates you from your God.
And this day I've got to believe your heart is restless for the God who made you. You've got this cosmic loneliness. You're lonely for God. You're ready for that relationship you were made for. Well, tell Him that, "Jesus, I have sinned. I have broken Your laws. But You died for those sins, and You're alive. You walked out of Your grave. You are my Savior from this day on."
Our website is really there to be there for you at a time like this to begin with Jesus; to help you know how. A lot of good information there that will help you get started with Him. Will you check it out as soon as you can get to it today – ANewStory.com?
Yeah, you're being nudged in the direction of the God who made you right now, so you can experience the love that your life depends on.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Mark 7:1-13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Portable Prayer
Some people excel in prayer. They are the SEAL Team 6 of intercession. They would rather pray than sleep. Why is it I sleep when I pray? It's not that we don't pray at all. We all pray some. Surveys indicate one in five unbelievers prays daily. Just in case, perhaps? When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them a prayer. Not a lecture on prayer. A quotable, repeatable, portable prayer. Could you use the same?
Father, You are good.
I need help. Heal me and forgive me.
They need help. Thank you.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Let this prayer punctuate your day!
Here's my challenge for you! Sign on at BeforeAmen com. Every day for 4 weeks, pray 4 minutes. Then get ready to connect with God like never before!
Mark 7:1-13
That Which Defiles
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[b]
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d] and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e] 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
Footnotes:
Mark 7:4 Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches
Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13
Mark 7:9 Some manuscripts set up
Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Read: Mark 4:35-41
Jesus Calms the Storm
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Insight
Today’s passage from Mark recounts an incredible display of Jesus’ power. As the Lord of creation (Col. 1:15-17), Christ had the right and the authority to instruct the wind and the waves and have them obey Him. Yet this miracle caused the disciples to fear greatly, which prompted Jesus’ statement in verse 40. The disciples feared the storm more than they trusted the one who was with them in the boat. Jesus tells them (and us) to trust what we have seen in Him to get us through both the literal and metaphorical storms of life.
In The Storm
By Poh Fang Chia
[Jesus] said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” —Mark 4:39
A storm was brewing—not just on the horizon but also in a friend’s home. “When I was in Hong Kong,” she shared, “the local meteorological service announced that there was a superstorm approaching. But more than the storm that was looming outside my window, there was a storm brewing at home. While my dad was in the hospital, family members were trying to balance their home and work responsibilities while also traveling to and from the hospital. They were so tired that patience was wearing thin, and the situation at home was tense.”
Life can feel like a storm—tossing us around with winds of misfortune, grief, or stress. Where can we turn? When Jesus’ disciples were caught in a great windstorm and wondered if He cared, they still knew where to turn. He demonstrated His power by calming the howling storm (Mark 4:38-39).
But often He does not calm the storm immediately. And, like the disciples, we may feel that He doesn’t care. To calm our fears, we can cling to faith in who God is and what He can do. We can take shelter in Him (Ps. 91:1). We can find His help to relate to others with grace. We can rest in an all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving God. He is with us in the storm and cradles us through the storm.
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of the ocean, and earth, and skies. —Baker
One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think. —Brother Lawrence
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 02, 2014
The Place of Exaltation
. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Don't Forget the 'Meta' In Your Morphosis - #7234
Caterpillars? Let's face it; don't tell them what I said, but they're ugly. Butterflies are beautiful. Now, I have known people with butterfly collections. I've never known anyone with a caterpillar collection. I guess it's just that every caterpillar gets fed up inching along instead of flying. They get fed up with being hairy and ugly instead of being colorful and eye-catching. But fed up won't do it. No, that caterpillar has to get into this cocoon and get metamorphed. That's a word I learned for that miraculous process. It means changing your form-metamorphosis, right? There's something, actually, for you in that cocoon, especially if you're tired of crawling spiritually or if your spiritual experience gets pretty hairy sometimes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Forget the 'Meta' In Your Morphosis."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 7 beginning at verse 9. Paul says of some early Christians, "I am happy now, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance." Now, here is one of the most misunderstood words probably in the Christian vocabulary. And it's one of the most neglected experiences in the Christian life.
