Song of Songs 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God’s Definition of Promotion

For twenty years I was the senior minister of our church. Budgets, personnel, buildings, hiring and firing… was happy to fill the role. But I was happiest preaching and writing. My mind was always gravitating toward the next series. Even during committee meetings (well, especially during committee meetings) I was doodling on the next message. More staff and more people to manage meant spending more time doing what I didn’t feel called to do.

I was blessed to have options. And equally blessed to have a church that provided flexibility as I transitioned from senior minister to teaching minister. A few people were puzzled. “Don’t you miss being the senior minister?”  Translation: Weren’t you demoted? Earlier in my life I would have thought so. But God’s definition of promotion isn’t a move up the ladder, it is a move toward your call. Don’t let someone “promote” you out of your call!

From Glory Days

Song of Songs 6

Young Women of Jerusalem

Where has your lover gone,
    O woman of rare beauty?
Which way did he turn
    so we can help you find him?
Young Woman

2 My lover has gone down to his garden,
    to his spice beds,
to browse in the gardens
    and gather the lilies.
3 I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.
    He browses among the lilies.
Young Man

4 You are beautiful, my darling,
    like the lovely city of Tirzah.
Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,
    as majestic as an army with billowing banners.
5 Turn your eyes away,
    for they overpower me.
Your hair falls in waves,
    like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are as white as sheep
    that are freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
    each tooth matched with its twin.[a]
7 Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
    behind your veil.
8 Even among sixty queens
    and eighty concubines
    and countless young women,
9 I would still choose my dove, my perfect one—
    the favorite of her mother,
    dearly loved by the one who bore her.
The young women see her and praise her;
    even queens and royal concubines sing her praises:
10 “Who is this, arising like the dawn,
    as fair as the moon,
as bright as the sun,
    as majestic as an army with billowing banners?”
Young Woman

11 I went down to the grove of walnut trees
    and out to the valley to see the new spring growth,
to see whether the grapevines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it,
    my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.[b]
Young Women of Jerusalem

13 [c]Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam.
    Come back, come back, that we may see you again.

Footnotes:

6:6 Hebrew Not one is missing; each has a twin.
6:12 Or to the royal chariots of my people, or to the chariots of Amminadab. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
6:13a Verse 6:13 is numbered 7:1 in Hebrew text.
6:13b Or as you would at the movements of two armies? or as you would at the dance of Mahanaim? The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 19, 2015

Read: Ezra 3:1-6

The Altar Is Rebuilt
3 In early autumn,[a] when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak[b] joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening.

4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5 They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the Lord. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the Lord. 6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began,[c] the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.

Footnotes:

3:1 Hebrew In the seventh month. The year is not specified, so it may have been during Cyrus’s first year (538 B.c.) or second year (537 B.c.). The seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of September/October 538 B.c. and October/November 537 B.c.
3:2 Hebrew Jozadak, a variant spelling of Jehozadak; also in 3:8.
3:6 Hebrew On the first day of the seventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.

INSIGHT:
Twice in today’s passage Ezra records that the people returning from exile did things “in accordance with what is written” (vv. 2,4). However, what makes these statements impressive is what is found in the middle of the paragraph. They did all these things “despite their fear of the peoples around them”—the residents of Judah who were not part of the returning exiles (v. 3).

As It Is Written
By Dave Branon

[They] built the altar . . . to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written. —nkjv

Ezra 3:2

When it comes to putting things together—electronics, furniture, and the like—my son and I have differing approaches. Steve is more mechanically inclined, so he tends to toss the instructions aside and just start in. Meanwhile, I’m poring over the “Read This Before Starting” warning while he has already put the thing halfway together.

Sometimes we can get by without the instructions. But when it comes to putting together a life that reflects the goodness and wisdom of God, we can’t afford to ignore the directions He’s given to us in the Bible.

Jesus shows us the way to live.
The Israelites who had returned to their land after the Babylonian captivity are a good example of this. As they began to reestablish worship in their homeland, they prepared to do so “in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 3:2). By building a proper altar and in celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles as prescribed by God in Leviticus 23:33-43, they did exactly what God’s directions told them to do.

Christ gave His followers some directions too. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37,39). When we believe in Him and come to Him, He shows us the way to live. The One who made us knows far better than we do how life is supposed to work.

Remind us, Lord, as we start each day that You have already shown us by Your example how to live. Help us to read Your Word and follow the directions You so graciously provide for us.


Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends. facebook.com/ourdailybread

If we want God to lead us, we must be willing to follow Him.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 19, 2015

“When He Has Come”

When He has come, He will convict the world of sin… —John 16:8

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.  The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 19, 2015

Go-bedience - #7529

Our sons' room was upstairs, off the beaten path of where my wife and I tended to travel in our house. But usually when we did venture into Boys World, we were in for a shock. Let's just say the boys had this unlimited capacity to make a mess and this uncanny ability to live in one without even noticing the mess. So, often the stern command would reverberate in the halls of our home: "Clean your room!" The boys seldom disagreed. Usually they would respond with a compliant, "We will." And, I think they really intended to...maybe. They knew it was fundamental to the privileges they wanted, so they went along with our cleaning orders. But did that mean the disaster area got un-disastered? Usually, no. The boys didn't disagree with what they were supposed to do; they just somehow didn't get around to doing it.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about (here's a new word) "Go-bedience."

Now, obedience isn't obedience just because you agree with what you're supposed to do. There's no obedience until you go and do it. It's go-bedience!

I wonder if there's something your Heavenly Father's been telling you to do through His Word or through the inner tug of the Holy Spirit and you've been saying, "I will, Father. I agree." You know He's right. You intend to obey, but you're still sitting where you were. As surely as our sons were still disobeying until they did what we said, you're still disobeying God however politely. It's still disobedience because there's no such thing as passive obedience. If you're not moving on it, you're not obeying.

Which leads us to a powerful example of what obeying really means. It's from the life of Abraham as highlighted in our word for today from the Word of God from Hebrews 11:8. It says, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

God had summoned Abraham to leave his family, his comfort-his comfort zone actually-to obey Him and go to a future about which God supplied almost no details. Now Abraham could have said, "Okay, Lord. I'll go." But it wasn't agreement that launched him into God's amazing adventure. It was going! It was doing it without knowing what was coming, which is what God asked of so many of His children all through the Bible.

