Max Lucado Daily: A Reminder of Who is in Charge
Prayer reminds us of who is in charge. You don't take your requests to someone with less authority. You take them to someone who outranks you in the solutions department.
The same is true in prayer. You don't pray just to let God know what's going on. He's way ahead of you on that one. You pray to transfer "my will be done" to "God's will be done." And, since he's in charge, he knows the best solution. Prayer transfers the burden to God and He lightens your load. Prayer pushes us through life's slumps, propels us over the humps, and pulls us out of the dumps. Prayer is the oomph we need to get the answers we seek. So, pray…today!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 31
Joshua Becomes Israel’s Leader
When Moses had finished giving these instructions[d] to all the people of Israel, 2 he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’ 3 But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the Lord promised.
4 “The Lord will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites. 5 The Lord will hand over to you the people who live there, and you must deal with them as I have commanded you. 6 So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
7 Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him, “Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them. You are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land. 8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Public Reading of the Book of Instruction
9 So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, 11 you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the Lord your God at the place he chooses. 12 Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. 13 Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”
Israel’s Disobedience Predicted
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come for you to die. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tabernacle,[e] so that I may commission him there.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle. 15 And the Lord appeared to them in a pillar of cloud that stood at the entrance to the sacred tent.
16 The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be devoured. Terrible trouble will come down on them, and on that day they will say, ‘These disasters have come down on us because God is no longer among us!’ 18 At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the evil they commit by worshiping other gods.
19 “So write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Help them learn it, so it may serve as a witness for me against them. 20 For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors—a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous, eat all the food they want, and become fat. But they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant. 21 And when great disasters come down on them, this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know the intentions of these people, even now before they have entered the land I swore to give them.”
22 So that very day Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites.
23 Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and courageous, for you must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you.”
24 When Moses had finished writing this entire body of instruction in a book, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant: 26 “Take this Book of Instruction and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, so it may remain there as a witness against the people of Israel. 27 For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even now, while I am still alive and am here with you, you have rebelled against the Lord. How much more rebellious will you be after my death!
28 “Now summon all the elders and officials of your tribes, so that I can speak to them directly and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.”
The Song of Moses
30 So Moses recited this entire song publicly to the assembly of Israel:
31:1 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads Moses went and spoke.
31:14 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 31:14b.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 26, 2015
Read: Nehemiah 6:1-9,15
Continued Opposition to Rebuilding
Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies found out that I had finished rebuilding the wall and that no gaps remained—though we had not yet set up the doors in the gates. 2 So Sanballat and Geshem sent a message asking me to meet them at one of the villages[a] in the plain of Ono.
But I realized they were plotting to harm me, 3 so I replied by sending this message to them: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?”
4 Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply. 5 The fifth time, Sanballat’s servant came with an open letter in his hand, 6 and this is what it said:
“There is a rumor among the surrounding nations, and Geshem[b] tells me it is true, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel and that is why you are building the wall. According to his reports, you plan to be their king. 7 He also reports that you have appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim about you, ‘Look! There is a king in Judah!’
“You can be very sure that this report will get back to the king, so I suggest that you come and talk it over with me.”
8 I replied, “There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing.”
9 They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.[c]
Footnotes:
6:2 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads at Kephirim.
6:6 Hebrew Gashmu, a variant spelling of Geshem.
6:9 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads But now to strengthen my hands.
Strengthen My Hands
By C. P. Hia
Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. —Nehemiah 6:9
Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, is the man credited with making Singapore what it is today. During his leadership, Singapore grew to be rich and prosperous and one of the most developed nations in Asia. Asked if he ever felt like giving up when he faced criticism and challenges during his many years of public service, he replied, “This is a life-long commitment.”
Nehemiah, who led in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, refused to give up. He faced insults and intimidation from the enemies all around him as well as injustices from his own people (Neh. 4–5). His enemies even insinuated that he had a personal agenda (6:6-7). He sought help from God while taking every defensive step he could.
Despite the challenges, the wall was completed in 52 days (6:15). But Nehemiah’s work was not complete. He encouraged the Israelites to study the Scriptures, to worship, and to keep God’s law. After completing 12 years as governor (5:14), he returned to make sure his reforms were continuing (13:6). Nehemiah had a life-long commitment to leading the people.
We all face challenges and difficulties in life. But as God helped Nehemiah, He will also strengthen our hands (6:9) for the rest of our lives in whatever tasks He gives to us.
Dear Lord, sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged
when faced with criticism or challenges. Help
me to persevere and grant me the strength to be
faithful to what You have called me to do.
Life’s challenges are designed not to break us but to bend us toward God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 26, 2015
Look Again and Consecrate
If God so clothes the grass of the field…, will He not much more clothe you…? —Matthew 6:30
A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asks us to consider that “if God so clothes the grass of the field…” how “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him? Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22), while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly Father.
“Look at the birds of the air…” (Matthew 6:26). Their function is to obey the instincts God placed within them, and God watches over them. Jesus said that if you have the right relationship with Him and will obey His Spirit within you, then God will care for your “feathers” too.
“Consider the lilies of the field…” (Matthew 6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere. Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Are we experiencing the “much more” He promised? If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries. How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him? Consecration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do. It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 26, 2015
Soaking the Soaked - #7316
I was in a city that a hurricane had just missed. And we were very blessed to have not been hit by all that wind. But we did get two days of the wet weather leftovers. I mean, we're talking drenching rain here! One morning it was pouring, I drove by a bank. And I saw something I had to laugh at in the middle of the torrents coming down. The sprinklers came on right on schedule. Yeah! They were doing a beautiful job of watering the lawn, which really didn't need any water.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Soaking the Soaked."
Now our word for today from the Word of God comes from the book of 2 Kings, with this curious story that's in the seventh chapter. The capital city of Samaria is under siege, and the Syrian Army has cut off all food. So the people in the city are starving to death. Desperate conditions in the city, and people are even resorting to cannibalism to stay alive.
Now, there are these four lepers who live outside the city. And they decided since they're already going to die, they might as well try to surrender to the enemy army. If they're captured as prisoners of war, they get fed. So when they get to the enemy camp, they discover God has performed a miracle. The camp is emptied out. So they find all this food, and empty tents just standing there. And they stuff themselves all night.
Then we come to verse 9, "They said to each other, 'We're not doing right.'" It was about time they figured that out. Then it goes on, "This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this." What a scene this is! These four men are sitting on this pile of food, while multitudes are starving.
It reminds me of those sprinklers on that rainy day. Water wasn't really needed; it was just soaking what was already soaked. A Christian from the former Soviet Union once said to the team our daughter was on, "The problem with American Christians is that you are over 'feeded'." Well, he's right. We are so blessed.
We are soaked with blessings no Christians have ever had before. We've got Christian everything: Christian radio, TV, internet, concerts, festivals, retreats, and seminars. But it's almost all for us. We're already stuffed, but we line up for another helping of blessing. We're already soaked, but we turn on the sprinklers for more showers of blessing. Something's wrong here. Let's not forget what our Master's heart is. He said, "I have come to seek and to save..." Not that which is found, but He says "...that which is lost."
He talks about a harvest where "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." He says, "I can't find laborers to go get the harvest. They're too busy eating the harvest." A self-focused church, a self-focused Christian? That's not the will of God. We follow a Savior who left the safety of heaven, to live among the lost. He laid down His life to bring them home to God.
He can't be very happy with us when we focus on going to our Christian meetings, our Christian committees, our conferences, listening to our Christian speakers, our songs, keeping all busy with our Christian schedule and ignoring the dying people within our reach. The spiritually destitute are starving to death as surely as those people were back in the book of 2 Kings.
Like our Master, we need to live our lives for the lost people He gave His life for. In the words of those lepers, "This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves." There are plenty of lives that get no spiritual rain. Let's not aim our sprinklers at the already soaked. Let's take them to the places where it never rains.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Deuteronomy 30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Tough Questions
Some questions aren’t always easy to answer. Maybe that’s the way it should be! Here’s just that kind of question:
“I get tired of hearing people brush aside troubles with the platitude in Romans 8:28, ‘All things work together for good.’ Isn’t saying that cruel?”
The verse says, “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him.” I think it’s one of the most helpful, comforting verses in the entire Bible. It announces God’s sovereignty in any painful, tragic situation we face. Why? Because we know God is at work for our good! He uses our struggles to build character.
So what do we do? We trust. Totally! And we remember. . .God is working for the good. Yes, any verse can be misused, but that doesn’t make it useless!
Deuteronomy 30
Prosperity After Turning to the Lord
“In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. 2 If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. 4 Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth,[a] the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. 5 The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!
6 “The Lord your God will change your heart[b] and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.
9 “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. 10 The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.
The Choice of Life or Death
11 “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. 12 It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ 13 It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ 14 No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.
15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.
17 “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.
19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This[c] is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
30:4 Hebrew of the heavens.
30:6 Hebrew circumcise your heart.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Read: Mark 6:30-32
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.
INSIGHT: Jesus is concerned with our physical health. He showed this when He invited the disciples to come away and rest because “they did not even have time to eat” (Mark 6:31). Rest from work and time to refresh our minds and bodies is important. Jesus is also concerned for our spiritual health and invites all those who are weary and burdened to come to Him for rest (Matt. 11:28).
Quiet Rest
By David H. Roper
I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. —Psalm 4:8
Some years ago my son Brian and I agreed to haul some equipment into an isolated Idaho backcountry ranch for a friend. There are no roads into the area, at least none that my truck could negotiate. So Ralph, the young ranch manager, arranged to meet us at road’s end with a small wagon hitched to a pair of mules.
On the way into the ranch, Ralph and I started chatting and I learned that he lived on the property year-round. “What do you do in the winter?” I asked, knowing that winters in the high country were long and bitter and that the ranch had no electricity or telephone service, only a satellite radio. “How do you endure it?”
“Actually,” he drawled, “I find it right peaceable.”
In the midst of our pressure-filled days, we sometimes crave peace and quiet. There is too much noise in the air; there are too many people around. We want to “come aside . . . and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Can we find a place to do this?
Yes, there is such a place. When we take a few moments to reflect on God’s love and mercy and cast our burdens on Him, we will find in that quiet God-filled space the peace that the world has taken away.
There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God,
A place where all is joy and peace,
Near to the heart of God. —McAfee
Spending quiet time with God will bring quiet rest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Leave Room for God
When it pleased God… —Galatians 1:15
As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him— to give God “elbow room.” We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had never expected Him to come? Do not look for God to come in a particular way, but do look for Him. The way to make room for Him is to expect Him to come, but not in a certain way. No matter how well we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that He may break in at any minute. We tend to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. Suddenly—God meets our life “…when it pleased God….”
Keep your life so constantly in touch with God that His surprising power can break through at any point. Live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come in as He decides.
Some questions aren’t always easy to answer. Maybe that’s the way it should be! Here’s just that kind of question:
“I get tired of hearing people brush aside troubles with the platitude in Romans 8:28, ‘All things work together for good.’ Isn’t saying that cruel?”
The verse says, “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him.” I think it’s one of the most helpful, comforting verses in the entire Bible. It announces God’s sovereignty in any painful, tragic situation we face. Why? Because we know God is at work for our good! He uses our struggles to build character.
So what do we do? We trust. Totally! And we remember. . .God is working for the good. Yes, any verse can be misused, but that doesn’t make it useless!