Repentance – It's vital if you want Christ's peace and Christ's power. It's the key. It's what releases His power. Repent! Now, obviously it means more than, "I'm sorry, God. I did something bad." Because these people said they were sorry, but Paul said here that repentance is more than that. Listen to verses 10 and 11, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
Now, when you repent of a sin, you're not just saying, "Oh, I feel bad about it." You're saying, "I feel so bad about my sin that I'll stop doing it. In fact, I'm going to set up my life so I cannot and will not do it again." That's called abandoning the sin; forsaking it; throwing it in the fire so you can't do it any more. The Greek word for repentance is metanoeó. When you see meta on a word, it usually reflects change; a change of shape in the case of a caterpillar. Metabolism – that's what changes your food, right? So metanoeó-repentance-you're talking change here, not just feeling guilty.
The caterpillar might say, "I'm sick of feeling ugly. I don't like being like this any more. I want to be different." That's not enough, caterpillar. He has to submit to a transforming process that makes him something totally new.
Now, maybe you've told God you're sorry, but maybe it's time to go a step further and say, "Go ahead, God, and break my heart over my sin." See, when Peter realized what he'd done to Jesus in denying Him, that's when he looked in Jesus' eyes and Jesus turned and looked at him. He went out and he wept bitterly. When's the last time you've had that kind of passion over hurting Jesus. It's not because you broke a rule, but because you broke Jesus' heart.
And then you repent specifically. Not, "Lord, forgive my many sins whatever they are." No, name it. Repent emotionally and passionately. Get in that cocoon where sorry leads to a change. That's when the power of God is released. You've got to burn your bridges to all the things that have helped you do that sin and the people who've helped you do that sin and the influences. You need to go back and make it right with the people who've been affected by that sin and ask their forgiveness. Look around for some accountability people and ask for some help from some people who will hold you to the commitment you've made.
See, God is as tired of your crawling spiritually as you are. He wants you to fly, and repentance is the missing difference. Ask God right now to forgive that sin and to change you. Don't forget that 'meta' in your morphosis and become in Jesus a new person.
Some people excel in prayer. They are the SEAL Team 6 of intercession. They would rather pray than sleep. Why is it I sleep when I pray? It's not that we don't pray at all. We all pray some. Surveys indicate one in five unbelievers prays daily. Just in case, perhaps? When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them a prayer. Not a lecture on prayer. A quotable, repeatable, portable prayer. Could you use the same?
Father, You are good.
I need help. Heal me and forgive me.
They need help. Thank you.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Let this prayer punctuate your day!
Here's my challenge for you! Sign on at BeforeAmen com. Every day for 4 weeks, pray 4 minutes. Then get ready to connect with God like never before!
Mark 7:1-13
That Which Defiles
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[b]
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d] and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e] 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
Footnotes:
Mark 7:4 Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches
Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13
Mark 7:9 Some manuscripts set up
Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Read: Mark 4:35-41
Jesus Calms the Storm
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Insight
Today’s passage from Mark recounts an incredible display of Jesus’ power. As the Lord of creation (Col. 1:15-17), Christ had the right and the authority to instruct the wind and the waves and have them obey Him. Yet this miracle caused the disciples to fear greatly, which prompted Jesus’ statement in verse 40. The disciples feared the storm more than they trusted the one who was with them in the boat. Jesus tells them (and us) to trust what we have seen in Him to get us through both the literal and metaphorical storms of life.
In The Storm
By Poh Fang Chia
[Jesus] said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” —Mark 4:39
A storm was brewing—not just on the horizon but also in a friend’s home. “When I was in Hong Kong,” she shared, “the local meteorological service announced that there was a superstorm approaching. But more than the storm that was looming outside my window, there was a storm brewing at home. While my dad was in the hospital, family members were trying to balance their home and work responsibilities while also traveling to and from the hospital. They were so tired that patience was wearing thin, and the situation at home was tense.”
Life can feel like a storm—tossing us around with winds of misfortune, grief, or stress. Where can we turn? When Jesus’ disciples were caught in a great windstorm and wondered if He cared, they still knew where to turn. He demonstrated His power by calming the howling storm (Mark 4:38-39).
But often He does not calm the storm immediately. And, like the disciples, we may feel that He doesn’t care. To calm our fears, we can cling to faith in who God is and what He can do. We can take shelter in Him (Ps. 91:1). We can find His help to relate to others with grace. We can rest in an all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving God. He is with us in the storm and cradles us through the storm.