Which is what God may be asking you to do right now, to go without knowing how it's all going to work. Maybe your Lord is asking you to start something, or to leave something or someone, or maybe to stop doing something, or to confront something, or give something, or tell someone about the Savior who died for them.

But you're delaying your obedience. You're waiting until there's more facts, or until more of the risks are eliminated. You want to analyze the situation a little more, to get more signs. But you're not obeying! It's not obedience until it's go-bedience! And faith obedience steps out, not because you know where or how, but because you know Who. You know Who you are following. You're following an all-powerful Lord who will never do you wrong! Would anyone who loved you enough to die for you do you wrong?

It's one thing to agree with what your Father wants you to do. It's a whole other thing to start doing it. Until you do, you're just disobeying your Father. The old song is right. "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."

Acts 7:1-21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Lot in Life

Do you know what makes you, you? Have you identified the features that distinguish you from every other human who has inhaled oxygen? You have an acreage to develop, a lot in life. Paul said in Galatians 6:4 to make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you've been given, and then sink yourself into that.
No one else is like you! What do you do well? What do people ask you to do again? What task comes easily? Your skill set is your road map. It leads you to your territory. Take note of your strengths. They are bread crumbs that will lead you out of the wilderness. God loves you too much to give you a job and not the skills. Identify yours! 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies."
From Glory Days

Acts 7:1-21

Stephen Addresses the Council

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”

2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.[a] 3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’[b] 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

5 “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. 6 God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’[c]

8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.

9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.

11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,[d] and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.

17 “As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.

20 “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.

Footnotes:

7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria.
7:3 Gen 12:1.
7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Read: Matthew 5:14-16

 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

INSIGHT:
The concept of light shining in the darkness is one of the primary themes of John’s writings, but it also has a strategic place in Matthew’s gospel. After Jesus returned from being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Matthew records the launching of Jesus’ public ministry by quoting the words of Isaiah the prophet: “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:16; Isa. 9:2). These words provide the context for Jesus’ instruction in today’s reading about being a light to others.

Reflecting the Son

By Lawrence Darmani

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5

Due to its location among sheer mountains and its northern latitude, Rjukan, Norway, does not see natural sunlight from October to March. To lighten up the town, the citizens installed large mirrors on the mountainside to reflect the sunrays and beam sunlight into the town square. The continuous glow is made possible because the giant mirrors rotate with the rising and setting sun.

I like to think of the Christian life as a similar scenario. Jesus said His followers are “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). John the disciple wrote that Christ the true light “shines in the darkness” (John 1:5). So too, Jesus invites us to reflect our light into the darkness around us: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). That is a call for us to show love in the face of hatred, patience in response to trouble, and peace in moments of conflict. As the apostle Paul reminds us, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

Jesus also said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Our light is a reflection of Jesus the Son. Just as without the sun the large mirrors of Rjukan would have no light to reflect, so too we can do nothing without Jesus.

Teach us, Lord, what it is to reflect Your light, especially when life’s demands can tempt us to live selfishly. Help us today to live in Your love.

Reflect the Son and shine for Him.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Winning into Freedom

If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. —John 8:36

If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.

God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments…and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.

“If the Son makes you free….” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “…you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart. Bringing Sons Unto Glory, 231 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Supermen Are Breakable - #7528

Look up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's (yeah, you said it) it's Superman! Man, when I heard these words on my T.V. as a kid, I was in a T.V. trance for the next half hour. I loved to watch the exploits of the man of steel.

Over the years there have been various actors who portrayed the man of steel. A couple of them had tragic lives. George Reeves, who played Superman from 1951 to 1958 committed suicide after his career had effectively stalled. He was forever typecast as Superman. Then another actor, Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in five films, became paralyzed in 1995 from the equestrian accident where he was thrown from his horse. These actors played the part of a man who was invincible, but "behind the role" was the awful reality.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Supermen Are Breakable!"

Actually, many men have discovered that fact in their own lives. Our half of the human race has been raised to believe that we've got to be super men. The world thinks we've got it together; we feel no pain, we've got it under control. But as a man, you know there's a "real you" behind the part – a wounded warrior; maybe bleeding a lot on the inside; maybe a scared little boy underneath a mask of macho confidence; and you don't have it all under control. Superman, in reality, is breakable or broken.

Our word for today from the Word Of God introduces us to a "Superman" of another time and the dark secret that was beyond all his "Superness." Second Kings 5:1, "Now Naaman was commander of the army of the King of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier...". Okay, this guy was a "Superman" of his time, but he had a secret, a dark secret: he was dying of leprosy.

In verse 3, one of his servants said, "If only my master would see the prophet who's in Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy." So Naaman goes for that cure, but it required humility. He didn't like the cure prescribed: he had to wash in the dirty Jordan River. He says, "Couldn't I wash in one of the streams back home and be cleansed?" It says he went off in a rage!

He was proud, and he was dying from it. Finally, he chose to be well rather than be in charge. In chapter 5, verse 14, it says, "He dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy."

I wonder if God brought us together today because He knows you're a modern day Naaman. He knows the dark spot behind the mask and He wants to cure it. But you first have to accept His diagnosis and His cure. The diagnosis is that you've got terminal spiritual cancer. It's called sin! No matter how religious, no matter how respected you may be, you've broken God's laws and you've run the life that your Creator was suppose to run and your "my way" of living has left you fatally separated from God.

The cure requires humility – the admission that you cannot save yourself – and then a trip, not to a dirty river, but to a dying Savior's cross. There you say, "Jesus, it's my sin You're dying for, isn't it? I need to be forgiven. I need a Savior. I can't be my own savior, I want to be Yours. I belong to You." The result – the same as it was for Naaman: you're restored, you're clean, you're new! Haven't you run from Jesus or put off Jesus long enough? Let this be the day you run to Him! Discover in the man Jesus, who walked 33 years as a man. He gets us guys.

When you discover in Him all the love and all the power that has eluded you, all the peace, all the fulfillment, all the worth and the ability to change what you could never change about you, you discover that when you get to Jesus and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."

Have you ever had that day with the man God sent – Jesus, His Son – to die for you? If you never have, let it be today. Let's get this done. Go to our website. I'll be there in a way to meet you there with information that will help you get started. It's ANewStory.com. Or just text us at 442-244-WORD.

Superman really is breakable or broken. Don't make that eternally fatal mistake of being so proud you die from it. Your Savior is waiting!