Deuteronomy 30
Prosperity After Turning to the Lord
“In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. 2 If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. 4 Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth,[a] the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. 5 The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!
6 “The Lord your God will change your heart[b] and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.
9 “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. 10 The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.
The Choice of Life or Death
11 “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. 12 It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ 13 It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ 14 No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.
15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.
17 “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.
19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This[c] is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
30:4 Hebrew of the heavens.
30:6 Hebrew circumcise your heart.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Read: Mark 6:30-32
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.
INSIGHT: Jesus is concerned with our physical health. He showed this when He invited the disciples to come away and rest because “they did not even have time to eat” (Mark 6:31). Rest from work and time to refresh our minds and bodies is important. Jesus is also concerned for our spiritual health and invites all those who are weary and burdened to come to Him for rest (Matt. 11:28).
Quiet Rest
By David H. Roper
I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. —Psalm 4:8
Some years ago my son Brian and I agreed to haul some equipment into an isolated Idaho backcountry ranch for a friend. There are no roads into the area, at least none that my truck could negotiate. So Ralph, the young ranch manager, arranged to meet us at road’s end with a small wagon hitched to a pair of mules.
On the way into the ranch, Ralph and I started chatting and I learned that he lived on the property year-round. “What do you do in the winter?” I asked, knowing that winters in the high country were long and bitter and that the ranch had no electricity or telephone service, only a satellite radio. “How do you endure it?”
“Actually,” he drawled, “I find it right peaceable.”
In the midst of our pressure-filled days, we sometimes crave peace and quiet. There is too much noise in the air; there are too many people around. We want to “come aside . . . and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Can we find a place to do this?
Yes, there is such a place. When we take a few moments to reflect on God’s love and mercy and cast our burdens on Him, we will find in that quiet God-filled space the peace that the world has taken away.
There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God,
A place where all is joy and peace,
Near to the heart of God. —McAfee
Spending quiet time with God will bring quiet rest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Leave Room for God
When it pleased God… —Galatians 1:15
As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him— to give God “elbow room.” We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had never expected Him to come? Do not look for God to come in a particular way, but do look for Him. The way to make room for Him is to expect Him to come, but not in a certain way. No matter how well we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that He may break in at any minute. We tend to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. Suddenly—God meets our life “…when it pleased God….”
Keep your life so constantly in touch with God that His surprising power can break through at any point. Live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come in as He decides.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Luke 7:31-50 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Power of a Seed
Want to see a miracle? Take a small seed, put it under several inches of dirt. Give it light, water, and fertilizer. It doesn’t matter that the ground is a zillion times the weight of the seed. The seed will push it back! Never underestimate the power of a seed.
James, the epistle writer, wasn’t a farmer. But he knew the power of a seed sown in fertile soil. “Those who are peacemakers,” he said, “will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness” (James 3:18).
How good are you at sowing seeds of peace? Jesus modeled peace through acts of love, washing the feet of men he knew would betray him, and honoring the sinful woman whom society had scorned.
Want to see a miracle? Plant a word of love heart-deep in a person’s life. Nurture it with a smile and a prayer, and watch what happens!
From The Applause of Heaven
Luke 7:31-50
“To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? 32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t weep.’
33 For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man,[a] on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ 35 But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.[b]”
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[c] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[d] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Footnotes:
7:34 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
7:35 Or But wisdom is justified by all her children.
7:36 Or and reclined.
7:41 Greek 500 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Read: Isaiah 30:15-22
This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
17 One of them will chase a thousand of you.
Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”
Blessings for the Lord’s People
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more.
He will be gracious if you ask for help.
He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.
You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21 Your own ears will hear him.
Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
whether to the right or to the left.
22 Then you will destroy all your silver idols
and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags,
saying to them, “Good riddance!”
INSIGHT: Isaiah was a prophet who spoke comprehensively about the coming Messiah. In fact, he spoke about the Deliverer more than any other Old Testament figure did—which makes his name very appropriate. Isaiah means “the Lord is salvation.”
Answer The Cry
By Joe Stowell
[The Lord] will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. —Isaiah 30:19
When my grandchildren were young, my son took them to see the stage production of The Lion King. As the young lion, Simba, stood over his father, King Mufasa, who had been killed by his evil uncle, little Simba, afraid and alone, cried out, “Help, Help, Help!” At that moment, my 3-year-old grandson stood on his chair in the hushed theater and shouted, “Why doesn’t somebody help him?!”
The Old Testament contains many accounts of God’s people crying out for help. Although their trouble was often self-imposed due to their waywardness, God was still eager to come to their aid.
The prophet Isaiah had to deliver a lot of bad news, but in the midst of it he assured the people that “the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. . . . How gracious he will be when you cry for help!” (Isa. 30:18-19 niv). Yet God often looked to His own people to be the answer to that cry for help (see Isa. 58:10).
Today, people all around us are in need of someone to take action to help them. It is a high privilege to become the hands of God as we respond on His behalf to cries for help.
Lord, remind me that You desire to show
compassion to those in need and that You often call
on us to be the instruments of that compassion. Give
me an opportunity today to show Your love to at least one person in need.
Show that God cares by lending a helping hand.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 24, 2015
God’s Overpowering Purpose
I have appeared to you for this purpose… —Acts 26:16
The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was not a passing emotional experience, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him. And Paul stated, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). Our Lord said to Paul, in effect, “Your whole life is to be overpowered or subdued by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine.” And the Lord also says to us, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go…” (John 15:16).
When we are born again, if we are spiritual at all, we have visions of what Jesus wants us to be. It is important that I learn not to be “disobedient to the heavenly vision” — not to doubt that it can be attained. It is not enough to give mental assent to the fact that God has redeemed the world, nor even to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did a reality in my life. I must have the foundation of a personal relationship with Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim. He was brought into a vivid, personal, overpowering relationship with Jesus Christ. Acts 26:16 is tremendously compelling “…to make you a minister and a witness….” There would be nothing there without a personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a Person, not to a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s. He saw nothing else and he lived for nothing else. “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Want to see a miracle? Take a small seed, put it under several inches of dirt. Give it light, water, and fertilizer. It doesn’t matter that the ground is a zillion times the weight of the seed. The seed will push it back! Never underestimate the power of a seed.
James, the epistle writer, wasn’t a farmer. But he knew the power of a seed sown in fertile soil. “Those who are peacemakers,” he said, “will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness” (James 3:18).
How good are you at sowing seeds of peace? Jesus modeled peace through acts of love, washing the feet of men he knew would betray him, and honoring the sinful woman whom society had scorned.
Want to see a miracle? Plant a word of love heart-deep in a person’s life. Nurture it with a smile and a prayer, and watch what happens!
From The Applause of Heaven
Luke 7:31-50
“To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? 32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t weep.’
33 For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man,[a] on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ 35 But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.[b]”
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[c] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[d] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Footnotes:
7:34 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
7:35 Or But wisdom is justified by all her children.
7:36 Or and reclined.
7:41 Greek 500 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Read: Isaiah 30:15-22
This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
17 One of them will chase a thousand of you.
Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”
Blessings for the Lord’s People
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more.
He will be gracious if you ask for help.
He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.
You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21 Your own ears will hear him.
Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
whether to the right or to the left.
22 Then you will destroy all your silver idols
and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags,
saying to them, “Good riddance!”
INSIGHT: Isaiah was a prophet who spoke comprehensively about the coming Messiah. In fact, he spoke about the Deliverer more than any other Old Testament figure did—which makes his name very appropriate. Isaiah means “the Lord is salvation.”
Answer The Cry
By Joe Stowell
[The Lord] will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. —Isaiah 30:19
When my grandchildren were young, my son took them to see the stage production of The Lion King. As the young lion, Simba, stood over his father, King Mufasa, who had been killed by his evil uncle, little Simba, afraid and alone, cried out, “Help, Help, Help!” At that moment, my 3-year-old grandson stood on his chair in the hushed theater and shouted, “Why doesn’t somebody help him?!”
The Old Testament contains many accounts of God’s people crying out for help. Although their trouble was often self-imposed due to their waywardness, God was still eager to come to their aid.
The prophet Isaiah had to deliver a lot of bad news, but in the midst of it he assured the people that “the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. . . . How gracious he will be when you cry for help!” (Isa. 30:18-19 niv). Yet God often looked to His own people to be the answer to that cry for help (see Isa. 58:10).
Today, people all around us are in need of someone to take action to help them. It is a high privilege to become the hands of God as we respond on His behalf to cries for help.
Lord, remind me that You desire to show
compassion to those in need and that You often call
on us to be the instruments of that compassion. Give
me an opportunity today to show Your love to at least one person in need.
Show that God cares by lending a helping hand.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 24, 2015
God’s Overpowering Purpose
I have appeared to you for this purpose… —Acts 26:16
The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was not a passing emotional experience, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him. And Paul stated, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). Our Lord said to Paul, in effect, “Your whole life is to be overpowered or subdued by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine.” And the Lord also says to us, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go…” (John 15:16).
When we are born again, if we are spiritual at all, we have visions of what Jesus wants us to be. It is important that I learn not to be “disobedient to the heavenly vision” — not to doubt that it can be attained. It is not enough to give mental assent to the fact that God has redeemed the world, nor even to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did a reality in my life. I must have the foundation of a personal relationship with Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim. He was brought into a vivid, personal, overpowering relationship with Jesus Christ. Acts 26:16 is tremendously compelling “…to make you a minister and a witness….” There would be nothing there without a personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a Person, not to a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s. He saw nothing else and he lived for nothing else. “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Friday, January 23, 2015
Deuteronomy 29, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Special Date
A quiet time with God is very similar to a special date. Denalyn and I like to go to the same restaurants over and over again. When we’re there we remember special moments we’ve shared before. Our hearts open up. We talk to each other. We listen, we laugh, and sometimes we cry. I love those times!
So does God. A quiet time with God is very similar to a special date. Here are some tools to help you keep your date with Him special. Select a slot in your schedule and claim it for God. Take as much time as you need. Your time with God should last long enough for you to say what you want and for God to say what he wants.
Bring an open Bible—God’s Word, his love letter to you. Bring a listening heart and listen to the lover of your soul. Make sure your date with God is on the calendar, and do everything in your power to keep it special!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 29
[a]These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Mount Sinai.[b]
Moses Reviews the Covenant
2 [c]Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to his whole country— 3 all the great tests of strength, the miraculous signs, and the amazing wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear! 5 For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out. 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other alcoholic drink, but he provided for you so you would know that he is the Lord your God.
7 “When we came here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh as their grant of land.
9 “Therefore, obey the terms of this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do. 10 All of you—tribal leaders, elders, officers, all the men of Israel—are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God. 11 Your little ones and your wives are with you, as well as the foreigners living among you who chop your wood and carry your water. 12 You are standing here today to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God. The Lord is making this covenant, including the curses. 13 By entering into the covenant today, he will establish you as his people and confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 “But you are not the only ones with whom I am making this covenant with its curses. 15 I am making this covenant both with you who stand here today in the presence of the Lord our God, and also with the future generations who are not standing here today.
16 “You remember how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the lands of enemy nations as we left. 17 You have seen their detestable practices and their idols[d] made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 I am making this covenant with you so that no one among you—no man, woman, clan, or tribe—will turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit.
19 “Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! 20 The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven. 21 The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of Instruction.
22 “Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on it. 23 They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’
24 “And all the surrounding nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was he so angry?’
