Ecclesiastes 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Fire Burning

I wish I could say it's forgiven and forgotten-but it isn't. As much as I've tried-all I feel is the anger and the bitterness.
Without forgiveness, bitterness is all that's left! Maybe it's an old wound. A parent abused you. A mate betrayed you. And you are angry. Perhaps the wound is fresh. The friend who owes you money just drove by in a new car.  The boss who hired you with promises of promotions has forgotten how to pronounce your name. And you are hurt! There is a fire burning in your heart. It's the fire of anger. And you are left with a decision. Do I get over it or get even? Do I let my hurts heal, or do I let hurt turn into hate? Proverbs 15:9 says, "The Lord hates what evil people do, but He loves those who do what is right."
From Grace for the Moment

Ecclesiastes 11
The Uncertainties of Life

Send your grain across the seas,
    and in time, profits will flow back to you.[b]
2 But divide your investments among many places,[c]
    for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.
3 When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
    Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.
4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
    If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[d] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

6 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

Advice for Young and Old
7 Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.

8 When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.

9 Young people,[e] it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. 10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

Footnotes:

11:1 Or Give generously, / for your gifts will return to you later. Hebrew reads Throw your bread on the waters, / for after many days you will find it again.
11:2 Hebrew among seven or even eight.
11:5 Some manuscripts read Just as you cannot understand how breath comes to a tiny baby in its mother’s womb.
11:9 Hebrew Young man.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Read: Numbers 4:17-32

 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 “Do not let the Kohathite clans be destroyed from among the Levites! 19 This is what you must do so they will live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects. Aaron and his sons must always go in with them and assign a specific duty or load to each person. 20 The Kohathites must never enter the sanctuary to look at the sacred objects for even a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonite Clan
21 And the Lord said to Moses, 22 “Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Gershonite division of the tribe of Levi. 23 List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.

24 “These Gershonite clans will be responsible for general service and carrying loads. 25 They must carry the curtains of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle itself with its coverings, the outer covering of fine goatskin leather, and the curtain for the Tabernacle entrance. 26 They are also to carry the curtains for the courtyard walls that surround the Tabernacle and altar, the curtain across the courtyard entrance, the ropes, and all the equipment related to their use. The Gershonites are responsible for all these items. 27 Aaron and his sons will direct the Gershonites regarding all their duties, whether it involves moving the equipment or doing other work. They must assign the Gershonites responsibility for the loads they are to carry. 28 So these are the duties assigned to the Gershonite clans at the Tabernacle. They will be directly responsible to Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarite Clan
29 “Now record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Merarite division of the tribe of Levi. 30 List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.

31 “Their only duty at the Tabernacle will be to carry loads. They will carry the frames of the Tabernacle, the crossbars, the posts, and the bases; 32 also the posts for the courtyard walls with their bases, pegs, and ropes; and all the accessories and everything else related to their use. Assign the various loads to each man by name.

The Importance of How
By David McCasland

Assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. Numbers 4:19

While attending Bible college, my friend Charlie and I worked for a furniture store. We often made deliveries accompanied by an interior decorator who talked with the people who had purchased the furniture while we brought it from the truck into the house. Sometimes we had to carry the furniture up several flights of stairs in an apartment building. Charlie and I often wished we had the decorator’s job instead of ours!

During Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, three clans from the priestly tribe of Levi—the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites—were assigned the job of transporting the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). They put it up, took it down, and carried it to the next place, then repeated the process again and again. Their job description was simple: “Carry the things assigned to you” (see Num. 4:32).

All of us can choose our attitude toward the tasks we're given.
I wonder if these “custodians” ever envied the “clergymen” who offered sacrifices and incense using the holy articles in the sanctuary (vv. 4-5,15). That job must have looked much easier and more prestigious. But both assignments were important and came from the Lord.

Many times we don’t get to select the work we do. But all of us can choose our attitude toward the tasks we’re given. How we do the job God gives us is the measure of our service to Him.

Father in heaven, our work in life often causes us to wonder if we are accomplishing anything worthwhile. Give us eyes to see the importance of the tasks You have given us so that we may honor You by the way we do them.

Humble work becomes holy work when it’s done for God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
“Approved to God”

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15

If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, “I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else,” then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.

Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself.  The Moral Foundations of Life, 728 L


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 15, 2015

We've had a lot of fun in our family listening to the audio and video recordings that I made when our kids were little. Then I get to listen to them and what they sounded like before they had much of a vocabulary and before their voices changed. Those are special memories. So is the recording of our wedding over thirty years ago. It's always a pretty tender time when my wife and I sit and listen to the day we made our lifetime vows to each other – happy tapes.