Song of Solomon 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Everybody Gets a Gift

Joshua said: "Tribe of Judah, take the high country. Manasseh, occupy the valleys. People of God, inhabit the land east of the Jordan."
Jesus says:  Joe, take your place in the domain of medicine. Mary, your territory is accounting. Susan, I give you the gift of compassion. Now occupy your territory.
Everybody gets a gift and these gifts come in different doses and combinations.  1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "Each person is given something to do that shows who God is." Our inheritance is grace-based and equal. But our assignments are tailor made. No two snowflakes the same and no two fingerprints the same. Why would two skill sets be the same? No wonder Paul said in Ephesians 5:17 to make sure you understand what the Master wants!  Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.
From Glory Days

Song of Solomon 5

Young Man

I have entered my garden, my treasure,[d] my bride!
    I gather myrrh with my spices
and eat honeycomb with my honey.
    I drink wine with my milk.
Young Women of Jerusalem

Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink!
    Yes, drink deeply of your love!
Young Woman

2 I slept, but my heart was awake,
    when I heard my lover knocking and calling:
“Open to me, my treasure, my darling,
    my dove, my perfect one.
My head is drenched with dew,
    my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 But I responded,
“I have taken off my robe.
    Should I get dressed again?
I have washed my feet.
    Should I get them soiled?”
4 My lover tried to unlatch the door,
    and my heart thrilled within me.
5 I jumped up to open the door for my love,
    and my hands dripped with perfume.
My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh
    as I pulled back the bolt.
6 I opened to my lover,
    but he was gone!
    My heart sank.
I searched for him
    but could not find him anywhere.
I called to him,
    but there was no reply.
7 The night watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds.
They beat and bruised me
    and stripped off my veil,
    those watchmen on the walls.
8 Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem—
    If you find my lover,
    tell him I am weak with love.
Young Women of Jerusalem

9 Why is your lover better than all others,
    O woman of rare beauty?
What makes your lover so special
    that we must promise this?
Young Woman

10 My lover is dark and dazzling,
    better than ten thousand others!
11 His head is finest gold,
    his wavy hair is black as a raven.
12 His eyes sparkle like doves
    beside springs of water;
they are set like jewels
    washed in milk.
13 His cheeks are like gardens of spices
    giving off fragrance.
His lips are like lilies,
    perfumed with myrrh.
14 His arms are like rounded bars of gold,
    set with beryl.
His body is like bright ivory,
    glowing with lapis lazuli.
15 His legs are like marble pillars
    set in sockets of finest gold.
His posture is stately,
    like the noble cedars of Lebanon.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself;
    he is desirable in every way.
Such, O women of Jerusalem,
    is my lover, my friend.
Footnotes:

5:1 Hebrew my sister; also in 5:2.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Read: Isaiah 66:5-13

Hear this message from the Lord,
    all you who tremble at his words:
“Your own people hate you
    and throw you out for being loyal to my name.
‘Let the Lord be honored!’ they scoff.
    ‘Be joyful in him!’
    But they will be put to shame.
6 What is all the commotion in the city?
    What is that terrible noise from the Temple?
It is the voice of the Lord
    taking vengeance against his enemies.
7 “Before the birth pains even begin,
    Jerusalem gives birth to a son.
8 Who has ever seen anything as strange as this?
    Who ever heard of such a thing?
Has a nation ever been born in a single day?
    Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?
But by the time Jerusalem’s[a] birth pains begin,
    her children will be born.
9 Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth
    and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord.
“No! I would never keep this nation from being born,”
    says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem!
    Be glad with her, all you who love her
    and all you who mourn for her.
11 Drink deeply of her glory
    even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity.
    The wealth of the nations will flow to her.
Her children will be nursed at her breasts,
    carried in her arms, and held on her lap.
13 I will comfort you there in Jerusalem
    as a mother comforts her child.”
Footnotes:

66:8 Hebrew Zion’s.

INSIGHT:
Having warned of exile in Babylon (Isa. 39:6-7), Isaiah now comforts the Israelites with the promise that God will bring them back to Judea and bless them (chs. 40–66). This restoration is so certain and swift that it is likened to a woman giving birth to a child before she even experiences labor pains (39:7-8). What God promises, He fulfills (v. 9). God will love His people like a mother loves her child (v. 13).

Safe in His Arms

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.

Isaiah 66:13

I sat next to my daughter’s bed in a recovery room after she had undergone surgery. When her eyes fluttered open, she realized she was uncomfortable and started to cry. I tried to reassure her by stroking her arm, but she only became more upset. With help from a nurse, I moved her from the bed and onto my lap. I brushed tears from her cheeks and reminded her that she would eventually feel better.

Through Isaiah, God told the Israelites, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (Isa. 66:13). God promised to give His children peace and to carry them the way a mother totes a child around on her side. This tender message was for the people who had a reverence for God—those who “tremble at his word” (v. 5).

We can depend on God's love to support us when we suffer.
God’s ability and desire to comfort His people appears again in Paul’s letter to the Corinthian believers. Paul said the Lord is the one “who comforts us in all our troubles” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). God is gentle and sympathetic with us when we are in trouble.

One day all suffering will end. Our tears will dry up permanently, and we will be safe in God’s arms forever (Rev. 21:4). Until then, we can depend on God’s love to support us when we suffer.

Dear God, help me to remember that nothing can separate me from Your love. Please assure me of Your care through the power of the Holy Spirit.

God comforts His people.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The Eternal Goal

By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing…I will bless you… —Genesis 22:16-17

Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.

My goal is God Himself…
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

“At any cost…by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.

God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.

’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.

It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”

The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen…” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Important Times, and Urgent Action - #7527

Our oldest son and his wife, our wonderful daughter now, were living on an Indian reservation and had ministered there for several years. And now they were expecting their first baby. It was wonderful this baby girl was going to come. They lived pretty far from the hospital, so of course, you needed to "get in gear" when it was time. And those were the words our daughter-in-law spoke that fateful night, "I think it's time!" Well, they had gone to the classes. They knew what to do. Oh, but my son? Well, he simply started walking around in circles in his living room going, "Okay! Okay! Okay!" Meanwhile his wife's gently going, "It's time." "Okay! Okay! Okay!" Well, listen, when you know what time it is, you need to know what action to take.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Important Times, and Urgent Action."