25 “And the answer will be, ‘This happened because the people of the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 Instead, they turned away to serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were not from the Lord. 27 That is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse recorded in this book. 28 In great anger and fury the Lord uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still live today!’
29 “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.
Footnotes:
29:1a Verse 29:1 is numbered 28:69 in Hebrew text.
29:1b Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.
29:2 Verses 29:2-29 are numbered 29:1-28 in Hebrew text.
29:17 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 23, 2015
Read: Philippians 3:12-16
Pressing toward the Goal
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
Footnotes:
3:13 Some manuscripts read not yet achieved it.
INSIGHT: Paul often uses the metaphor of an athlete running a race to depict the Christian life (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Phil. 2:16; 2 Tim. 4:7). In today’s passage, he compares himself to someone running a long-distance race. Paul had probably been a Christian for about 30 years when he wrote this letter; he was known as the apostle to the Gentiles (Eph. 3:8; Gal. 2:8) and as a teacher of the Scriptures. He could have been content with his own spiritual maturity, but he did not consider himself as having “already reached perfection” (v.12 nlt). Instead, Paul persisted in pursuing Christlikeness (v.10) with the determination and vigor of a runner whose single goal is to be the first to cross the finish line.
When Others Won’t Forgive
By Randy Kilgore
Forgetting those things which are behind . . . I press toward the goal. —Philippians 3:13-14
I was having lunch with two men who had opened their lives to Christ while they were in prison. The younger man had been discouraged by the fact that the family from whom he had stolen would not forgive him.
“My crime was violent,” the older man said. “It continues to haunt and affect the family to this day. They have not forgiven me, . . . the pain is just too great. At first, I found myself paralyzed by this longing for their forgiveness.” He continued his story: “Then one day I realized I was adding selfishness to my brokenness. It’s a lot to expect that the family forgive me. I was focused on what I felt I needed to heal from my past. It took some time to realize that their forgiveness of me was a matter between them and God.”
“How can you stand it?” the younger man asked.
The older man explained that God did for him what he didn’t deserve and what others simply can’t do: He died for our sins, and He keeps His promise to move our sins “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12) and “will not remember [our] sins” (Isa. 43:25).
In the face of such great love, we honor Him by accepting His forgiveness as sufficient. We must forget what lies behind and keep pressing forward (Phil. 3:13-14).
Thank You, Father, for the work of Christ on the
cross. Help me to understand and accept what
it means for me, and to be a messenger of that
forgiveness to those I meet along the way.
The work of Christ is sufficient for every sin.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 23, 2015
Transformed by Beholding
We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image… —2 Corinthians 3:18
The greatest characteristic a Christian can exhibit is this completely unveiled openness before God, which allows that person’s life to become a mirror for others. When the Spirit fills us, we are transformed, and by beholding God we become mirrors. You can always tell when someone has been beholding the glory of the Lord, because your inner spirit senses that he mirrors the Lord’s own character. Beware of anything that would spot or tarnish that mirror in you. It is almost always something good that will stain it— something good, but not what is best.
The most important rule for us is to concentrate on keeping our lives open to God. Let everything else including work, clothes, and food be set aside. The busyness of things obscures our concentration on God. We must maintain a position of beholding Him, keeping our lives completely spiritual through and through. Let other things come and go as they will; let other people criticize us as they will; but never allow anything to obscure the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Never let a hurried lifestyle disturb the relationship of abiding in Him. This is an easy thing to allow, but we must guard against it. The most difficult lesson of the Christian life is learning how to continue “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord….”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 23, 2015
The Gilligan Syndrome - #7315
You might just remember turning your television on and there would be Gilligan's Island. Maybe, you can even hear the theme song playing in your brain. It was a big hit when it first came out.
Now, here's Gilligan, who's the terminally stupid first mate of the S.S. Minnow. The millionaire, his wife,(you're probably thinking the song, now...) the professor, the movie star... Ok, you know, the characters are really well-known. The plot was very simply summed up in the theme song. These people went out on the S.S. Minnow for a three-hour tour. The storm blew them into some unknown island where they were stranded until the series finally ended years later. Some three-hour tour, huh?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Gilligan Syndrome."
By the way, what is the Gilligan Syndrome? Well, it's going farther than you wanted to; staying longer than you planned to. It might be happening to you right now. Jesus told us about a young man it happened to many years ago; our word for today from the Word of God in Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse 13. It's after this man has asked his Dad for the family inheritance that's coming to him. While his Dad's still alive.
"Not long after that," the Bible says, "the younger son got together all he had, went off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father."
He was just going for a fling on the wild side, just a three-hour tour. He almost never made it back. What was supposed to bring him pleasure and happiness did for just a little while. Ultimately it left him stranded on this spiritual island all by himself. "He squandered his wealth," Jesus said. In other words, he wasted what he'd been given. Have you done that?
He spent everything he had. He paid a much higher price for this thing than he could have ever imagined. He began to be in need. No one gave him anything. The party was over. The bill had come. He was alone except for the pigs. The Bible says, "The way of a transgressor is hard." It always is - sooner or later.
Except it's sin that carries us to a place that's hard to get back from. Here's the ugly truth about sin: It will always take you farther than you wanted to go, it will keep you longer than you planned to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever thought you'd pay. And, maybe you've seen that already. You look at where you are and you never thought you'd be at a place like this. You never thought you'd be stuck in this situation. You never thought you'd be addicted. You never thought you'd be facing what you're having to face now. And the bill has come. If it hasn't, it will.
Maybe, you're listening and you say, "That's all happened to me." Or maybe you're just starting down a sin road that looks exciting, and profitable, and desirable, and you think it will be just a three-hour tour. Sin never is. Listen to God's statement in James 1:15, "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." It will take you where you never meant to go.
If you feel like you're just too far away to ever get back, you can get back the same way the Prodigal Son did, but only that way. It says he "got up and went to his father." It's time for you to run to God instead of running from Him any longer. You say, "He'll never take me." Look, that's why Jesus told this story, to let you know that God is waiting for you to come into His waiting arms. It says "His father saw him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." God proved He wants you home with Him by sending His Son to die for your very rebellion against Him. For all that you've wasted with your sin, He says come home to Me. He's saying it to you in your heart right now as you listen to this.
Do you want to get home? Into that relationship? Would you get to our website? It's called ANewStory.com. Your new story can begin there. Just start toward Him, God will come running to you too because of what Jesus did on the cross for you. Haven't you been gone from God long enough? It's time to come home.
A quiet time with God is very similar to a special date. Denalyn and I like to go to the same restaurants over and over again. When we’re there we remember special moments we’ve shared before. Our hearts open up. We talk to each other. We listen, we laugh, and sometimes we cry. I love those times!
So does God. A quiet time with God is very similar to a special date. Here are some tools to help you keep your date with Him special. Select a slot in your schedule and claim it for God. Take as much time as you need. Your time with God should last long enough for you to say what you want and for God to say what he wants.
Bring an open Bible—God’s Word, his love letter to you. Bring a listening heart and listen to the lover of your soul. Make sure your date with God is on the calendar, and do everything in your power to keep it special!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 29
[a]These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Mount Sinai.[b]
Moses Reviews the Covenant
2 [c]Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to his whole country— 3 all the great tests of strength, the miraculous signs, and the amazing wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear! 5 For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out. 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other alcoholic drink, but he provided for you so you would know that he is the Lord your God.
7 “When we came here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh as their grant of land.
9 “Therefore, obey the terms of this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do. 10 All of you—tribal leaders, elders, officers, all the men of Israel—are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God. 11 Your little ones and your wives are with you, as well as the foreigners living among you who chop your wood and carry your water. 12 You are standing here today to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God. The Lord is making this covenant, including the curses. 13 By entering into the covenant today, he will establish you as his people and confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 “But you are not the only ones with whom I am making this covenant with its curses. 15 I am making this covenant both with you who stand here today in the presence of the Lord our God, and also with the future generations who are not standing here today.
16 “You remember how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the lands of enemy nations as we left. 17 You have seen their detestable practices and their idols[d] made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 I am making this covenant with you so that no one among you—no man, woman, clan, or tribe—will turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit.
19 “Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! 20 The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven. 21 The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of Instruction.
22 “Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on it. 23 They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’
24 “And all the surrounding nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was he so angry?’
25 “And the answer will be, ‘This happened because the people of the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 Instead, they turned away to serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were not from the Lord. 27 That is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse recorded in this book. 28 In great anger and fury the Lord uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still live today!’
29 “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.
Footnotes:
29:1a Verse 29:1 is numbered 28:69 in Hebrew text.
29:1b Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.
29:2 Verses 29:2-29 are numbered 29:1-28 in Hebrew text.
29:17 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 23, 2015
Read: Philippians 3:12-16
Pressing toward the Goal
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
Footnotes:
3:13 Some manuscripts read not yet achieved it.
INSIGHT: Paul often uses the metaphor of an athlete running a race to depict the Christian life (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Phil. 2:16; 2 Tim. 4:7). In today’s passage, he compares himself to someone running a long-distance race. Paul had probably been a Christian for about 30 years when he wrote this letter; he was known as the apostle to the Gentiles (Eph. 3:8; Gal. 2:8) and as a teacher of the Scriptures. He could have been content with his own spiritual maturity, but he did not consider himself as having “already reached perfection” (v.12 nlt). Instead, Paul persisted in pursuing Christlikeness (v.10) with the determination and vigor of a runner whose single goal is to be the first to cross the finish line.
When Others Won’t Forgive
By Randy Kilgore
Forgetting those things which are behind . . . I press toward the goal. —Philippians 3:13-14
I was having lunch with two men who had opened their lives to Christ while they were in prison. The younger man had been discouraged by the fact that the family from whom he had stolen would not forgive him.
“My crime was violent,” the older man said. “It continues to haunt and affect the family to this day. They have not forgiven me, . . . the pain is just too great. At first, I found myself paralyzed by this longing for their forgiveness.” He continued his story: “Then one day I realized I was adding selfishness to my brokenness. It’s a lot to expect that the family forgive me. I was focused on what I felt I needed to heal from my past. It took some time to realize that their forgiveness of me was a matter between them and God.”
“How can you stand it?” the younger man asked.
The older man explained that God did for him what he didn’t deserve and what others simply can’t do: He died for our sins, and He keeps His promise to move our sins “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12) and “will not remember [our] sins” (Isa. 43:25).
In the face of such great love, we honor Him by accepting His forgiveness as sufficient. We must forget what lies behind and keep pressing forward (Phil. 3:13-14).
Thank You, Father, for the work of Christ on the
cross. Help me to understand and accept what
it means for me, and to be a messenger of that
forgiveness to those I meet along the way.
The work of Christ is sufficient for every sin.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 23, 2015
Transformed by Beholding
We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image… —2 Corinthians 3:18
The greatest characteristic a Christian can exhibit is this completely unveiled openness before God, which allows that person’s life to become a mirror for others. When the Spirit fills us, we are transformed, and by beholding God we become mirrors. You can always tell when someone has been beholding the glory of the Lord, because your inner spirit senses that he mirrors the Lord’s own character. Beware of anything that would spot or tarnish that mirror in you. It is almost always something good that will stain it— something good, but not what is best.