And then, there are not happy tapes. Like the ones of former President Richard Nixon after Watergate. The Watergate accusations flew back and forth without any fatal damage until an aid testified that the President had recordings of his oval office conversations. There was a big legal battle over releasing those tapes, but eventually the world heard the not very pretty things that were said behind closed doors. I wonder if President Nixon just forgot sometimes that the recorder was running, or if he thought no one would ever hear what he was saying. Wow, was he wrong!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Talk Is Not Cheap."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 12:34. Jesus said, "For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you."

Pretty sobering, huh? You show what your heart is full of by your words and then He says the divine tape recorder is always running. When you're on the phone, when you're angry, when you're whispering, when you're talking behind someone's back, when you think no one heard it, the recorder is running. And one day all of it will be played back in the presence of the living God. You talk about being without defense, wow, there it is, listening to yourself say it.

See, words really do matter. By your words you show what's in your heart. By your words you will be acquitted. By your words you will be condemned. Our words will be there to meet us when we stand before God; Encouraging words, God praising words, Christ sharing words, loving words. But also our careless words, our dirty words, our hurting words, those backstabbing words, angry ones, lying ones. If our words will be the measure of our judgment there are some steps we need to take now!

First, we need to realize we don't stand a chance before God's judgment without a Savior. The Savior – the only One who died for our sins. That would be Jesus. There are just too many words that have done too much damage. They are objective proof of the darkness that has been inside us called sin. The sin that God's one and only Son died to pay for. He paid the death penalty for all of it. If you've put all your trust in Him to be your personal sin-rescuer today, you will be forgiven once and for all.

But beyond that we need to listen to ourselves to ask God to help us hear what He hears in our words. It's time we join David in his prayer, "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3).

Ultimately the weight of our words should cause us to make Jesus Christ Lord of our tongue every new day, every hour. If we can win the words battle, we can win anything. But believe me, it takes the control of Jesus Christ himself to tame a runaway tongue. So, if you're judged by your words, if they are evidence of the sin and the darkness in your heart, the words that have hurt people, the angry words, the dirty words, the unforgiving words, the hurtful things, isn't it time to make the Savior who died on the cross your Savior? He died for all of that.

The only way to escape God's judgment is to accept the payment that He made when He took God's judgment for you on the cross. So today reach out to Him and say, "Jesus, I bring a lifetime of wrong, a lifetime of hurt and sin to You. I am yours beginning today." Go to our website. We'll help you find your start with Jesus. It's ANewStory.com. Or you can contact us at 442-244-WORD and text us there.

Talk is not cheap. It can be very expensive. The President of the United States was ultimately judged by his own words, and we will be too.

Ecclesiastes 10 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Taking No Chances

With God-chance is eliminated! God knows what's best! No struggle will come your way apart from his purpose, his presence and his permission. Isaiah 43:2 says, "when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you." What encouragement! You're never the victim of nature or the prey of fate. Chance is eliminated.
You are more than a weather vane whipped by the winds of fortune. Perish the thought! You live beneath the protective palm of a sovereign King who superintends every circumstance of your life, and delights in doing you good! Remember this! Nothing comes your way that has not first passed through the filter of God's love!
From Grace for the Moment

Ecclesiastes 10

As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,
    so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.
2 A wise person chooses the right road;
    a fool takes the wrong one.
3 You can identify fools
    just by the way they walk down the street!
4 If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit!
    A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes.
The Ironies of Life
5 There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake 6 when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. 7 I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants!

8 When you dig a well,
    you might fall in.
When you demolish an old wall,
    you could be bitten by a snake.
9 When you work in a quarry,
    stones might fall and crush you.
When you chop wood,
    there is danger with each stroke of your ax.
10 Using a dull ax requires great strength,
    so sharpen the blade.
That’s the value of wisdom;
    it helps you succeed.
11 If a snake bites before you charm it,
    what’s the use of being a snake charmer?
12 Wise words bring approval,
    but fools are destroyed by their own words.
13 Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions,
    so their conclusions will be wicked madness;
14     they chatter on and on.
No one really knows what is going to happen;
    no one can predict the future.
15 Fools are so exhausted by a little work
    that they can’t even find their way home.
16 What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant,[a]
    the land whose leaders feast in the morning.
17 Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader
    and whose leaders feast at the proper time
    to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk.
18 Laziness leads to a sagging roof;
    idleness leads to a leaky house.
19 A party gives laughter,
    wine gives happiness,
    and money gives everything!
20 Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts.
    And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom.
For a little bird might deliver your message
    and tell them what you said.