By the way, they got there in time. I thought you'd want to know.

Now you and I have been chosen by God to live in very important times, and it's important for us to know what time it is and what to do with that. I mean, people are exploring all kinds of spiritual answers. There are big questions about all the uncertainties of the world economy, and we're so dependent on technology.

Then there's worry about who's the latest to get nuclear weapons, and terrorism that can pop up anywhere, anytime, and a world that looks more like the kind of world Jesus said he'd come back to than maybe it's ever looked. These are extraordinary times. It's time to do some extraordinary living. It's time for some urgent action, because maybe God is going, "It's time. It's time." We're at a defining moment, and we've got to realize what time it is and respond accordingly.

Like some people did at another defining moment some 3,000 years ago. Israel was emerging as a nation, as they have again today. Their first king, Saul, had turned out to be a disaster. He died as a suicide in battle, and people are deciding where their allegiance is going to be. God has His man for king: David. He's about to take his rightful throne as his descendant, Jesus Christ, will do one day when He returns to earth to rule from what the Bible calls "the throne of David."

1 Chronicles 12 records that there were many fighting men who "came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel." We also read that "the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said: 'We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse!'" And then in our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Chronicles 12:32, we read about one group of people who show us how to be in a defining moment like they lived in, like we live in. The Bible describes "the men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do."

Now if you understand the times you're living in, you will know what you should do. And those who are committed to enthroning the rightful king – and we know Christ is that king – they showed us the defining choice in defining times back then; making the King your king and living to enlarge His kingdom. They were "fully determined to make David king over all." That's where your choices lie. To make sure the king, King Jesus, is your king. This is a moment like never before, to say, "I am Yours, O Jesus! I am with You, O Son of God!" He's moving toward wrapping up all history. You'd better make sure He's the center of your personal history.

Secondly, if you really know what time it is, you're going to be living to enlarge the kingdom of King Jesus before He returns. That means getting as many people to belong to Him as you can. Throwing your influence and your money, your possessions, and your future into the greatest cause on the planet; the cause for which your King gave His life – rescuing spiritually dying people.

It's time to look through everything we own, everything we've planned, everything we've dreamed in light of the times God has chosen us to live in. When it's the fourth quarter, you don't play as if it's the first quarter. Be sure you understand the time and you know what to do.

It has never mattered more to live for what really matters and what will matter forever. Perhaps you hear Jesus saying, "It's time!"

Song of Solomon 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What You Were Made to Do

Many people stop short of their destiny. They settle for someone else’s story. Grandpa was a butcher, Dad was a butcher, so I guess I’ll be a butcher. Everyone I know is in farming, so I guess I’m supposed to farm. Consequently, they risk leading dull, joyless, and fruitless lives. They never sing the song God wrote for their voices. They never cross a finish line with heavenward-stretched arms and declare, I was made to do this!  They fit in, settle in, and blend in. But they never find their call.

Don’t make the same mistake. Ephesians 2:10 says: “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.” Your existence is not accidental. Your skills are not incidental. God shaped each person in turn!

From Glory Days

Song of Solomon 4

Young Man

You are beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful beyond words.
Your eyes are like doves
    behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
    like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are as white as sheep,
    recently shorn and freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
    each tooth matched with its twin.[a]
3 Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;
    your mouth is inviting.
Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
    behind your veil.
4 Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,
    jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
    twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
6 Before the dawn breezes blow
    and the night shadows flee,
I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh
    and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful in every way.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
    come with me from Lebanon.
Come down[b] from Mount Amana,
    from the peaks of Senir and Hermon,
where the lions have their dens
    and leopards live among the hills.
9 You have captured my heart,
    my treasure,[c] my bride.
You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes,
    with a single jewel of your necklace.
10 Your love delights me,
    my treasure, my bride.
Your love is better than wine,
    your perfume more fragrant than spices.
11 Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride.
    Honey and milk are under your tongue.
Your clothes are scented
    like the cedars of Lebanon.
12 You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride,
    a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.
13 Your thighs shelter a paradise of pomegranates
    with rare spices—
henna with nard,
14     nard and saffron,
    fragrant calamus and cinnamon,
with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes,
    and every other lovely spice.
15 You are a garden fountain,
    a well of fresh water
    streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.
Young Woman

16 Awake, north wind!
    Rise up, south wind!
Blow on my garden
    and spread its fragrance all around.
Come into your garden, my love;
    taste its finest fruits.

Footnotes:

4:2 Hebrew Not one is missing; each has a twin.
4:8 Or Look down.
4:9 Hebrew my sister; also in 4:10, 12.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 16, 2015

Read: Galatians 6:1-10

We Harvest What We Plant

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer[a] is overcome by some sin, you who are godly[b] should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

6 Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.

7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Footnotes:

6:1a Greek Brothers, if a man.
6:1b Greek spiritual.

INSIGHT:
In Galatians 6:2 Paul instructs the Galatian believers to carry each other’s burdens. However, in verse 5 Paul says that each person should carry his own load. In the case of carrying each other’s burdens, we are to do so in the context of someone caught in sin (v. 1). However, in the case of carrying our own load, it is so that we do not compare ourselves to others and become unduly disheartened by our progress (or lack of it). J.R. Hudberg

Shared Struggles

By Bill Crowder

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. —nlt

Galatians 6:2

April 25, 2015, marked the 100th commemoration of Anzac Day. It is celebrated each year by both Australia and New Zealand to honor the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought together during World War I. It marks a time when neither country had to face the dangers of war alone; soldiers from both countries engaged in the struggle together.

Sharing life’s struggles is fundamental to the way followers of Christ are called to live. As Paul challenged us, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2 nlt). By working together through life’s challenges we can help to strengthen and support one another when times are hard. By expressing toward one another the care and affections of Christ, the difficulties of life should draw us to Christ and to each other—not isolate us in our suffering.

Difficulties in life can draw us to Christ & to each other.
By sharing in the struggles of another, we are modeling the love of Christ. We read in Isaiah, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4 nkjv). No matter how great the struggle we face, we never face it alone.

Thank You, Father, that I don’t have to walk my life’s journey alone. You are near.


Read more about the nearness of God in The Lord Is My Shepherd at discoveryseries.org/hp952

We can go a lot further together than we can alone.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 16, 2015

Still Human!

…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.

We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.