The most important rule for us is to concentrate on keeping our lives open to God. Let everything else including work, clothes, and food be set aside. The busyness of things obscures our concentration on God. We must maintain a position of beholding Him, keeping our lives completely spiritual through and through. Let other things come and go as they will; let other people criticize us as they will; but never allow anything to obscure the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Never let a hurried lifestyle disturb the relationship of abiding in Him. This is an easy thing to allow, but we must guard against it. The most difficult lesson of the Christian life is learning how to continue “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord….”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 23, 2015
The Gilligan Syndrome - #7315
You might just remember turning your television on and there would be Gilligan's Island. Maybe, you can even hear the theme song playing in your brain. It was a big hit when it first came out.
Now, here's Gilligan, who's the terminally stupid first mate of the S.S. Minnow. The millionaire, his wife,(you're probably thinking the song, now...) the professor, the movie star... Ok, you know, the characters are really well-known. The plot was very simply summed up in the theme song. These people went out on the S.S. Minnow for a three-hour tour. The storm blew them into some unknown island where they were stranded until the series finally ended years later. Some three-hour tour, huh?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Gilligan Syndrome."
By the way, what is the Gilligan Syndrome? Well, it's going farther than you wanted to; staying longer than you planned to. It might be happening to you right now. Jesus told us about a young man it happened to many years ago; our word for today from the Word of God in Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse 13. It's after this man has asked his Dad for the family inheritance that's coming to him. While his Dad's still alive.
"Not long after that," the Bible says, "the younger son got together all he had, went off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father."
He was just going for a fling on the wild side, just a three-hour tour. He almost never made it back. What was supposed to bring him pleasure and happiness did for just a little while. Ultimately it left him stranded on this spiritual island all by himself. "He squandered his wealth," Jesus said. In other words, he wasted what he'd been given. Have you done that?
He spent everything he had. He paid a much higher price for this thing than he could have ever imagined. He began to be in need. No one gave him anything. The party was over. The bill had come. He was alone except for the pigs. The Bible says, "The way of a transgressor is hard." It always is - sooner or later.
Except it's sin that carries us to a place that's hard to get back from. Here's the ugly truth about sin: It will always take you farther than you wanted to go, it will keep you longer than you planned to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever thought you'd pay. And, maybe you've seen that already. You look at where you are and you never thought you'd be at a place like this. You never thought you'd be stuck in this situation. You never thought you'd be addicted. You never thought you'd be facing what you're having to face now. And the bill has come. If it hasn't, it will.
Maybe, you're listening and you say, "That's all happened to me." Or maybe you're just starting down a sin road that looks exciting, and profitable, and desirable, and you think it will be just a three-hour tour. Sin never is. Listen to God's statement in James 1:15, "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." It will take you where you never meant to go.
If you feel like you're just too far away to ever get back, you can get back the same way the Prodigal Son did, but only that way. It says he "got up and went to his father." It's time for you to run to God instead of running from Him any longer. You say, "He'll never take me." Look, that's why Jesus told this story, to let you know that God is waiting for you to come into His waiting arms. It says "His father saw him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." God proved He wants you home with Him by sending His Son to die for your very rebellion against Him. For all that you've wasted with your sin, He says come home to Me. He's saying it to you in your heart right now as you listen to this.
Do you want to get home? Into that relationship? Would you get to our website? It's called ANewStory.com. Your new story can begin there. Just start toward Him, God will come running to you too because of what Jesus did on the cross for you. Haven't you been gone from God long enough? It's time to come home.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Deuteronomy 28 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Don't Count Sheep
Fretting over tomorrow's problems siphons the strength you need for today, leaving you anemic and weak. So, when you can't sleep-don't count sheep. Read Scripture.
Worry takes a look at catastrophes and groans, "It's all coming unraveled." But God says in Romans 8:28 that "every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."
Worry claims, "The world has gone crazy." God's Word disagrees. Mark 7:37 says, "He has done it all and done it well."
Worry wonders if anyone is in control. Yet God's Word calls Him "the blessed controller of all things." (1 Tim. 6:14-15 Phillips)
Worry whispers this lie: "God doesn't know what I need." But God's Word declares in Philippians 4:19, "God will take care of everything you need."
Worry never sleeps. But God's children do!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 28
Blessings for Obedience
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. 2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
3 Your towns and your fields
will be blessed.
4 Your children and your crops
will be blessed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be blessed.
5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be blessed.
6 Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be blessed.
7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!
8 “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.
11 “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. 12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. 13 If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. 14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.
Curses for Disobedience
15 “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:
16 Your towns and your fields
will be cursed.
17 Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be cursed.
18 Your children and your crops
will be cursed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be cursed.
19 Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be cursed.
20 “The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me. 21 The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew. These disasters will pursue you until you die. 23 The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain that falls on your land into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed.
25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.
27 “The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. 29 You will grope around in broad daylight like a blind person groping in the darkness, but you will not find your way. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you.
30 “You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house, but someone else will live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat. Your donkey will be taken from you, never to be returned. Your sheep and goats will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you. 32 You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them. 33 A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you. 35 The Lord will cover your knees and legs with incurable boils. In fact, you will be covered from head to foot.
36 “The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! 37 You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.
38 “You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines. 40 You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity. 42 Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops.
43 “The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker. 44 They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!
45 “If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed. 46 These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever. 47 If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, 48 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.
49 “The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young. 51 Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death. 52 They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land—the walls you trusted to protect you—are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.
53 “The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you. 54 The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. 55 He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. 56 The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. 57 She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.
58 “If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. 60 He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief. 61 The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed. 62 Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.
63 “Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy. 64 For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone! 65 There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. 66 Your life will constantly hang in the balance. You will live night and day in fear, unsure if you will survive. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were night!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ For you will be terrified by the awful horrors you see around you. 68 Then the Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, to a destination I promised you would never see again. There you will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will buy you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Read: John 13:31-35
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man[a] to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. 32 And since God receives glory because of the Son,[b] he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once. 33 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Footnotes:
13:31 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
13:32 Several early manuscripts do not include And since God receives glory because of the Son.
INSIGHT: Love is one of the most repeated themes in both John’s gospel and letters (1, 2, and 3 John). John’s emphasis on love reflects Jesus’ own emphasis. Jesus said that He was giving a new command when He said to love one another. But how is this a new command? The key is not in the what, but in the how. In the law of Moses, it was commanded to love others as we love ourselves, but Jesus set a new standard: His love for us. In the hours before He went to the cross, He would both tell and show that love. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
A Wonderful Explosion
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
As I have loved you, . . . you also love one another. —John 13:34
In the book Kisses from Katie, Katie Davis recounts the joy of moving to Uganda and adopting several Ugandan girls. One day, one of her daughters asked, “Mommy, if I let Jesus come into my heart, will I explode?” At first, Katie said no. When Jesus enters our heart, it is a spiritual event.
However, after she thought more about the question, Katie explained that when we decide to give our lives and hearts to Jesus “we will explode with love, with compassion, with hurt for those who are hurting, and with joy for those who rejoice.” In essence, knowing Christ results in a deep care for the people in our world.
The Bible challenges us to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). We can consistently display this loving response because of the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts. When we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. The apostle Paul described it this way, “Having believed [in Christ,] you were sealed with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13).
Caring for others—with God’s supernatural assistance—shows the world that we are His followers (John 13:35). It also reminds us of His love for us. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, . . . you also love one another” (v.34).
Dear Jesus, help me to experience Your
love more deeply so that I can share it
with others. Empower me through Your
Holy Spirit so that I can glorify You.
Love given reflects love received.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Am I Looking To God?
Look to Me, and be saved… —Isaiah 45:22
Do we expect God to come to us with His blessings and save us? He says, “Look to Me, and be saved….” The greatest difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and His blessings are what make it so difficult. Troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. The basic lesson of the Sermon on the Mount is to narrow all your interests until your mind, heart, and body are focused on Jesus Christ. “Look to Me….”
Many of us have a mental picture of what a Christian should be, and looking at this image in other Christians’ lives becomes a hindrance to our focusing on God. This is not salvation— it is not simple enough. He says, in effect, “Look to Me and you are saved,” not “You will be saved someday.” We will find what we are looking for if we will concentrate on Him. We get distracted from God and irritable with Him while He continues to say to us, “Look to Me, and be saved….” Our difficulties, our trials, and our worries about tomorrow all vanish when we look to God.
Wake yourself up and look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter how many things seem to be pressing in on you, be determined to push them aside and look to Him. “Look to Me….” Salvation is yours the moment you look.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 22, 2015
The Eeyore Complex - #7314
Some of our fun family memories are the days when I would read stories to my kids. And I did my best to bring those old stories to life. I remember one of their favorites was Winnie the Pooh. So we had Winnie the Pooh, and Piglet, and Christopher Robin. And of course, Eeyore. Remember the donkey in Winnie the Pooh? He's the one that usually managed to see the dark side of everything. (Here go the voices, can't help it!) There always seemed to be something wrong in Eeyore's world.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Eeyore Complex."
Our word for today from the Word of God: Nehemiah 8:10. Talking about Eeyore, we probably all know some two-legged Eeyore. The people who respond to the pressures and problems of life by throwing a party - a pity party for themselves. Do you know an Eeyore?
The last time I looked in the dictionary I saw hundreds of words that began with self. But there are few of them as damaging as self-pity. Here's the cure. Nehemiah had been through all kinds of burdens, challenges, attacks. Here's what he said, "Do not grieve. For the joy of the Lord is your strength." This joy of the Lord has nothing to do with your environment. It has to do with your in-vironment.
See, this joy gives the ability to look for God in any situation and ask the question, "How could God use this?" Now you might not particularly like what's going on right now, but you know it had to pass through God's hands before it gets to you. He's okayed it. God wouldn't okay it if He wasn't able to work through this, if He didn't have a purpose in allowing it. Where's He at work here. Focus on what's good about the situation, what could be good. Concentrate on the positive.
Sometimes when I'm tired and I'm stressed, I hear Eeyore coming out of my mouth. Oh yeah, complain, feel negative, seeing the problems. I'm critical. You know, "This could go wrong. This is looking bad. Boy, this is looking pretty bleak." What happens? I make a gray day darker because I'm drag everybody else down with me, with an Eeyore complex. It's amazing how a negative person can be a cloud that blots out the sun for everybody. Play back the tapes of some of your recent conversations. What do you hear? Is it the joy of the Lord? Or do you hear a lot of "poor me" talk?
I remember a day when I woke up early, really depleted. I mean really depleted. I had a marathon schedule ahead of me, like a lot of days. And I decided that day in my first conscious moment I was going to focus on Jesus' strength, instead of my burdens, my schedule, and my weakness. Now, I could have been thinking about my sore throat that day. I could have been focused on the fact I only had three hours of sleep that day. But instead of the negative I said, "No, today I'm just going to keep thinking about the strength of Jesus, not the weakness of Ron." I've got to tell you, I found myself energized for that whole long day by choosing to focus intentionally on the joy of the Lord. I can't tell you how many days there have been like that since. It works! "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
Conversely, I'll tell you, there is nothing that will de-energize you faster than complaining and self-pity and down talk - negative talk. When you look out a dirty window, everything looks dirty. The joy of the Lord cleans that window through which you're looking at everything in your life. Look for the Lord. God sightings throughout your day. Look for His goodness all through your day. Talk up the good things.
Oh, and if you hear the voice of old Eeyore, turn the page.