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of the ocean, and earth, and skies. —Baker
One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think. —Brother Lawrence
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 02, 2014
The Place of Exaltation
. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Don't Forget the 'Meta' In Your Morphosis - #7234
Caterpillars? Let's face it; don't tell them what I said, but they're ugly. Butterflies are beautiful. Now, I have known people with butterfly collections. I've never known anyone with a caterpillar collection. I guess it's just that every caterpillar gets fed up inching along instead of flying. They get fed up with being hairy and ugly instead of being colorful and eye-catching. But fed up won't do it. No, that caterpillar has to get into this cocoon and get metamorphed. That's a word I learned for that miraculous process. It means changing your form-metamorphosis, right? There's something, actually, for you in that cocoon, especially if you're tired of crawling spiritually or if your spiritual experience gets pretty hairy sometimes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Forget the 'Meta' In Your Morphosis."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 7 beginning at verse 9. Paul says of some early Christians, "I am happy now, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance." Now, here is one of the most misunderstood words probably in the Christian vocabulary. And it's one of the most neglected experiences in the Christian life.
Repentance – It's vital if you want Christ's peace and Christ's power. It's the key. It's what releases His power. Repent! Now, obviously it means more than, "I'm sorry, God. I did something bad." Because these people said they were sorry, but Paul said here that repentance is more than that. Listen to verses 10 and 11, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
Now, when you repent of a sin, you're not just saying, "Oh, I feel bad about it." You're saying, "I feel so bad about my sin that I'll stop doing it. In fact, I'm going to set up my life so I cannot and will not do it again." That's called abandoning the sin; forsaking it; throwing it in the fire so you can't do it any more. The Greek word for repentance is metanoeó. When you see meta on a word, it usually reflects change; a change of shape in the case of a caterpillar. Metabolism – that's what changes your food, right? So metanoeó-repentance-you're talking change here, not just feeling guilty.
The caterpillar might say, "I'm sick of feeling ugly. I don't like being like this any more. I want to be different." That's not enough, caterpillar. He has to submit to a transforming process that makes him something totally new.
Now, maybe you've told God you're sorry, but maybe it's time to go a step further and say, "Go ahead, God, and break my heart over my sin." See, when Peter realized what he'd done to Jesus in denying Him, that's when he looked in Jesus' eyes and Jesus turned and looked at him. He went out and he wept bitterly. When's the last time you've had that kind of passion over hurting Jesus. It's not because you broke a rule, but because you broke Jesus' heart.
And then you repent specifically. Not, "Lord, forgive my many sins whatever they are." No, name it. Repent emotionally and passionately. Get in that cocoon where sorry leads to a change. That's when the power of God is released. You've got to burn your bridges to all the things that have helped you do that sin and the people who've helped you do that sin and the influences. You need to go back and make it right with the people who've been affected by that sin and ask their forgiveness. Look around for some accountability people and ask for some help from some people who will hold you to the commitment you've made.
See, God is as tired of your crawling spiritually as you are. He wants you to fly, and repentance is the missing difference. Ask God right now to forgive that sin and to change you. Don't forget that 'meta' in your morphosis and become in Jesus a new person.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Leviticus 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Before Amen Challenge
I'm a recovering prayer wimp. For years my prayers seemed to zig, then zag, then zig again. Maybe you can relate. Perhaps your prayer life could use a tune up, a reboot?
If that sounds overwhelming, I'm inviting you to a simpler plan. Four minutes, plus four weeks, equals forever change! Every day for four weeks, pray for four minutes, focusing on these core elements of prayer: "Father, You are good. I need help. They need help. Thank you."
It's that simple. Really! Talking with God doesn't have to be complicated or complex. The power isn't in the words we pray-but in the One who hears them!
Sign on at BeforeAmen.com. Every day for 4 weeks, pray four minutes-then get ready to connect with God like never before!
Leviticus 12
Purification After Childbirth
The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. 3 On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. 4 Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. 5 If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.
6 “‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.[b] 7 He shall offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.
“‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. 8 But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
Leviticus 12:6 Or purification offering; also in verse 8
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
And when I come I will give further directions.
Insight
On the evening Jesus celebrated His last Passover with His disciples, He also established His own memorial supper. The unleavened Passover bread symbolized the exodus from Egypt, and the cup echoed the Old Testament promise, “I will redeem you.”
The Power Of Ritual
By Julie Ackerman Link
Do this in remembrance of Me. —1 Corinthians 11:24
When I was growing up, one of the rules in our house was that we weren’t allowed to go to bed angry (Eph. 4:26). All our fights and disagreements had to be resolved. The companion to that rule was this bedtime ritual: Mom and Dad would say to my brother and me, “Good night. I love you.” And we would respond, “Good night. I love you too.”