We want to be able to say, “Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!” But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life “hidden with Christ in God” in our everyday human conditions (Colossians 3:3). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own.  Disciples Indeed, 386 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 16, 2015
The Life-Changing Equation For the People You Love - #7526

It was always so much fun when we stuffed all five Hutchcrafts into the car for a long trip. And, of course, we had turf wars in the back seat. You remember that? Especially as our kids became bigger. We had three kids trying to figure out who gets which third or more, of the turf in the back seat. Of course that was only one of our problems.

After we'd been driving for awhile, we'd often hear these unsettling sounds emanating from the back seat. Our daughter was prone to needing some air and space back there, and it happened when she was stuck in the middle. And she began to experience discomfort and started letting out soft moans. Her brothers would imitate those noises, of course more loudly and more obnoxious. She couldn't help it! She had a touch of claustrophobia. "Come on, guys! She needed some space."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Life-Changing Equation For the People You Love."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 4:2, and Paul talks about different ways we might go about trying to get people to change. Can you think of anybody you want to change? Okay. He says, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction."

Now what he's talking about here is approaching people who need to change. You've probably got somebody like that in your life. Like somebody you're married to? One of your children? A friend? Somebody at church? "Oh yeah, I've got somebody who needs to change." Well, here's how Paul says to go about it. You give them the truth, you encourage, you exhort, you correct, you rebuke when you need to, but then be prepared to wait. He says to do this with patience. They're not going to change right away.

So, the life-changing equation goes something like this: Truth plus space equals a changed life. Now, our daughter, in that back seat, needed some space. That might be what the person in your life who you want to change, might be what they need. You've been after them a lot, maybe nagging them. You know what? They need some space, and that's the hard part. You told them what's right. You told them what the Bible says about it, but now you've got to give them some space to choose it.

That person you love, maybe they're suffering from emotional or spiritual claustrophobia, because you've chased them too much. See, if they don't respond right away, we're like, "See, they didn't listen!" So we hammer them again and again, and what we're probably doing is making the change take even longer and making their resistance even stronger.

Here's another equation: Truth plus pressure equals rebellion. See, we're afraid we're losing the person and our fear comes out as nagging and pressure, but here's how the life-changing process works. You give the person the truth on that issue, then you allow them the dignity and the space to choose it for themselves. Leave them some room. They're not just going to throw up their hands, raise the white flag and say, "I'm wrong. You're right." Back off, and let them decide. See, maybe you've given them the truth, but no space, and so you're getting rebellion. Paul's words, "do it with great patience."

Here's an even better equation: Truth plus space plus prayer equals a changed life, because while you're giving them space and while you're waiting to see what they do with the truth, (and maybe biting your nails about it) you're on your knees talking to God about them, more than you're talking to them about God. Maybe you could just say to the Lord, "Lord I've done my best, now please do the rest."

I like what Ruth Graham said about Billy Graham, she said, "You know, it's my job to love Billy, it's God's job to change him." Well it's God's job to change that person. You love them, you tell them the truth, and then leave some space for God to do the changing.

Acts 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Becoming Like Him

Healthy marriages have a sense of tenderness, an honesty, an ongoing communication. The same is true in our relationship with God. Sometimes we go to Him with our joys, sometimes our hurts, but we always go. And as we go, the more we go, the more we become like Him. Paul says we're being changed from "glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
People who live long lives together eventually begin to sound alike, to talk alike, even think alike. As we walk with God, we take on His thoughts, His principles, His attitudes.  We take on His heart.
And just as in marriage, communion with God is no burden. Indeed, it's a delight.
The Psalmist says, "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God" (Ps. 84:1-2 NIV).
Nothing-nothing compares with it!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Acts 6

Seven Men Chosen to Serve
6 But as the believers[a] rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.

2 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”

5 Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). 6 These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.

7 So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.

Stephen Is Arrested
8 Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9 But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10 None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.

11 So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” 12 This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.[b]

13 The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. 14 We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth[c] will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

15 At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s.

Footnotes:

6:1 Greek disciples; also in 6:2, 7.
6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15.
6:14 Or Jesus the Nazarene.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 15, 2015

Read: Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2     Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.[a]
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Footnotes:

100:3 As in an alternate reading in the Masoretic Text; the other alternate and some ancient versions read and not we ourselves.

INSIGHT:
Psalm 100 is a doxology, a statement or word (logos) describing the glory (doxa) of God. This psalm forms the conclusion to a series of psalms that celebrate the Lord’s rule in power, glory, and grace. In spite of its brevity, it is considered preeminent among the psalms of praise and thanksgiving. Its superscription—“For giving grateful praise”—is unique to this song. Psalm 100 is used often in liturgical worship and is the basis for several hymns, including “All People that on Earth Do Dwell.” Bill Crowder

Who We Are

By Albert Lee

You are . . . God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9

In her autobiography, Corrie ten Boom described her and her sister Betsie’s horrific time in a Nazi concentration camp in the early 1940s. On one occasion they were forced to take off their clothes during an inspection. Corrie stood in line feeling defiled and forsaken. Suddenly, she remembered that Jesus had hung naked on the cross. Struck with wonder and worship, Corrie whispered to her sister, “Betsie, they took His clothes too.” Betsie gasped and said, “Oh, Corrie, . . . and I never thanked Him.”

It is easy for us to live thanklessly in a world that is full of trouble, struggles, and woes. On any given day we can find many reasons to complain. However, Psalm 100 exhorts God’s people to be glad, joyful, and thankful for “it is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (v. 3). As we remember who we are, we can respond in thanksgiving. For even in the worst of times, we can remember Christ’s love and sacrifice for us.

Don’t let the brutality of the world take away your thankful heart. Remember you are God’s child, and He has shown you His goodness and mercy through His work on the cross.

I thank You, Lord, that though my heart can grow cold at times, when I remember that I am Yours and You are mine, I’m encouraged yet again. Thank You for Your love for me, for Your mercy, and Your sacrifice.

Praise comes naturally when you count your blessings.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 15, 2015

“What Is That to You?”

Peter…said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "…what is that to you? You follow Me." —John 21:21-22

One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?” Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.

Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L

Song of Solomon 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Cry Out to Jesus

My friend Jim has battled a muscular condition much of his adult life. The atrophy slurs his speech and impairs his walk. But it doesn't diminish his faith or erase his smile.
One Sunday we asked church members to park in the back lot and leave the closest spots for guests. As I arrived, I saw Jim. He had parked in the distant corner and was walking toward the sanctuary. His life is an example. I pray that God will heal Jim's body. But until he does, God is using Jim to inspire people like me.
God will do the same with you. He will use your struggle to change others. Or-he may use your struggle to change you! Disease cannot destroy us. And death has lost its sting. Cry out to Jesus in the power of a simple prayer! He will heal you-instantly or gradually or for sure, ultimately!
From Before Amen

Song of Solomon 3

Young Woman

One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover.
    I yearned for him, but he did not come.
2 So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city,
    searching in all its streets and squares.
I will search for the one I love.”
    So I searched everywhere but did not find him.
3 The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds,
    and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 Then scarcely had I left them
    when I found my love!
I caught and held him tightly,
    then I brought him to my mother’s house,
    into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived.
5 Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
    by the gazelles and wild deer,
    not to awaken love until the time is right.[g]
Young Women of Jerusalem

6 Who is this sweeping in from the wilderness
    like a cloud of smoke?
Who is it, fragrant with myrrh and frankincense
    and every kind of spice?
7 Look, it is Solomon’s carriage,
    surrounded by sixty heroic men,
    the best of Israel’s soldiers.
8 They are all skilled swordsmen,
    experienced warriors.
Each wears a sword on his thigh,
    ready to defend the king against an attack in the night.
9 King Solomon’s carriage is built
    of wood imported from Lebanon.
10 Its posts are silver,
    its canopy gold;
    its cushions are purple.
It was decorated with love
    by the young women of Jerusalem.
Young Woman

11 Come out to see King Solomon,
    young women of Jerusalem.[h]
He wears the crown his mother gave him on his wedding day,
    his most joyous day.

Footnotes:

3:5 Or not to awaken love until it is ready.
3:11 Hebrew of Zion.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, November 14, 2015

Read: Isaiah 37:30-38

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Here is the proof that what I say is true:

“This year you will eat only what grows up by itself,
    and next year you will eat what springs up from that.
But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them;
    you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 And you who are left in Judah,
    who have escaped the ravages of the siege,
will put roots down in your own soil
    and grow up and flourish.
32 For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem,
    a group of survivors from Mount Zion.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen!
33 “And this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

“‘His armies will not enter Jerusalem.
    They will not even shoot an arrow at it.
They will not march outside its gates with their shields
    nor build banks of earth against its walls.
34 The king will return to his own country
    by the same road on which he came.
He will not enter this city,’
    says the Lord.
35 ‘For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David,
    I will defend this city and protect it.’”
36 That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians[a] woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. 37 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.

38 One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria.

Footnotes:

37:36 Hebrew When they.

INSIGHT:
Isaiah 36–37 and a parallel account in 2 Kings 18–19 tell of the threat and siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians during the reign of Hezekiah. Having exiled the northern kingdom of Israel 10 years earlier (2 Kings 18:9-12), Assyria now turned its attention to Judah (v. 13). Initially, Hezekiah tried to avert the invasion by agreeing to pay tribute (vv. 14-16), but Assyria was determined to attack Judah (v. 17; Isa. 36:1). Hezekiah turned to God for help (37:14-20), and Isaiah prophesied the defeat of the Assyrians and promised protection and deliverance for Judah (vv. 21-37). Sim Kay Tee

The Mighty Finns

By Tim Gustafson

Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.

Isaiah 37:20

It began as a distant, foreboding hum, then grew into an ominous, earth-rattling din. Soon hundreds of tanks and thousands of enemy infantrymen swarmed into view of the badly outnumbered soldiers in Finland. Assessing the murderous wave, an anonymous Finn lent some perspective. Courageously, he wondered aloud about the enemy: “Where will we find room to bury them all?”

Some 2,600 years before Finland showed such pluck in that World War II battle, an anxious Judean citizenry reacted quite differently to their own overwhelming situation. The Assyrian armies had trapped the people of Jerusalem inside its walls, where they faced the hopeless prospect of a starvation-inducing siege. Hezekiah nearly panicked. But then he prayed, “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth” (Isa. 37:16).

Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord answered with strong words for Assyria’s King Sennacherib. “Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!” (v. 23). Then God comforted Jerusalem. “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” (v. 35). The Lord defeated Sennacherib and destroyed the Assyrian army (vv. 36-38).

No matter what dangers loom on your horizon today, the God of Hezekiah and Isaiah still reigns. He longs to hear from each of us and show Himself powerful.

In what ways has God shown Himself strong in the past?


Share your story with others in the comments section below.

God is greater than our greatest problem.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 14, 2015

Discovering Divine Design

As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me… —Genesis 24:27

We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. “…the Lord led me…” and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.

We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.

Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.  Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

Song of Solomon 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: You at Your Best

Call it what you wish. A talent…a skill set…a gift. The terms are different, but the truth is the same. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:7, “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.”

You aren’t the only person with your skill. But you are the only person with your version of your skill. You entered the world uniquely equipped. Psalm 139:13-15 describes it as “knit together, woven together in the dark of the womb, intricately and curiously wrought.”

Each of us! Not some of us, a few of us, or the elite among us. Each of us has a beauty that longs to be revealed and released. It is you at your best! When you stand at the intersection of your skill and God’s call, you are standing at the corner of Promised Land Avenue and Glory Days Boulevard.

From Glory Days

Song of Solomon  2

Young Woman

I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain,[c]
    the lily of the valley.
Young Man

2 Like a lily among thistles
    is my darling among young women.
Young Woman

3 Like the finest apple tree in the orchard
    is my lover among other young men.
I sit in his delightful shade
    and taste his delicious fruit.
4 He escorts me to the banquet hall;
    it’s obvious how much he loves me.
5 Strengthen me with raisin cakes,
    refresh me with apples,
    for I am weak with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
    and his right arm embraces me.
7 Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
    by the gazelles and wild deer,
    not to awaken love until the time is right.[d]
8 Ah, I hear my lover coming!
    He is leaping over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
9 My lover is like a swift gazelle
    or a young stag.
Look, there he is behind the wall,
    looking through the window,
    peering into the room.
10 My lover said to me,
    “Rise up, my darling!
    Come away with me, my fair one!
11 Look, the winter is past,
    and the rains are over and gone.
12 The flowers are springing up,
    the season of singing birds[e] has come,
    and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.
13 The fig trees are forming young fruit,
    and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.
Rise up, my darling!
    Come away with me, my fair one!”
Young Man