Fretting over tomorrow's problems siphons the strength you need for today, leaving you anemic and weak. So, when you can't sleep-don't count sheep. Read Scripture.
Worry takes a look at catastrophes and groans, "It's all coming unraveled." But God says in Romans 8:28 that "every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."
Worry claims, "The world has gone crazy." God's Word disagrees. Mark 7:37 says, "He has done it all and done it well."
Worry wonders if anyone is in control. Yet God's Word calls Him "the blessed controller of all things." (1 Tim. 6:14-15 Phillips)
Worry whispers this lie: "God doesn't know what I need." But God's Word declares in Philippians 4:19, "God will take care of everything you need."
Worry never sleeps. But God's children do!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 28
Blessings for Obedience
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. 2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
3 Your towns and your fields
will be blessed.
4 Your children and your crops
will be blessed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be blessed.
5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be blessed.
6 Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be blessed.
7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!
8 “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.
11 “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. 12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. 13 If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. 14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.
Curses for Disobedience
15 “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:
16 Your towns and your fields
will be cursed.
17 Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be cursed.
18 Your children and your crops
will be cursed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be cursed.
19 Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be cursed.
20 “The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me. 21 The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew. These disasters will pursue you until you die. 23 The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain that falls on your land into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed.
25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.
27 “The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. 29 You will grope around in broad daylight like a blind person groping in the darkness, but you will not find your way. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you.
30 “You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house, but someone else will live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat. Your donkey will be taken from you, never to be returned. Your sheep and goats will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you. 32 You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them. 33 A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you. 35 The Lord will cover your knees and legs with incurable boils. In fact, you will be covered from head to foot.
36 “The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! 37 You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.
38 “You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines. 40 You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity. 42 Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops.
43 “The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker. 44 They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!
45 “If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed. 46 These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever. 47 If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, 48 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.
49 “The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young. 51 Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death. 52 They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land—the walls you trusted to protect you—are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.
53 “The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you. 54 The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. 55 He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. 56 The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. 57 She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.
58 “If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. 60 He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief. 61 The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed. 62 Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.
63 “Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy. 64 For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone! 65 There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. 66 Your life will constantly hang in the balance. You will live night and day in fear, unsure if you will survive. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were night!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ For you will be terrified by the awful horrors you see around you. 68 Then the Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, to a destination I promised you would never see again. There you will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will buy you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Read: John 13:31-35
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man[a] to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. 32 And since God receives glory because of the Son,[b] he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once. 33 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Footnotes:
13:31 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
13:32 Several early manuscripts do not include And since God receives glory because of the Son.
INSIGHT: Love is one of the most repeated themes in both John’s gospel and letters (1, 2, and 3 John). John’s emphasis on love reflects Jesus’ own emphasis. Jesus said that He was giving a new command when He said to love one another. But how is this a new command? The key is not in the what, but in the how. In the law of Moses, it was commanded to love others as we love ourselves, but Jesus set a new standard: His love for us. In the hours before He went to the cross, He would both tell and show that love. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
A Wonderful Explosion
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
As I have loved you, . . . you also love one another. —John 13:34
In the book Kisses from Katie, Katie Davis recounts the joy of moving to Uganda and adopting several Ugandan girls. One day, one of her daughters asked, “Mommy, if I let Jesus come into my heart, will I explode?” At first, Katie said no. When Jesus enters our heart, it is a spiritual event.
However, after she thought more about the question, Katie explained that when we decide to give our lives and hearts to Jesus “we will explode with love, with compassion, with hurt for those who are hurting, and with joy for those who rejoice.” In essence, knowing Christ results in a deep care for the people in our world.
The Bible challenges us to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). We can consistently display this loving response because of the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts. When we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. The apostle Paul described it this way, “Having believed [in Christ,] you were sealed with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13).
Caring for others—with God’s supernatural assistance—shows the world that we are His followers (John 13:35). It also reminds us of His love for us. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, . . . you also love one another” (v.34).
Dear Jesus, help me to experience Your
love more deeply so that I can share it
with others. Empower me through Your
Holy Spirit so that I can glorify You.
Love given reflects love received.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Am I Looking To God?
Look to Me, and be saved… —Isaiah 45:22
Do we expect God to come to us with His blessings and save us? He says, “Look to Me, and be saved….” The greatest difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and His blessings are what make it so difficult. Troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. The basic lesson of the Sermon on the Mount is to narrow all your interests until your mind, heart, and body are focused on Jesus Christ. “Look to Me….”
Many of us have a mental picture of what a Christian should be, and looking at this image in other Christians’ lives becomes a hindrance to our focusing on God. This is not salvation— it is not simple enough. He says, in effect, “Look to Me and you are saved,” not “You will be saved someday.” We will find what we are looking for if we will concentrate on Him. We get distracted from God and irritable with Him while He continues to say to us, “Look to Me, and be saved….” Our difficulties, our trials, and our worries about tomorrow all vanish when we look to God.
Wake yourself up and look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter how many things seem to be pressing in on you, be determined to push them aside and look to Him. “Look to Me….” Salvation is yours the moment you look.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 22, 2015
The Eeyore Complex - #7314
Some of our fun family memories are the days when I would read stories to my kids. And I did my best to bring those old stories to life. I remember one of their favorites was Winnie the Pooh. So we had Winnie the Pooh, and Piglet, and Christopher Robin. And of course, Eeyore. Remember the donkey in Winnie the Pooh? He's the one that usually managed to see the dark side of everything. (Here go the voices, can't help it!) There always seemed to be something wrong in Eeyore's world.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Eeyore Complex."
Our word for today from the Word of God: Nehemiah 8:10. Talking about Eeyore, we probably all know some two-legged Eeyore. The people who respond to the pressures and problems of life by throwing a party - a pity party for themselves. Do you know an Eeyore?
The last time I looked in the dictionary I saw hundreds of words that began with self. But there are few of them as damaging as self-pity. Here's the cure. Nehemiah had been through all kinds of burdens, challenges, attacks. Here's what he said, "Do not grieve. For the joy of the Lord is your strength." This joy of the Lord has nothing to do with your environment. It has to do with your in-vironment.
See, this joy gives the ability to look for God in any situation and ask the question, "How could God use this?" Now you might not particularly like what's going on right now, but you know it had to pass through God's hands before it gets to you. He's okayed it. God wouldn't okay it if He wasn't able to work through this, if He didn't have a purpose in allowing it. Where's He at work here. Focus on what's good about the situation, what could be good. Concentrate on the positive.
Sometimes when I'm tired and I'm stressed, I hear Eeyore coming out of my mouth. Oh yeah, complain, feel negative, seeing the problems. I'm critical. You know, "This could go wrong. This is looking bad. Boy, this is looking pretty bleak." What happens? I make a gray day darker because I'm drag everybody else down with me, with an Eeyore complex. It's amazing how a negative person can be a cloud that blots out the sun for everybody. Play back the tapes of some of your recent conversations. What do you hear? Is it the joy of the Lord? Or do you hear a lot of "poor me" talk?
I remember a day when I woke up early, really depleted. I mean really depleted. I had a marathon schedule ahead of me, like a lot of days. And I decided that day in my first conscious moment I was going to focus on Jesus' strength, instead of my burdens, my schedule, and my weakness. Now, I could have been thinking about my sore throat that day. I could have been focused on the fact I only had three hours of sleep that day. But instead of the negative I said, "No, today I'm just going to keep thinking about the strength of Jesus, not the weakness of Ron." I've got to tell you, I found myself energized for that whole long day by choosing to focus intentionally on the joy of the Lord. I can't tell you how many days there have been like that since. It works! "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
Conversely, I'll tell you, there is nothing that will de-energize you faster than complaining and self-pity and down talk - negative talk. When you look out a dirty window, everything looks dirty. The joy of the Lord cleans that window through which you're looking at everything in your life. Look for the Lord. God sightings throughout your day. Look for His goodness all through your day. Talk up the good things.
Oh, and if you hear the voice of old Eeyore, turn the page.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Luke 7:1-30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Love is a Decision
When we look at the love of Christ, we make a wonderful discovery. Love is more a decision than an emotion! Christ-like love applauds good behavior. At the same time Christ-like love refuses to endorse misbehavior. Jesus loved his apostles, but he wasn’t silent when they were faithless. Jesus loved the people in the temple, but he didn’t sit still when they were hypocritical.
Love does whatever is in the best interest of a person. The cheating husband says to his wife, “If you loved me, you’d forget what has happened and let me come home.” That may not be true. Love does what’s in the best interest of a person. Love sets boundaries and seeks counsel.
The love of Christ is no sweet sentiment—but rather a heartfelt resolve to do what’s in the best interest of another person. Sometimes that means dying on a cross!
From Max on Life
Luke 7:1-30
The Faith of a Roman Officer
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. 2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer[a] was sick and near death. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. 4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, 5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”
6 So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 7 I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” 10 And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.
Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son
11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” 17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.
Jesus and John the Baptist
18 The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, 19 and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting,[b] or should we keep looking for someone else?”
20 John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”
21 At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. 22 Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. 23 And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.[c]’”
24 After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 25 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. 26 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 27 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,
‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way before you.’[d]
28 I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”
29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right,[e] for they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.
Footnotes:
7:2 Greek a centurion; similarly in 7:6.
7:19 Greek Are you the one who is coming? Also in 7:20.
7:23 Or who are not offended by me.
7:27 Mal 3:1.
7:29 Or praised God for his justice.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Deuteronomy 8:11-18
“But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. 12 For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13 and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! 14 Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 15 Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! 16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. 17 He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.
INSIGHT: Deuteronomy records a significant moment in Old Testament history. At the end of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, Moses reaffirmed the laws of God. A generation had died in the wilderness and the new generation needed these lessons to prepare them for entry into the land of promise. The challenges that awaited them in Canaan made it important to remind the people of both God’s provisions and God’s instructions.
Pointing To God
By Lawrence Darmani
Remember now your Creator . . . before the difficult days come. —Ecclesiastes 12:1
“God bless our homeland, Ghana” is the first line of Ghana’s national anthem. Other African anthems include: “O Uganda, may God uphold thee,” “Lord, bless our nation” (South Africa), and “O God of creation, direct our noble cause” (Nigeria). Using the anthems as prayers, founding fathers called on God to bless their land and its people. Many national anthems in Africa and others from around the world point to God as Creator and Provider. Other lines of anthems call for reconciliation, transformation, and hope for a people often divided along ethnic, political, and social lines.
Yet today, many national leaders and citizens tend to forget God and do not live by these statements—especially when life is going well. But why wait until war, disease, storms, terrorist attacks, or election violence occurs before we remember to seek God? Moses warned the ancient Israelites not to forget God and not to stop following His ways when life was good (Deut. 8:11). Ecclesiastes 12:1 urges us to “remember now your Creator . . . before the difficult days come.”
Getting close to God while we are strong and healthy prepares us to lean on Him for support and hope when those “difficult days” in life come.
Father, I always need You. Forgive me for
thinking I am sufficient in myself. Help me to
follow You and Your ways whether life is easy
or difficult. Thank You for caring for me.
Remembering our Creator can be our personal anthem.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Recall What God Remembers
Thus says the Lord: "I remember…the kindness of your youth…" —Jeremiah 2:2
Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can meet— “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?