The value of this family ritual has recently been impressed on me. As my mother lay in a hospice bed dying of lung cancer, she became less and less responsive. But each night when I left her bedside I would say, “I love you, Mom.” And though she could say little else, she would respond, “I love you too.” Growing up I had no idea what a gift this ritual would be to me so many years later.
Time and repetition can rob our rituals of meaning. But some are important reminders of vital spiritual truths. First-century believers misused the practice of the Lord’s Supper, but the apostle Paul didn’t tell them to stop celebrating it. Instead he told them, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26).
Rather than give up the ritual, perhaps we need to restore the meaning.
Lord, when we observe the Lord’s Supper, help
us avoid the trap of letting our observance
grow routine. May we always be moved with
gratitude for the wonderful gift of ritual.
Any ritual can lose meaning, but that does not make the ritual meaningless.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
The Place of Exaltation
. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
The Tripper-Upper - #7233
In high school our teenage son had a very, very busy life, which just might go with having the same last name as I do. And sometimes I would just find him kind of collapsed on the couch. And he deserved a rest. He'd set up his own little personal universe there, a little comfort zone. So, he'd have his New York Giants mug, and his school books, and what was going to be on TV, and of course he had his phone. Now, don't think cell phone, because we're talking before cell phones. This is like the old fashioned land line phone. Unfortunately, the phone plugged in two rooms away, which means that the cord was stretched to the max to get to his little zone with the couch, and I could tell when he had the phone there, because I kept hearing people muttering all through the house after they tripped over the cord. See, it was right where all of us had to walk to get to the living room or to the kitchen. And I'd just say, "Hey, you've got to do something about this thing that people keep tripping over!" Well, so do you and I.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Tripper-Upper."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 2:24. It is a sobering indictment of first century believers. Listen to these words: "As it is written, God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles (or the unbelievers, or the unreached) because of you." Now, the Jewish believers that Paul was talking to were the reached people. And he was saying, "You believers... Because of you, the unreached people are blaspheming God."
Then he talks a little bit about why, for example, in chapter 2, verse 21. He says, "You, then, who teach others; do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?" Then he says, "God's name is blasphemed because of you." In other words, "You're not living what you say you believe, and people are tripping over the contradictions in your life." It's like my son's telephone cord. People keep tripping over it; it's in the way!
You've got to ask, "What is there in my life that could be keeping someone from my Jesus?" It's a pretty horrible thought to think that someone might end up lost forever because I turned them off to Jesus by my inconsistency. You know, most people who come to Christ do it because of a Christian they know. And most people who refuse Christ do it because of a Christian they know.
I wonder if your temper is canceling out your message about a loving Savior. Or the humor that you use. Is it contradicting the purity that Jesus stands for? Maybe that sarcasm is so harsh that it's hard to reconcile with the compassion of Jesus. Maybe your gossip or your backstabbing; maybe that's tripping people up. Or the fact that you're negative most of the time, your laziness at work or school, or a complaining attitude.
See, a Christian ought to be the best employee that employer has, so they bring credit to the name of Jesus. You ought to be the hardest working student in that class whether you get the best grades or not. You're the advertisement for your Savior, and I know you'd hate to be a reason for someone to reject Christ because you never dealt with your tripper-upper.
Actually, if you were to let Jesus change that part of you; that part that's kind of out-of-control, that's inconsistent, that's confusing to an unbeliever, it might just create a curiosity in folks that like, "Wow! What happened to him? You're different." That might get them started investigating your Jesus. It might give you the best opening to share Christ you've ever had; that simple change in you. When they see what happened to you, you get to tell them, "It was Jesus." Because they never saw you be like this before. That's a powerful testimony!
My son and I had to solve that cord problem before someone got hurt. He had to do something about the thing that kept tripping people up. Will you do that in your spiritual life? I believe you can provide an uncluttered path to the Jesus who your friends so desperately need if you'll get rid of that tripper-upper.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Leviticus 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Content
What if God’s only gift to you were his grace to save you. Would you be content? Content! That’s the word. A state of heart in which you would be at peace if God gave you nothing more than he already has. You beg him to save the life of your child. You implore him to remove the cancer from your body. You plead with him to keep your business afloat. What if his answer is, “My grace is enough.” Would you be content?
You see, from heaven’s perspective, grace IS enough. If God did nothing more than save us from hell, could anyone complain? Having been given eternal life, dare we grumble at an aching body? Let me be quick to add. God has not left you with “just” salvation. He has already given you grace upon grace. The vast majority of us have been saved and then blessed even more!