14 My dove is hiding behind the rocks,
    behind an outcrop on the cliff.
Let me see your face;
    let me hear your voice.
For your voice is pleasant,
    and your face is lovely.
Young Women of Jerusalem

15 Catch all the foxes,
    those little foxes,
before they ruin the vineyard of love,
    for the grapevines are blossoming!
Young Woman

16 My lover is mine, and I am his.
    He browses among the lilies.
17 Before the dawn breezes blow
    and the night shadows flee,
return to me, my love, like a gazelle
    or a young stag on the rugged mountains.[f]

Footnotes

2:1 Traditionally rendered I am the rose of Sharon. Sharon Plain is a region in the coastal plain of Palestine.
2:7 Or not to awaken love until it is ready.
2:12 Or the season of pruning vines.
2:17 Or on the hills of Bether.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, November 13, 2015

Read: Genesis 3:6-13,22-24

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man[a] and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Footnotes:

3:8 Or Adam, and so throughout the chapter.

INSIGHT:
Today’s passage records the entrance of sin into an innocent world. But it also records God’s grace in response to sin. Rather than let Adam and Eve eat from the tree of life and live forever in their sin, God graciously blocked the way to that tree (vv. 22-23). J.R. Hudberg

The Big Stink

By Marvin Williams

God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Genesis 3:5

In August 2013, large crowds gathered at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to witness the blooming of the tropical plant known as the corpse flower. Since the flower is native to Indonesia, and may flower only once every several years, its blooming is a spectacle. Once open, the huge spiky, beautiful, red bloom smells like rotten meat. Because of its putrid fragrance, the flower attracts flies and beetles that are looking for rotting meat. But there is no nectar.

Like the corpse flower, sin holds out promises but in the end offers no rewards. Adam and Eve found this out the hard way. Eden was beautiful until they ruined it by doing the one thing God urged them not to do. Tempted to doubt God’s goodness, they ignored their Creator’s loving warning and soon lost their innocence. The God-given beauty of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil became like a corpse flower to them. The reward for their disobedience was alienation, pain, emptiness, toil, and death.

God made us to share in His life & joy.
Sin looks inviting and may feel good, but it doesn’t compare with the wonder, beauty, and fragrance of trusting and obeying God, who has made us to share His life and joy.

What temptations are you facing today? Remember that God promises to help you fight against temptation. Ask Him to help you remember to rely on Him.

God’s commands can overpower Satan’s suggestions.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 13, 2015

Faith or Experience?

…the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. —Galatians 2:20

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life. Disciples Indeed, 387 R


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 13, 2015

Forgiven Means It's Gone - #7525




Okay, if you've always been skinny, you can just give it up. You're not going to understand what I'm about to say. Okay? But if you've ever been overweight, I think you'll understand this. Once you've been overweight, you always tend to think of yourself as overweight even when you're not any more. I used to weigh 210 pounds. That was pretty big for a guy my size, because I'm not really big. Now, thankfully, I've been able to keep a lot of it off for years. It doesn't matter, I still feel overweight. It's crazy! Others may say you're okay, and the scale might even say you're okay. But there's this voice that keeps whispering, "Overweight!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Forgiven Means It's Gone."

Our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?" Okay, that's the bad news. "Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, or idolaters, or adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, or slanderers, or swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." I'll tell you this, most of us are in there somewhere.

Now the good news, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Now, I'll tell you one of the belittling lies of sin, "You're still dirty. You're still away from God. You're still unworthy. You're still guilty. There's no use. It's hopeless." And God's Word screams to those who've been forgiven by Christ, "No! That is a lie! What God says you are is what you are. And God says that is what you were, it's not what you are any more."

The verb tense makes all the difference in the world. Your guilt has been erased. He uses the word "washed." You've been given a spiritual shower if you've been to Jesus' cross; if you've dropped that sin, however dirty, however ugly, however many times repeated, or however willful. If you've dropped it at that cross and you've trusted Him to forgive it, you are clean. You are washed by God.

Then He says, "You were sanctified." That means you've been made special again. And then He says, "You have been justified." That means you've been made right with God. Of course, the Devil is going, "Hey, you're still spiritually overweight, you know. You're still carrying the weight of the past around." That voice is about what you were. It's like the voice that wrongly says, "You're still overweight" even when the weight is really gone.

The Devil wants you to give up. He wants you to go back to the old you. But Leviticus 26:13 is a wonderful promise I think applies to even us today. God says, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves of the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high."

You are new! Why don't you live new? Don't live in that old junk believing that it still has to be you. Don't buy the lie. Because of the power of the blood of Jesus to forgive, because He shed that blood on the cross for those very sins, you are not carrying that weight - that burden - any more.

This could be your day to experience that forgiveness for yourself. Whatever you wish you hadn't done, all the sins, all the mistakes, all the hurts you've inflicted, all the pain of the past can be brought to the cross of Jesus, and He will take that burden as He did on the cross when He died for you and say, "It is now mine. You are forgiven. You are clean. You are new."

It happens when you say, "Jesus, I'm yours and I'm putting all my trust in what You did when You died for me." Please consider making this your day to do that. Go to our website. We'll help you get connected with Jesus there. It's ANewStory.com. Or you can text us at 442-244-WORD.

Remember, if Jesus has forgiven you, walk and talk confidently, because whatever your enemy may say to lie to you, that old weight, that old burden, that sin is gone!