God is saying to His people, “You are not in love with Me now, but I remember a time when you were.” He says, “I remember…the love of your betrothal…” (Jeremiah 2:2). Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He ever find me pondering the time when I cared only for Him? Is that where I am now, or have I chosen man’s wisdom over true love for Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no thought for where He might lead me? Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?
As I recall what God remembers about me, I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates in my life, because it will bring godly sorrow, and “godly sorrow produces repentance…” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The "I Can Handle It" Trap - #7313
Our local high school football team back East had a history of championships. And the guys worked very hard to get a starting position. Spending time in the weight room, one of the things they had to do. Two of our sons played for that team, and I'll tell you, they knew they had to be in that weight room a lot. For one thing, the coach sees you there, he knows you're working hard, and that's what coaches like. Now, you've also got your spotters there. These are the guys who stand by you while you're lifting to help lift that bar off of you just in case you get in trouble because you lifted more than you can handle.
That's what Chris was missing that day. See, Chris had a weight bench in his basement. And he didn't have anyone around, but he wanted to do his lifting. He was trying to increase the amount that he could bench press all alone. Now it's not smart to be pushing it when there's nobody there to help, and he lost it and all of that weight came down on top of him. So here is Chris, struggling. Finally, he was able to roll it off of him, and naturally he was pretty lucky because he escaped with just a few bruises. But some guys have gotten badly hurt that way. See, if you're not careful, you could end up trapped under what you thought you could lift.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'I Can Handle It' Trap."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Corinthians 10:11-12. Here's what it says, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall." Verse 13, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
Now, if there's a message in those verses, it's this: Don't underestimate temptation and don't over-estimate your strength. Our friend who was weight lifting, he got trapped, and he was almost crushed because of a very common miscalculation. "Hey, I can handle it!" When it comes to temptation, the Devil loves it when you think like that. The words "I can handle this" usually come right before the Devil pins you good.
Maybe you've already been crushed or trapped by some sin or some weakness, and you've carried the guilt and the shame and the weight; that sense of defeat, sooner or later you also face the consequences. And worst of all, you can't seem to stop it. It's like you're a prisoner. Right now, maybe you're flirting with a compromise. You're playing with some wrong thinking. And you're saying, "Hey, you know what? I can handle it." Perhaps you're involved with some physical intimacy and you say, "oh it's okay. I can control this."
You know how many people have lost what they always intended to keep with that kind of thinking? Maybe you're flirting, literally flirting with someone and thinking, even as a married person, "I'm just playing around. I can handle this." Really? Maybe there are some compromises you're making with the truth. You may think you're deceiving others but it's deceiving you. You say, "Well I can stop this any time." You're hanging around the edges of sin. You're saying, "Just a little." You don't ever expect to end up trapped, or pinned, or hurt.
Neither did Chris, the weight lifter. And he lost. That's why 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "If you think you're standing firm, be careful you don't fall." That arrogance can kill you. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee sinful desires." It doesn't say resist them. It says avoid them. The Devil never tells you where he's going to take you until it's too late.
So what's the strategy here? Admit that you can't handle it. Give that temptation battle to Jesus. And choose your exit before you get to the temptation. God promised there would be a way of escape. But you have to choose your exit before you get anywhere close to it. Be careful of underestimating the power of sin to trap you. Don't be a victim of the "I can handle it" trap. You can't handle it. And the Lord is coming into your weight room right now to warn you not to try it.
Listen to His warning and avoid the pain of ending up trapped under what you thought you could handle.
When we look at the love of Christ, we make a wonderful discovery. Love is more a decision than an emotion! Christ-like love applauds good behavior. At the same time Christ-like love refuses to endorse misbehavior. Jesus loved his apostles, but he wasn’t silent when they were faithless. Jesus loved the people in the temple, but he didn’t sit still when they were hypocritical.
Love does whatever is in the best interest of a person. The cheating husband says to his wife, “If you loved me, you’d forget what has happened and let me come home.” That may not be true. Love does what’s in the best interest of a person. Love sets boundaries and seeks counsel.
The love of Christ is no sweet sentiment—but rather a heartfelt resolve to do what’s in the best interest of another person. Sometimes that means dying on a cross!
From Max on Life
Luke 7:1-30
The Faith of a Roman Officer
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. 2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer[a] was sick and near death. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. 4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, 5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”
6 So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 7 I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” 10 And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.
Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son
11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” 17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.
Jesus and John the Baptist
18 The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, 19 and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting,[b] or should we keep looking for someone else?”
20 John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”
21 At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. 22 Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. 23 And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.[c]’”
24 After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 25 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. 26 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 27 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,
‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way before you.’[d]
28 I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”
29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right,[e] for they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.
Footnotes:
7:2 Greek a centurion; similarly in 7:6.
7:19 Greek Are you the one who is coming? Also in 7:20.
7:23 Or who are not offended by me.
7:27 Mal 3:1.
7:29 Or praised God for his justice.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Deuteronomy 8:11-18
“But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. 12 For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13 and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! 14 Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 15 Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! 16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. 17 He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.
INSIGHT: Deuteronomy records a significant moment in Old Testament history. At the end of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, Moses reaffirmed the laws of God. A generation had died in the wilderness and the new generation needed these lessons to prepare them for entry into the land of promise. The challenges that awaited them in Canaan made it important to remind the people of both God’s provisions and God’s instructions.
Pointing To God
By Lawrence Darmani
Remember now your Creator . . . before the difficult days come. —Ecclesiastes 12:1
“God bless our homeland, Ghana” is the first line of Ghana’s national anthem. Other African anthems include: “O Uganda, may God uphold thee,” “Lord, bless our nation” (South Africa), and “O God of creation, direct our noble cause” (Nigeria). Using the anthems as prayers, founding fathers called on God to bless their land and its people. Many national anthems in Africa and others from around the world point to God as Creator and Provider. Other lines of anthems call for reconciliation, transformation, and hope for a people often divided along ethnic, political, and social lines.
Yet today, many national leaders and citizens tend to forget God and do not live by these statements—especially when life is going well. But why wait until war, disease, storms, terrorist attacks, or election violence occurs before we remember to seek God? Moses warned the ancient Israelites not to forget God and not to stop following His ways when life was good (Deut. 8:11). Ecclesiastes 12:1 urges us to “remember now your Creator . . . before the difficult days come.”
Getting close to God while we are strong and healthy prepares us to lean on Him for support and hope when those “difficult days” in life come.
Father, I always need You. Forgive me for
thinking I am sufficient in myself. Help me to
follow You and Your ways whether life is easy
or difficult. Thank You for caring for me.
Remembering our Creator can be our personal anthem.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Recall What God Remembers
Thus says the Lord: "I remember…the kindness of your youth…" —Jeremiah 2:2
Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can meet— “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?
God is saying to His people, “You are not in love with Me now, but I remember a time when you were.” He says, “I remember…the love of your betrothal…” (Jeremiah 2:2). Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He ever find me pondering the time when I cared only for Him? Is that where I am now, or have I chosen man’s wisdom over true love for Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no thought for where He might lead me? Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?
As I recall what God remembers about me, I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates in my life, because it will bring godly sorrow, and “godly sorrow produces repentance…” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The "I Can Handle It" Trap - #7313
Our local high school football team back East had a history of championships. And the guys worked very hard to get a starting position. Spending time in the weight room, one of the things they had to do. Two of our sons played for that team, and I'll tell you, they knew they had to be in that weight room a lot. For one thing, the coach sees you there, he knows you're working hard, and that's what coaches like. Now, you've also got your spotters there. These are the guys who stand by you while you're lifting to help lift that bar off of you just in case you get in trouble because you lifted more than you can handle.
That's what Chris was missing that day. See, Chris had a weight bench in his basement. And he didn't have anyone around, but he wanted to do his lifting. He was trying to increase the amount that he could bench press all alone. Now it's not smart to be pushing it when there's nobody there to help, and he lost it and all of that weight came down on top of him. So here is Chris, struggling. Finally, he was able to roll it off of him, and naturally he was pretty lucky because he escaped with just a few bruises. But some guys have gotten badly hurt that way. See, if you're not careful, you could end up trapped under what you thought you could lift.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'I Can Handle It' Trap."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Corinthians 10:11-12. Here's what it says, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall." Verse 13, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
Now, if there's a message in those verses, it's this: Don't underestimate temptation and don't over-estimate your strength. Our friend who was weight lifting, he got trapped, and he was almost crushed because of a very common miscalculation. "Hey, I can handle it!" When it comes to temptation, the Devil loves it when you think like that. The words "I can handle this" usually come right before the Devil pins you good.
Maybe you've already been crushed or trapped by some sin or some weakness, and you've carried the guilt and the shame and the weight; that sense of defeat, sooner or later you also face the consequences. And worst of all, you can't seem to stop it. It's like you're a prisoner. Right now, maybe you're flirting with a compromise. You're playing with some wrong thinking. And you're saying, "Hey, you know what? I can handle it." Perhaps you're involved with some physical intimacy and you say, "oh it's okay. I can control this."
You know how many people have lost what they always intended to keep with that kind of thinking? Maybe you're flirting, literally flirting with someone and thinking, even as a married person, "I'm just playing around. I can handle this." Really? Maybe there are some compromises you're making with the truth. You may think you're deceiving others but it's deceiving you. You say, "Well I can stop this any time." You're hanging around the edges of sin. You're saying, "Just a little." You don't ever expect to end up trapped, or pinned, or hurt.
Neither did Chris, the weight lifter. And he lost. That's why 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "If you think you're standing firm, be careful you don't fall." That arrogance can kill you. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee sinful desires." It doesn't say resist them. It says avoid them. The Devil never tells you where he's going to take you until it's too late.
So what's the strategy here? Admit that you can't handle it. Give that temptation battle to Jesus. And choose your exit before you get to the temptation. God promised there would be a way of escape. But you have to choose your exit before you get anywhere close to it. Be careful of underestimating the power of sin to trap you. Don't be a victim of the "I can handle it" trap. You can't handle it. And the Lord is coming into your weight room right now to warn you not to try it.
Listen to His warning and avoid the pain of ending up trapped under what you thought you could handle.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Deuteronomy 27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Replace God
Vengeance fixes your attention on life’s ugliest moments. Score settling freezes your stare at cruel events in your past. Is that where you want to look? Will rehearsing and reliving your hurts make you a better person? By no means. It will destroy you. Revenge moves God away from the equation. It replaces God.
“I’m not sure you can handle this one, Lord. You may punish too little or too slowly. I’ll take this matter into my hands.”
So, God reminds us in Romans 12:19, “I’ll do the judging. I’ll take care of it.” [My paraphrase] Only God assesses accurate judgments. Vengeance is His job. Leave your enemies in God’s hands. Forgiveness is not endorsement of misbehavior. You can hate what someone did without letting hatred consume you. Remember, God occupies the only seat on the supreme court of heaven!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 27
The Altar on Mount Ebal
Then Moses and the leaders of Israel gave this charge to the people: “Obey all these commands that I am giving you today. 2 When you cross the Jordan River and enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. 3 Write this whole body of instruction on them when you cross the river to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you—a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 When you cross the Jordan, set up these stones at Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster, as I am commanding you today.
5 “Then build an altar there to the Lord your God, using natural, uncut stones. You must not shape the stones with an iron tool. 6 Build the altar of uncut stones, and use it to offer burnt offerings to the Lord your God. 7 Also sacrifice peace offerings on it, and celebrate by feasting there before the Lord your God. 8 You must clearly write all these instructions on the stones coated with plaster.”