From In the Grip of Grace
Leviticus 11
Clean and Unclean Food
11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.
4 “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5 The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
9 “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. 10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. 11 And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. 12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.
13 “‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,[a] the vulture, the black vulture, 14 the red kite, any kind of black kite, 15 any kind of raven, 16 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
20 “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. 21 There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. 23 But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.
24 “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.
26 “‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. 27 Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 28 Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. These animals are unclean for you.
29 “‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. 31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. 32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. 33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34 Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean. 35 Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. 36 A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. 37 If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. 38 But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 “‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean till evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.
41 “‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. 42 You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. 43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. 44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45 I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
46 “‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. 47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Read: Luke 5:17-26
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Insight
The religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy for claiming divine attributes for Himself (Luke 5:21). Blasphemy is showing contempt or a lack of reverence for God or something sacred (v.20). A violation of the third commandment, it was punishable by death (Lev. 24:15-16).
A Fresh Start
By David C. McCasland
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. —Luke 5:31
In many countries, health laws prohibit reselling or reusing old mattresses. Only landfills will take them. Tim Keenan tackled the problem and today his business employs a dozen people to extract the individual components of metal, fabric, and foam in old mattresses for recycling. But that’s only part of the story. Journalist Bill Vogrin wrote, “Of all the items Keenan recycles . . . it’s the people that may be his biggest success” (The Gazette, Colorado Springs). Keenan hires men from halfway houses and homeless shelters, giving them a job and a second chance. He says, “We take guys nobody else wants.”
Luke 5:17-26 tells how Jesus healed the body and the soul of a paralyzed man. Following that miraculous event, Levi answered Jesus’ call to follow Him and then invited his fellow tax collectors and friends to a banquet in honor of the Lord (vv.27-29). When some people accused Jesus of associating with undesirables (v.30), He reminded them that healthy people don’t need a doctor—adding, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (v.32).
To everyone who feels like a “throwaway” headed for the landfill of life, Jesus opens His arms of love and offers a fresh beginning. That’s why He came!
The power of God can turn a heart
From evil and the power of sin;
The love of God can change a life
And make it new and cleansed within. —Fasick
Salvation is receiving a new life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
The Assigning of the Call
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church . . . —Colossians 1:24
We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside. Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, “If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn’t object!” But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed—you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.
I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Out of the Book and Into the Battle - #7232
Ever since I was little I've been fascinated by the American Revolution, and I always wanted to see Concord Bridge, where it sort of all began. You know, the shot heard around the world? By the time I got there, I had two little boys of my own who were not fascinated by the American Revolution. I wanted to spend a while at Concord Bridge, imagining those Colonial farmers descending and the Red Coats stepping up to the bridge in their rigid formation.
Unfortunately my sons were not interested in all of that. I tried to tell them the story; yawn! Come on, this is vacation. Who cares about history, right? One last idea. I got their tricorn hats that we bought them and we got some sticks for them to use as muskets. I made them the Americans and I played Red Coat. So they came charging across one side of the Concord Bridge. I went running away from them. I eventually ended up fatally wounded. And when we were done they said, "Let's do it again, Daddy!" Of course they won every time. They became interested, but not until they had a part.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Out of the Book and Into the Battle."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 20:6-7. Jesus is telling a story about a man who needs help at harvest time. He's gone out three times during the day to get more and more help. And finally, he goes out near the end of the working day, and it says this: "About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 'Because no one has hired us' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'"
There's an urgent job to be done! Harvest time passes fast; you've got to get to it. There's only a few days to make it all happen. Big job; urgent job with not enough help. Men standing around? Why? Because they said they didn't have a job to do. So Jesus says here basically there's a job for everyone in the harvest; the harvest of human hearts.
See, a lot of church folks are like my sons at Concord Bridge. You hear the facts about the battle. You hear stories of what other people have done to reach people, but you're not playing any active part. You're just watching.
Actually God doesn't intend to have any of His kids just be spectators. This is a war with life-or-death stakes going on. He wants you out of the stands and into the game. Maybe your Christianity is kind of gray and boring. And it is until you get a mission, not just hear about people with a mission.
You need a job to do for Jesus, and you can be sure He's got one. You're surrounded by work He needs done. There are boys who need you. There are girls who need you to reach out to them. There are senior citizens who are lonely and need to hear about Christ in their few remaining years. There are teenagers maybe you could connect with. There are homeless people. There are Christian workers who are buried in administrative detail and you could help relieve them for the work that only they can do. You are urgently needed somewhere I'll tell you.