Song of Solomon 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Spill Your Heart Before God

As a member of God's family, come to Him- not as a stranger, but as an heir. Earnestly make your requests known to him; not because of what you have achieved, but because of what Christ has done! Jesus spilled his blood for you. You can spill your heart before God.
Jesus said if you have faith, you can tell a mountain to go and jump into the sea (Mark 11:23). What is your mountain? What is the challenge of your life? Call out to God for help! Will he do what you want? I cannot say, but this I can say, "He will do what is best." That includes any force that is seeking to drive you out of the Promised Land. "Ask and it will be given to you," Jesus said in Matthew 7:7.  It is a battle, but you do not fight in vain. Call on God for great things!
From Glory Days

Song of Solomon 1

Young Woman[a]

2 Kiss me and kiss me again,
    for your love is sweeter than wine.
3 How fragrant your cologne;
    your name is like its spreading fragrance.
    No wonder all the young women love you!
4 Take me with you; come, let’s run!
    The king has brought me into his bedroom.
Young Women of Jerusalem

How happy we are for you, O king.
    We praise your love even more than wine.
Young Woman

How right they are to adore you.
5 I am dark but beautiful,
    O women of Jerusalem—
dark as the tents of Kedar,
    dark as the curtains of Solomon’s tents.
6 Don’t stare at me because I am dark—
    the sun has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
    they forced me to care for their vineyards,
    so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard.
7 Tell me, my love, where are you leading your flock today?
    Where will you rest your sheep at noon?
For why should I wander like a prostitute[b]
    among your friends and their flocks?
Young Man

8 If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman,
    follow the trail of my flock,
    and graze your young goats by the shepherds’ tents.
9 You are as exciting, my darling,
    as a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
10 How lovely are your cheeks;
    your earrings set them afire!
How lovely is your neck,
    enhanced by a string of jewels.
11 We will make for you earrings of gold
    and beads of silver.
Young Woman

12 The king is lying on his couch,
    enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume.
13 My lover is like a sachet of myrrh
    lying between my breasts.
14 He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms
    from the vineyards of En-gedi.
Young Man

15 How beautiful you are, my darling,
    how beautiful!
    Your eyes are like doves.
Young Woman

16 You are so handsome, my love,
    pleasing beyond words!
The soft grass is our bed;
17     fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house,
    and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters.

Footnotes:

1:1 The headings identifying the speakers are not in the original text, though the Hebrew usually gives clues by means of the gender of the person speaking.
1:7 Hebrew like a veiled woman.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 12, 2015

Read: Romans 12:14-21

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;
    I will pay them back,”[a]
    says the Lord.
20 Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
    If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
    burning coals of shame on their heads.”[b]
21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Footnotes:

12:19 Deut 32:35.
12:20 Prov 25:21-22.

INSIGHT:
When the apostle Paul instructs the Roman Christians to bless rather than curse those who persecute them, he’s not talking just about words. The biblical concept of blessing and cursing nearly always meant both words and actions. In today’s passage Paul is calling for radical acts of love, for—as Jesus showed us—true love is not just conveyed by what we say but also by what we do (John 15:13; 1 John 3:18). Dennis Moles

Of Geese and Difficult People

By Randy Kilgore

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Romans 12:18

When we first moved into our present home, I enjoyed the beauty of the geese that nest nearby. I admired the way they cared for each other and the way they moved in straight lines in the water and in majestic V-formations in the air. It was also a joy to watch them raise their young.

Then summer came, and I discovered some less beautiful truths about my feathered friends. You see, geese love to eat grass, and they don’t really care if it ruins the look of the lawn. Worse, what they leave behind makes a stroll across the yard a messy adventure.

God helps us see the beauty in even the most difficult people.
I think of these geese when I’m dealing with difficult people. Sometimes I wish I could simply shoo them out of my life. It’s then that God usually reminds me that there is beauty in even the most difficult person if we can get close enough to discover it, and the pain they’re giving out may be reflective of the pain they are feeling. The apostle Paul says in Romans, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (12:18). So I ask God to help me be patient with the “hard side” of others. This doesn’t always produce a happy outcome, but it is remarkable how often God redeems these relationships.

As we encounter difficult people, by God’s grace we can see and love them through His eyes.

By Your grace, Lord, help me to live peaceably with others. And help me to recognize when I’m the difficult person in other people’s lives and need Your intervention. Give me the will and desire to change.

Peace can come if we respond with a gentle answer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 12, 2015

The Changed Life

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.

What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.


WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly.  Disciples Indeed, 393 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 12, 2015

Closing for Inventory - #7524

Alcoholics really need to stay away from places that are all about alcohol. Bookaholics need to stay away from bookstores. Like it's dangerous for me to spend time in a bookstore, especially a Christian bookstore.

When my son was home from college we would often enjoy going together to a bookstore. I usually headed for the books; he would head for the music. But this one time when I asked him, it suddenly dawned on me this wasn't a good time to go. This was the time that they traditionally conducted their inventory. Yeah, lousy time to go to a store you really want to be in, because they were shut down to take stock.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Closing for Inventory."

There was one man in history who was called the man after God's own heart by God. His name was David. It's this man whose personal spiritual diary is in your possession. It's called the book of Psalms. One of those is in Psalm 42; it's a real look inside David's heart. Then his question that I hope will become your question.

Our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 42 beginning at verse 1, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." Here's the question, "When can I go and meet with God?" Now what's David's frame of mind in this Psalm? Well he says in verse 3, "My tears have been my food day and night."

He later describes himself as being downcast, disturbed. In a word David is struggling. He says something's not right, but instead of sinking he knows where to turn. He says this in the Psalm, "My soul is downcast within me: therefore I will remember you." He says it's time to close the store and meet with God. Maybe it's that time for you too. It's time to close for inventory. We can only go so long without a time away from all the other voices. Life just starts spinning out of control without a periodic time of uninterrupted inventory with God.

Stores know you can't really take stock of what you got while you're still selling and servicing customers. They have to lock the doors. They have to hang out a closed sign to do it. It's the same spiritually and emotionally. It's hard to really see where you are and where God wants you to be while you're still meeting all the demands of your daily responsibilities and servicing all the customers in your life.

There must be those times when you hang out the closed sign and just say, "I'm all yours, God." Spend some extended time with your Lord. "When can I go and meet with God?" It might be a day; it might be a couple of days or once in awhile a longer period of time. You just take you, your bible and a big notepad to write down what comes to you while you're listening to the Lord and you can expect Him to fill that pad. He loves when we come to Him with an empty piece of paper.

This is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your spouse; taking over their responsibilities so they can close for inventory. It's a gift to you too. You get a better husband or wife out of the deal. A son or daughter can offer extra help so their mom or dad could spend this time. A church or a ministry is wise to allow, even to encourage their leaders to stop all the business and running the church machine, and take time out for inventory.

When you do go meet with God, open up every corner of you to His search light. Deal with wrong actions, wrong attitudes that have developed. Stand back with Him and get the big picture again. Then ask Him to help you see each of the key people in your life as He sees them - through His eyes.

So how long has it been since you closed for inventory? God has so much He wants to show you and you need to hear His voice so much. You'll come out of that seeking time really ready for business again. But first you have to be still and know that He is God.