9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests addressed all Israel as follows: “O Israel, be quiet and listen! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10 So you must obey the Lord your God by keeping all these commands and decrees that I am giving you today.”
Curses from Mount Ebal
11 That same day Moses also gave this charge to the people: 12 “When you cross the Jordan River, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin must stand on Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people. 13 And the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali must stand on Mount Ebal to proclaim a curse.
14 “Then the Levites will shout to all the people of Israel:
15 ‘Cursed is anyone who carves or casts an idol and secretly sets it up. These idols, the work of craftsmen, are detestable to the Lord.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
16 ‘Cursed is anyone who dishonors father or mother.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
17 ‘Cursed is anyone who steals property from a neighbor by moving a boundary marker.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
18 ‘Cursed is anyone who leads a blind person astray on the road.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
19 ‘Cursed is anyone who denies justice to foreigners, orphans, or widows.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
20 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with one of his father’s wives, for he has violated his father.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
21 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with an animal.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
22 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether she is the daughter of his father or his mother.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
23 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his mother-in-law.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
24 ‘Cursed is anyone who attacks a neighbor in secret.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
25 ‘Cursed is anyone who accepts payment to kill an innocent person.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
26 ‘Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Read: 1 Kings 19:1-12
Elijah Flees to Sinai
When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. 2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” 6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai,[a] the mountain of God. 9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.
The Lord Speaks to Elijah
But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
Footnotes:
19:8 Hebrew to Horeb, another name for Sinai.
When God Is Quiet
By Julie Ackerman Link
As [Elijah] lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” —1 Kings 19:5
I love to take pictures of sunsets at Lake Michigan. Some are subtle shades of pastel. Others are bold strokes of bright color. Sometimes the sun sinks quietly behind the lake. Other times it goes down in what looks like a fiery explosion.
In pictures and in person, I prefer the latter. But both show the handiwork of God. When it comes to God’s work in the world, my preferences are the same. I would rather see dramatic answers to prayer than ordinary provisions of daily bread. But both are the work of God.
Elijah may have had similar preferences. He had grown accustomed to being the center of God’s grand displays of power. When he prayed, God showed up in dramatic ways—first in a miraculous defeat against the prophets of Baal and then in the end to a long and devastating drought (1 Kings 18). But then Elijah felt afraid and started to run. God sent an angel to feed him to strengthen him for his journey. After 40 days he arrived in Horeb. God showed him that He was now communicating in a still small voice, not in flashy miracles (19:11-12).
If you’re discouraged because God hasn’t shown up in a blaze of glory, perhaps He’s revealing Himself with His quiet presence.
Lord, may we see You today in the small
details of life in ways that we hadn’t noticed
before. Thank You for the gift of Your quiet
presence, wherever we may find it today.
God is in the small things as well as the great.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Are You Fresh for Everything?
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." —John 3:3
Sometimes we are fresh and eager to attend a prayer meeting, but do we feel that same freshness for such mundane tasks as polishing shoes?
Being born again by the Spirit is an unmistakable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, and as surprising as God Himself. We don’t know where it begins— it is hidden away in the depths of our soul. Being born again from above is an enduring, perpetual, and eternal beginning. It provides a freshness all the time in thinking, talking, and living— a continual surprise of the life of God. Staleness is an indication that something in our lives is out of step with God. We say to ourselves, “I have to do this thing or it will never get done.” That is the first sign of staleness. Do we feel fresh this very moment or are we stale, frantically searching our minds for something to do? Freshness is not the result of obedience; it comes from the Holy Spirit. Obedience keeps us “in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7).
Jealously guard your relationship with God. Jesus prayed “that they may be one just as We are one” — with nothing in between (John 17:22). Keep your whole life continually open to Jesus Christ. Don’t pretend to be open with Him. Are you drawing your life from any source other than God Himself? If you are depending on something else as your source of freshness and strength, you will not realize when His power is gone.
Being born of the Spirit means much more than we usually think. It gives us new vision and keeps us absolutely fresh for everything through the never-ending supply of the life of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
A SAFE PLACE IN A SCARY WORLD - #7312
For some reason that headline just seemed so ominous to so many people. "First Ebola death in America." I don't think most of us thought it would ever come that close. But it did. Ebola is out there, and the world's been on edge.
And then there are the men in the black masks, who've been bringing the most unthinkable atrocities right into our living rooms in the news. They are leaving a trail of blood as they grab more and more real estate. And seemingly sometimes seem unstoppable. They hate Western culture, but they use our social media to inspire young men from around the world - including America - to join their cause and unleash their terror on the streets of Western countries.
Then just beneath the breaking news is the growing prospect of nukes in the hands of those who hate America. And an unchecked Russia on the move.
I've heard one sentiment repeated over and over again on newscasts, "People are afraid."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Safe Place in a Scary World".
So many growing dangers that are beyond our control. I guess we could panic, we could freeze, we could hide. Or, we can just try to ignore the dangers. Those are all bad ideas.
I'll go with that iconic line from Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural. As a desperate America lay devastated by the Great Depression. Fearful of a dark future. The new President confronted head-on the greatest danger people were facing. He said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
That's still true today. Even as deadly storms, once so far away, loom so close to home. I've made up my mind - no matter how unsettling the news - that fear is our worst enemy. It paralyzes us ... it distorts our judgment ... it makes us reactive rather than proactive. And it scares our family - because the captain is scared.
So I'm committed to a pretty simple strategy to have peace in a scary world. First, stay informed. Not just about sports or celebrities or music, but about what's happening in our world. Rumors and speculation, they fuel fear. Facts fuel wise decisions and reasonable responses.
And then secondly, take reasonable precautions. You know, those steps that the medical and security folks keep telling us about. To wash your hands often, be careful around sick people, drink a lot of water. Be aware of your surroundings. Have an emergency plan. Preparation beats trepidation.
But after all is said and done, the really great antidote to fear is in my soul. Anchoring my life to something I can't lose. A deep recession, weather calamities, world events that threaten to endanger our once-safe bubble - they remind us that everything we hold in our hand is so vulnerable. So loseable.
And that's a reason to fear.
Unless my safety, and my security, and my identity is beyond the reach of any disease, any terror, any disaster. Even beyond death itself.
His name is Jesus.
Because of His death for my sin on the cross, I now belong to the all-powerful God who rules a hundred billion galaxies. He's in charge. And I know He will never stop loving me. His love for this rebel was written in blood. His love for you was written in His blood.
Our word for today from the Word of God: from Romans 5:1,11, "we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us ... He has made us friends with God." Peace with God, that's peace in my soul. Whatever happens, no longer at the mercy of evil or sickness or disaster. God's got me now.
Do you know that for sure? Do you know you belong to Him? Do you know the wall that your sin has created has been torn down because your sin has been forgiven by the one who died for them? That would be Jesus. And if you've never put your life in His hands, in times like these, why would you have your life anywhere else? He is the safe place in the scary world. You want to begin a relationship with Him? Let me urge you to spend a few minutes on our website, and there I'll lay out for you exactly how you can belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.
God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you" and the Bible says, "therefore, I will have no fear" (Hebrews 13:5-6). Run to Him, you'll never have to be afraid.
Vengeance fixes your attention on life’s ugliest moments. Score settling freezes your stare at cruel events in your past. Is that where you want to look? Will rehearsing and reliving your hurts make you a better person? By no means. It will destroy you. Revenge moves God away from the equation. It replaces God.
“I’m not sure you can handle this one, Lord. You may punish too little or too slowly. I’ll take this matter into my hands.”
So, God reminds us in Romans 12:19, “I’ll do the judging. I’ll take care of it.” [My paraphrase] Only God assesses accurate judgments. Vengeance is His job. Leave your enemies in God’s hands. Forgiveness is not endorsement of misbehavior. You can hate what someone did without letting hatred consume you. Remember, God occupies the only seat on the supreme court of heaven!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 27
The Altar on Mount Ebal
Then Moses and the leaders of Israel gave this charge to the people: “Obey all these commands that I am giving you today. 2 When you cross the Jordan River and enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. 3 Write this whole body of instruction on them when you cross the river to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you—a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 When you cross the Jordan, set up these stones at Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster, as I am commanding you today.
5 “Then build an altar there to the Lord your God, using natural, uncut stones. You must not shape the stones with an iron tool. 6 Build the altar of uncut stones, and use it to offer burnt offerings to the Lord your God. 7 Also sacrifice peace offerings on it, and celebrate by feasting there before the Lord your God. 8 You must clearly write all these instructions on the stones coated with plaster.”
9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests addressed all Israel as follows: “O Israel, be quiet and listen! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10 So you must obey the Lord your God by keeping all these commands and decrees that I am giving you today.”
Curses from Mount Ebal
11 That same day Moses also gave this charge to the people: 12 “When you cross the Jordan River, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin must stand on Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people. 13 And the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali must stand on Mount Ebal to proclaim a curse.
14 “Then the Levites will shout to all the people of Israel:
15 ‘Cursed is anyone who carves or casts an idol and secretly sets it up. These idols, the work of craftsmen, are detestable to the Lord.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
16 ‘Cursed is anyone who dishonors father or mother.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
17 ‘Cursed is anyone who steals property from a neighbor by moving a boundary marker.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
18 ‘Cursed is anyone who leads a blind person astray on the road.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
19 ‘Cursed is anyone who denies justice to foreigners, orphans, or widows.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
20 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with one of his father’s wives, for he has violated his father.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
21 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with an animal.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
22 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether she is the daughter of his father or his mother.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
23 ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his mother-in-law.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
24 ‘Cursed is anyone who attacks a neighbor in secret.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
25 ‘Cursed is anyone who accepts payment to kill an innocent person.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
26 ‘Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Read: 1 Kings 19:1-12
Elijah Flees to Sinai
When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. 2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” 6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai,[a] the mountain of God. 9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.
The Lord Speaks to Elijah
But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
Footnotes:
19:8 Hebrew to Horeb, another name for Sinai.
When God Is Quiet
By Julie Ackerman Link
As [Elijah] lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” —1 Kings 19:5
I love to take pictures of sunsets at Lake Michigan. Some are subtle shades of pastel. Others are bold strokes of bright color. Sometimes the sun sinks quietly behind the lake. Other times it goes down in what looks like a fiery explosion.
In pictures and in person, I prefer the latter. But both show the handiwork of God. When it comes to God’s work in the world, my preferences are the same. I would rather see dramatic answers to prayer than ordinary provisions of daily bread. But both are the work of God.
Elijah may have had similar preferences. He had grown accustomed to being the center of God’s grand displays of power. When he prayed, God showed up in dramatic ways—first in a miraculous defeat against the prophets of Baal and then in the end to a long and devastating drought (1 Kings 18). But then Elijah felt afraid and started to run. God sent an angel to feed him to strengthen him for his journey. After 40 days he arrived in Horeb. God showed him that He was now communicating in a still small voice, not in flashy miracles (19:11-12).
If you’re discouraged because God hasn’t shown up in a blaze of glory, perhaps He’s revealing Himself with His quiet presence.
Lord, may we see You today in the small
details of life in ways that we hadn’t noticed
before. Thank You for the gift of Your quiet
presence, wherever we may find it today.
God is in the small things as well as the great.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Are You Fresh for Everything?