When you get a mission, when you get a piece of the action, your faith comes alive. You read the Bible with a new appetite, you pray with a new intensity, and you listen with a new openness. You can't just go to church to get filled up and meet your needs. It's a staging area for God's rescue operation on earth launched at the cross. It's a place for God's soldiers. It's a place to get ready for the battles that affect people's eternities.
Christianity seems hollow, meaningless and boring without a personal mission, and you are needed. So don't just listen to secondhand facts about the battle for human souls and for eternities. Do what my boys did. Grab a musket and run to the battle in Jesus' name.
What if God’s only gift to you were his grace to save you. Would you be content? Content! That’s the word. A state of heart in which you would be at peace if God gave you nothing more than he already has. You beg him to save the life of your child. You implore him to remove the cancer from your body. You plead with him to keep your business afloat. What if his answer is, “My grace is enough.” Would you be content?
You see, from heaven’s perspective, grace IS enough. If God did nothing more than save us from hell, could anyone complain? Having been given eternal life, dare we grumble at an aching body? Let me be quick to add. God has not left you with “just” salvation. He has already given you grace upon grace. The vast majority of us have been saved and then blessed even more!
From In the Grip of Grace
Leviticus 11
Clean and Unclean Food
11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.
4 “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5 The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
9 “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. 10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. 11 And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. 12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.
13 “‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,[a] the vulture, the black vulture, 14 the red kite, any kind of black kite, 15 any kind of raven, 16 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
20 “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. 21 There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. 23 But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.
24 “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.
26 “‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. 27 Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 28 Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. These animals are unclean for you.
29 “‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. 31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. 32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. 33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34 Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean. 35 Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. 36 A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. 37 If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. 38 But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 “‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean till evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.
41 “‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. 42 You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. 43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. 44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45 I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
46 “‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. 47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Read: Luke 5:17-26
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Insight
The religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy for claiming divine attributes for Himself (Luke 5:21). Blasphemy is showing contempt or a lack of reverence for God or something sacred (v.20). A violation of the third commandment, it was punishable by death (Lev. 24:15-16).
A Fresh Start
By David C. McCasland
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. —Luke 5:31
In many countries, health laws prohibit reselling or reusing old mattresses. Only landfills will take them. Tim Keenan tackled the problem and today his business employs a dozen people to extract the individual components of metal, fabric, and foam in old mattresses for recycling. But that’s only part of the story. Journalist Bill Vogrin wrote, “Of all the items Keenan recycles . . . it’s the people that may be his biggest success” (The Gazette, Colorado Springs). Keenan hires men from halfway houses and homeless shelters, giving them a job and a second chance. He says, “We take guys nobody else wants.”
Luke 5:17-26 tells how Jesus healed the body and the soul of a paralyzed man. Following that miraculous event, Levi answered Jesus’ call to follow Him and then invited his fellow tax collectors and friends to a banquet in honor of the Lord (vv.27-29). When some people accused Jesus of associating with undesirables (v.30), He reminded them that healthy people don’t need a doctor—adding, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (v.32).
To everyone who feels like a “throwaway” headed for the landfill of life, Jesus opens His arms of love and offers a fresh beginning. That’s why He came!
The power of God can turn a heart
From evil and the power of sin;
The love of God can change a life
And make it new and cleansed within. —Fasick
Salvation is receiving a new life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
The Assigning of the Call
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church . . . —Colossians 1:24
We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside. Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, “If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn’t object!” But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed—you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.
I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Out of the Book and Into the Battle - #7232
Ever since I was little I've been fascinated by the American Revolution, and I always wanted to see Concord Bridge, where it sort of all began. You know, the shot heard around the world? By the time I got there, I had two little boys of my own who were not fascinated by the American Revolution. I wanted to spend a while at Concord Bridge, imagining those Colonial farmers descending and the Red Coats stepping up to the bridge in their rigid formation.
Unfortunately my sons were not interested in all of that. I tried to tell them the story; yawn! Come on, this is vacation. Who cares about history, right? One last idea. I got their tricorn hats that we bought them and we got some sticks for them to use as muskets. I made them the Americans and I played Red Coat. So they came charging across one side of the Concord Bridge. I went running away from them. I eventually ended up fatally wounded. And when we were done they said, "Let's do it again, Daddy!" Of course they won every time. They became interested, but not until they had a part.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Out of the Book and Into the Battle."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 20:6-7. Jesus is telling a story about a man who needs help at harvest time. He's gone out three times during the day to get more and more help. And finally, he goes out near the end of the working day, and it says this: "About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 'Because no one has hired us' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'"
There's an urgent job to be done! Harvest time passes fast; you've got to get to it. There's only a few days to make it all happen. Big job; urgent job with not enough help. Men standing around? Why? Because they said they didn't have a job to do. So Jesus says here basically there's a job for everyone in the harvest; the harvest of human hearts.
See, a lot of church folks are like my sons at Concord Bridge. You hear the facts about the battle. You hear stories of what other people have done to reach people, but you're not playing any active part. You're just watching.
Actually God doesn't intend to have any of His kids just be spectators. This is a war with life-or-death stakes going on. He wants you out of the stands and into the game. Maybe your Christianity is kind of gray and boring. And it is until you get a mission, not just hear about people with a mission.
You need a job to do for Jesus, and you can be sure He's got one. You're surrounded by work He needs done. There are boys who need you. There are girls who need you to reach out to them. There are senior citizens who are lonely and need to hear about Christ in their few remaining years. There are teenagers maybe you could connect with. There are homeless people. There are Christian workers who are buried in administrative detail and you could help relieve them for the work that only they can do. You are urgently needed somewhere I'll tell you.
When you get a mission, when you get a piece of the action, your faith comes alive. You read the Bible with a new appetite, you pray with a new intensity, and you listen with a new openness. You can't just go to church to get filled up and meet your needs. It's a staging area for God's rescue operation on earth launched at the cross. It's a place for God's soldiers. It's a place to get ready for the battles that affect people's eternities.
Christianity seems hollow, meaningless and boring without a personal mission, and you are needed. So don't just listen to secondhand facts about the battle for human souls and for eternities. Do what my boys did. Grab a musket and run to the battle in Jesus' name.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Mark 6:30-56, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Inviting God In
Confession admits wrong and seeks forgiveness. Amnesty denies wrong and claims innocence! Many mouth a prayer for forgiveness while in reality claiming amnesty. Consequently our worship is cold-why thank God for a grace we don't need? . . .and our faith is weak-I'll handle my mistakes myself, thank you.
We are better at keeping God out than we are at inviting God in. Sunday mornings are full of preparing the body for worship, preparing the hair for worship, preparing the clothes for worship-but preparing the soul? Am I missing the mark when I say that many of us attend church on the run? Am I out of line when I say many of us spend life on the run? Am I overstating the case when I announce, "Grace means you don't have to run anymore?" It's the truth! Grace means it's safe to turn ourselves in.
From In the Grip of Grace
Mark 6:30-56
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[a]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Footnotes:
Mark 6:37 Greek take two hundred denarii
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 29, 2014
Read: Ephesians 2:1-10
Made Alive in Christ
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Footnotes:
Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
Insight
Here in Ephesians 2, Paul contrasts a person’s life before being saved by the grace of God to life after salvation by grace through faith. The first contrast is in verse 1: We were once “dead in trespasses” but have been made alive. Another contrast is in our behavior. We once “walked according to the course of this world” (v.2). Now, as believers, we walk according to good works prepared by God (v.10).
Amazing Grace
By Philip Yancey
For by grace you have been saved through faith. —Ephesians 2:8
Pressed into service in the Royal Navy, John Newton was dismissed for insubordination and turned to a career trafficking in slaves. Notorious for cursing and blasphemy, Newton served on a slave ship during the cruelest days of trans-Atlantic slavery, finally working his way up to captain.
A dramatic conversion on the high seas set him on the path to grace. He always felt a sense of undeservedness for his new life. He became a rousing evangelical preacher and eventually a leader in the abolitionist movement. Newton appeared before Parliament, giving irrefutable eyewitness testimony to the horror and immorality of the slave trade. We also know him as the author of the lyrics of perhaps the best-loved hymn of all time, “Amazing Grace.”
Newton described any good in himself as an outworking of God’s grace. In doing so, he stands with these great heroes—a murderer and adulterer (King David), a coward (the apostle Peter), and a persecutor of Christians (the apostle Paul).