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." —John 3:3
Sometimes we are fresh and eager to attend a prayer meeting, but do we feel that same freshness for such mundane tasks as polishing shoes?
Being born again by the Spirit is an unmistakable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, and as surprising as God Himself. We don’t know where it begins— it is hidden away in the depths of our soul. Being born again from above is an enduring, perpetual, and eternal beginning. It provides a freshness all the time in thinking, talking, and living— a continual surprise of the life of God. Staleness is an indication that something in our lives is out of step with God. We say to ourselves, “I have to do this thing or it will never get done.” That is the first sign of staleness. Do we feel fresh this very moment or are we stale, frantically searching our minds for something to do? Freshness is not the result of obedience; it comes from the Holy Spirit. Obedience keeps us “in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7).
Jealously guard your relationship with God. Jesus prayed “that they may be one just as We are one” — with nothing in between (John 17:22). Keep your whole life continually open to Jesus Christ. Don’t pretend to be open with Him. Are you drawing your life from any source other than God Himself? If you are depending on something else as your source of freshness and strength, you will not realize when His power is gone.
Being born of the Spirit means much more than we usually think. It gives us new vision and keeps us absolutely fresh for everything through the never-ending supply of the life of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
A SAFE PLACE IN A SCARY WORLD - #7312
For some reason that headline just seemed so ominous to so many people. "First Ebola death in America." I don't think most of us thought it would ever come that close. But it did. Ebola is out there, and the world's been on edge.
And then there are the men in the black masks, who've been bringing the most unthinkable atrocities right into our living rooms in the news. They are leaving a trail of blood as they grab more and more real estate. And seemingly sometimes seem unstoppable. They hate Western culture, but they use our social media to inspire young men from around the world - including America - to join their cause and unleash their terror on the streets of Western countries.
Then just beneath the breaking news is the growing prospect of nukes in the hands of those who hate America. And an unchecked Russia on the move.
I've heard one sentiment repeated over and over again on newscasts, "People are afraid."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Safe Place in a Scary World".
So many growing dangers that are beyond our control. I guess we could panic, we could freeze, we could hide. Or, we can just try to ignore the dangers. Those are all bad ideas.
I'll go with that iconic line from Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural. As a desperate America lay devastated by the Great Depression. Fearful of a dark future. The new President confronted head-on the greatest danger people were facing. He said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
That's still true today. Even as deadly storms, once so far away, loom so close to home. I've made up my mind - no matter how unsettling the news - that fear is our worst enemy. It paralyzes us ... it distorts our judgment ... it makes us reactive rather than proactive. And it scares our family - because the captain is scared.
So I'm committed to a pretty simple strategy to have peace in a scary world. First, stay informed. Not just about sports or celebrities or music, but about what's happening in our world. Rumors and speculation, they fuel fear. Facts fuel wise decisions and reasonable responses.
And then secondly, take reasonable precautions. You know, those steps that the medical and security folks keep telling us about. To wash your hands often, be careful around sick people, drink a lot of water. Be aware of your surroundings. Have an emergency plan. Preparation beats trepidation.
But after all is said and done, the really great antidote to fear is in my soul. Anchoring my life to something I can't lose. A deep recession, weather calamities, world events that threaten to endanger our once-safe bubble - they remind us that everything we hold in our hand is so vulnerable. So loseable.
And that's a reason to fear.
Unless my safety, and my security, and my identity is beyond the reach of any disease, any terror, any disaster. Even beyond death itself.
His name is Jesus.
Because of His death for my sin on the cross, I now belong to the all-powerful God who rules a hundred billion galaxies. He's in charge. And I know He will never stop loving me. His love for this rebel was written in blood. His love for you was written in His blood.
Our word for today from the Word of God: from Romans 5:1,11, "we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us ... He has made us friends with God." Peace with God, that's peace in my soul. Whatever happens, no longer at the mercy of evil or sickness or disaster. God's got me now.
Do you know that for sure? Do you know you belong to Him? Do you know the wall that your sin has created has been torn down because your sin has been forgiven by the one who died for them? That would be Jesus. And if you've never put your life in His hands, in times like these, why would you have your life anywhere else? He is the safe place in the scary world. You want to begin a relationship with Him? Let me urge you to spend a few minutes on our website, and there I'll lay out for you exactly how you can belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.
God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you" and the Bible says, "therefore, I will have no fear" (Hebrews 13:5-6). Run to Him, you'll never have to be afraid.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Deuteronomy 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Getting Over It
You've been hurt! Part of you is broken, and the other part is bitter. Part of you wants to cry, and part of you wants to fight. And you're left with a decision. Do I get over it or get even? Do I release it or resent it?
Resentment is when you allow what's eating you to eat you up. Revenge is the raging fire that consumes the arsonist. Bitterness is the trap that snares the hunter. And mercy is the choice that can set them all free.
"Blessed are the merciful," Jesus said on the mountain. "They shall be shown mercy." (Mt. 5:7)
Forgiving others allows us to see how God has forgiven us. The dynamic of giving grace is the key to understanding grace. For it is when we forgive others that we begin to feel what God feels. Set your enemy-and yourself-free!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 26
Harvest Offerings and Tithes
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there, 2 put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored. 3 Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, ‘With this gift I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us.’ 4 The priest will then take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar of the Lord your God.
5 “You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation. 6 When the Egyptians oppressed and humiliated us by making us their slaves, 7 we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard our cries and saw our hardship, toil, and oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey! 10 And now, O Lord, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.’ Then place the produce before the Lord your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him. 11 Afterward you may go and celebrate because of all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household. Remember to include the Levites and the foreigners living among you in the celebration.
12 “Every third year you must offer a special tithe of your crops. In this year of the special tithe you must give your tithes to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that they will have enough to eat in your towns. 13 Then you must declare in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘I have taken the sacred gift from my house and have given it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, just as you commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten any of your commands. 14 I have not eaten any of it while in mourning; I have not handled it while I was ceremonially unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God and have done everything you commanded me. 15 Now look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you swore to our ancestors to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
A Call to Obey the Lord’s Commands
16 “Today the Lord your God has commanded you to obey all these decrees and regulations. So be careful to obey them wholeheartedly. 17 You have declared today that the Lord is your God. And you have promised to walk in his ways, and to obey his decrees, commands, and regulations, and to do everything he tells you. 18 The Lord has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands. 19 And if you do, he will set you high above all the other nations he has made. Then you will receive praise, honor, and renown. You will be a nation that is holy to the Lord your God, just as he promised.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 19, 2015
Read: John 7:37-46
Jesus Promises Living Water
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”[a] 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given,[b] because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
Division and Unbelief
40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.”[c] 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.”[d] 43 So the crowd was divided about him. 44 Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.
Footnotes:
7:37-38 Or “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who believes in me.’”
7:39 Several early manuscripts read But as yet there was no Spirit. Still others read But as yet there was no Holy Spirit.
7:40 See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
7:42 See Mic 5:2.
INSIGHT: Jesus was in Jerusalem at the temple when He gave the teaching of John 7. Observant Jews came to the temple to celebrate three annual harvest festivals (Ex. 23:14-17; Deut. 16:1-17): Passover (together with the Feast of Unleavened Bread), Feast of Harvest (Weeks or Pentecost), and Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles or Booths). As a devout Jew, Jesus faithfully kept these annual feasts (v.37; Luke 2:41-42; John 2:23).
You Had To Act
By David C. McCasland
A US congressman, John Lewis, was 23 years old when he participated in the historic 1963 civil rights “March on Washington” led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Half a century later, journalist Bill Moyers asked Lewis how he was affected by Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech that day. Mr. Lewis replied, “You couldn’t leave after hearing him speak and go back to business as usual. You had to do something, you had to act. You had to move. You had to go out and spread the good news.”
Many who encountered Jesus found it impossible to remain neutral about Him. John 7:25-46 records two different reactions to Jesus. While “many of the people believed in Him” (v.31), the religious leaders tried to silence Him by sending temple guards to arrest Him (v.32). The guards were likely present when Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (vv.37-38). The guards returned without Jesus and were asked, “Why have you not brought Him?” (v.45). They answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (v.46).
The words of Jesus compel us to act, and to move, beyond business as usual.
So let our lips and lives express
The holy gospel we profess;
So let our works and virtues shine,
To prove the doctrine all divine. —Watts
Jesus’ death forgave my past sins and inspires my present obedience.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 19, 2015
Vision and Darkness
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. —Genesis 15:12
Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light— that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).
Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God…”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 19, 2015
Unpacking Before You Get Home - #7311
My family calls it an idiosyncrasy, or maybe they say idiot-syncrasy? I'm not sure, but no matter whenever we have been on a trip, and whenever we get in, I've got to unpack as soon as we get home. Oh, yeah, it might be 2:00 in the morning, but there's Ron putting his clothes in the closet where they belong. Making sure his toothbrush is where it needs to be the next morning. Putting my books back where they came from. Everybody else is zonked! They're in a coma, and here's Mr. Compulsive busily restoring order. See, I'm not home until I'm unpacked.
Once everything is put away, I can start enjoying being home. Well actually, we should all unpack even sooner.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unpacking Before You Get Home."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in 1 Chronicles 16:43; it's one of those great examples out of a real flesh and blood life that is given to us in the Old Testament. It says, "Then all the people left each for his own home. And David returned home..." Notice these words, "...to bless his family." He knows what his mission is. "When I get home, I'm going to bless my family."
Now, David's been a pretty busy guy. He's busy with major battles. He's busy organizing God's people. He's busy running this whole kingdom. But now it's time to go home and he's going to bless them. It doesn't say, "David returned home to rest, or to recover, or to get his needs met." It says, "to bless his family." I'll tell you what, that's a great example for all of us, this selfless attitude; this others attitude when you get home no matter what the battles of the day have been.
Whether you're coming home from work, or school, or errands you've been on, I wonder if it could be said of you, (and let's put your name in there) "______ returned home to bless her family/to bless his family." Are you going home determined to be a blessing when you walk in the door? Now, that means you've got to unpack before you get home. You know why? Because we collect baggage all day long.
So, on your way home, as you're driving or riding, you need to unpack all those frustrations, all the stuff you left undone. It will be there again tomorrow. You don't carry it all in the door with you. And, as they say, you focus on the family. Leave your work at work, get ready to be with your family, not just around your family.
Be with them, it's a discipline. You sit there and you think through their day. What were they going through today? What were their needs when I left them this morning? What was on their mind? What was on their agenda? It's just kind of like loving your neighbor like you love yourself except that it's the people closest to you. Picture each one of them. Pray for them as you're headed home. And leave your concerns with your Lord. Don't dump them on them.
The alternative is to walk in the door completely preoccupied with yourself. Make sure that when you get home, you make it a point to lovingly touch every member of your family. Express an interest in each one's day. See if there's anything they need help on. You say, "Come on man, I'm out of gas when I get home!" Well, the Bible says, "He that refreshes others will himself be refreshed." So you get home and you set a climate of caring, and giving, listening, unselfishness. And you know what? You will reap what you sow. And you've come in loaded down with the stress of the day, you sow stress...uh huh, same law... except you're going to reap more stress.
So it doesn't matter if you're a Mom, or a Dad, a son, a daughter, or a brother, a sister - on your way home unpack your day. You're not really home until you're unpacked. Then pray this simple prayer, "Lord, make me a blessing from the moment I walk in the door." I think you'll like the results.
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