This same grace is available to all who call upon God, for “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see. —Newton
Lives rooted in God’s unchanging grace can never be uprooted.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 29, 2014
The Awareness of the Call
. . . for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! —1 Corinthians 9:16
We are inclined to forget the deeply spiritual and supernatural touch of God. If you are able to tell exactly where you were when you received the call of God and can explain all about it, I question whether you have truly been called. The call of God does not come like that; it is much more supernatural. The realization of the call in a person’s life may come like a clap of thunder or it may dawn gradually. But however quickly or slowly this awareness comes, it is always accompanied with an undercurrent of the supernatural—something that is inexpressible and produces a “glow.” At any moment the sudden awareness of this incalculable, supernatural, surprising call that has taken hold of your life may break through—”I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). The call of God has nothing to do with salvation and sanctification. You are not called to preach the gospel because you are sanctified; the call to preach the gospel is infinitely different. Paul describes it as a compulsion that was placed upon him.
If you have ignored, and thereby removed, the great supernatural call of God in your life, take a review of your circumstances. See where you have put your own ideas of service or your particular abilities ahead of the call of God. Paul said, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” He had become aware of the call of God, and his compulsion to “preach the gospel” was so strong that nothing else was any longer even a competitor for his strength.
If a man or woman is called of God, it doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances may be. God orchestrates every force at work for His purpose in the end. If you will agree with God’s purpose, He will bring not only your conscious level but also all the deeper levels of your life, which you yourself cannot reach, into perfect harmony.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 29, 2014
Pounding on a Locked Door - #7231
My wife and I were out for a Sunday afternoon drive, and we saw a very strange contradiction. There was this church, and there were long stairs leading up to the entrance, and one lone lady at the door. She was trying every door to get in that church and they were all locked. She was frustrated. Now, what was the contradiction? Well, the name on the church-Our Lady of Perpetual Help. My wife said, "You know, this reminds me of a scene I saw when I was in Haiti." She said, "I was right near a church and there was this very gaunt woman, maybe starving to death woman and weeping at the door of this church. And she looked like she was desperate to get in and every door was locked. She literally was beating her fists bloody on the door and there was no response."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Pounding on a Locked Door."
Our word for today from the Word of God is sobering. It's one of the most unsettling passages in the Bible. It's in Luke 13, beginning with verse 23; listen to these words. "Someone asked Jesus, 'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?' And He said to them, 'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, "Sir, open the door for us." But he will answer, "I don't know you or where you come from." Then you will say, "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." But he will reply, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!" There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out."
Oh man! This is the door of eternity. People are trying to get into heaven, expecting to get into heaven, but it says many will not be able to. Jesus will utter those sobering, chilling words, "I don't know you." They'll end up weeping. They'll end up thrown out. This is about real people locked out of heaven; people like our neighbors, our coworkers, like you and me. They're surprised! People who have been around Jesus a lot. They know a lot about Him, but somehow they missed Jesus. They missed the personal relationship with Him.
You know, with the current demands of our lives, it's real easy to kind of neglect eternity; to postpone God. It's a mistake to just have Jesus in your head and not have Him in your heart. But each of us has this non-cancellable, non-postpone-able appointment with our Creator. The Bible says, "It is appointed to man once to die and after this the judgment." And in that instant when God decides we've taken our last breath and our heart has beaten for the last time, there is only one thing that matters. It won't be our religion, won't be our titles, not our net worth, our sickness, our references, and not even our Christian activities. Only one thing will matter, "What did you do with my Son, Jesus?"
Get a picture here of the greatest eternal tragedy, being locked out of heaven. God doesn't want it that way. He did all He could to remove the sin that keeps people out of heaven. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He said, "Why have You forsaken Me, God?" Why did God the Father turn His back on His one and only Son? Because He was carrying all the guilt and all the hell of my sin and yours. Your sin has been paid for so you don't have to. Jesus was cut off from the Father so you don't have to be.
But you do have to take this eternal gift purchased by the blood of God's Son. You have to surrender that self-running of your life and tell God you're putting all your trust in Jesus. The Lord will come down and the gate of heaven will be wide open for you. Have you ever reached out to Him with desperate hope and faith and said, "Jesus, I'm Yours"? Would you today? We're not guaranteed tomorrow. This is the only day we know for sure.
If I can help you with that, I'd just love to have you drop by our website where I can explain to you very simply there how to begin this relationship and know you've got it. It's ANewStory.com.
You have nothing more important nor urgent to do than to be sure you have settled things with Jesus, because your forever depends on it. Jesus said there will be many who are like the lady at that church pounding on the door of heaven, desperately trying to get in. But it will be too late for them; too late to find Jesus. So, would you open your heart to Him now?
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