Footnotes:

10:16 Or a child.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 14, 2015

Read: Psalm 150

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heaven!
2 Praise him for his mighty works;
    praise his unequaled greatness!
3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;
    praise him with the lyre and harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
    praise him with strings and flutes!
5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
    praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

INSIGHT:
The last five psalms (146–150) are also known as Hallelujah psalms because each of them begins and ends with “Hallelujah” or “Praise the Lord.” The psalmist calls for “everything that has breath”—every living thing on earth and spiritual beings in the heavens—to worship God for what He has done (v. 6). We praise Him for “his acts of power” and for “his surpassing greatness” (v. 2). God deserves the full and joyous expression of our commitment and devotion, and we can praise Him exuberantly with singing and musical instruments (vv. 3-6).


Let’s Celebrate
By Marvin Williams

Praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe.  Psalm 150:4

After Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan scored a goal against Germany in the 2014 World Cup, he and his teammates did a coordinated dance step. When Germany’s Miroslav Klose scored a few minutes later, he did a running front flip. “Soccer celebrations are so appealing because they reveal players’ personalities, values, and passions,” says Clint Mathis, who scored for the US at the 2002 World Cup.

In Psalm 150, the psalmist invites “everything that has breath” to celebrate and praise the Lord in many different ways. He suggests that we use trumpets and harps, stringed instruments and pipes, cymbals and dancing. He encourages us to creatively and passionately celebrate, honor, and adore the Lord. Because the Lord is great and has performed mighty acts on behalf of His people, He is worthy of all praise. These outward expressions of praise will come from an inner wellspring overflowing with gratitude to God. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord,” the psalmist declares (150:6).

Though we may celebrate the Lord in different ways (I’m not encouraging back flips in our worship services), our praise to God always needs to be expressive and meaningful. When we think about the Lord’s character and His mighty acts toward us, we cannot help but celebrate Him through our praise and worship.

How has this psalm challenged you to be more expressive in your praise to God? Spend some time thinking about the greatness of the Lord’s mighty works. Then give Him your praise.

Praise is the song of a soul set free.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 14, 2015

The Great Life

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled… —John 14:27

Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. As long as we try to serve two masters, ourselves and God, there will be difficulties combined with doubt and confusion. Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. Once we get to that point, there is nothing easier than living the life of a saint. We encounter difficulties when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own purposes.

God’s mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, “as the world gives,” but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. If you are acting on your own impulse, or out of a sense of the heroic, to be seen by others, the peace of Jesus will not exhibit itself. This shows no unity with God or confidence in Him. The spirit of simplicity, clarity, and unity is born through the Holy Spirit, not through your decisions. God counters our self-willed decisions with an appeal for simplicity and unity.

My questions arise whenever I cease to obey. When I do obey God, problems come, not between me and God, but as a means to keep my mind examining with amazement the revealed truth of God. But any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. Approved Unto God, 11 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 14, 2015

Men on the Edge - #7546

Suicide. It usually stuns those close to it. Hollywood has seen several suicides in the past years. A director that leaped from a bridge. Actors battling drugs and alcohol that had beaten the addiction. And others that were still battling until the addiction won. Families left crushed. Many people left asking that question that often defies an answer, "Why?" Well, we may never know.

And then there was that prominent official in the White House some years ago who committed suicide. A national news magazine turned the spotlight on a disturbing fact about too many men. They are, (And I've never forgotten these words) "wounded men with no place to bleed."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Men on the Edge."

I know from years of walking through crises with many guys, that we men often stuff it rather than share it. We live with the lie that being strong means never showing weakness, never showing a soft or hurting heart, and always being in control of course.

So we bleed inside where there's nothing to stop the bleeding or treat the wound. The pressure builds like lava in a volcano. Or like a beach ball pushed farther and farther under the water. The farther down you push it, the higher it ultimately goes when it can't be held down anymore. Suddenly, often inexplicably, there's an explosion of anger or violence or depression, or self-destruction.

But the strongest man who ever lived offered us guys a better way. The shortest verse in the Bible – only two words, John 11:35, "Jesus wept" at a friend's grave. The Bible says, when He saw a crowd of hurting people, "He was moved with compassion because they were...like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). I'm pretty sure He wasn't afraid to smile or laugh either. The children loved to sit on His lap, and I know my grandchildren don't want anything to do with grouches.

Jesus wasn't afraid to let His friends know He was really hurting. Just before what He knew was going to be His awful torture and crucifixion, He asked His main guys to be with Him in the garden. He told them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me" (Matthew 26:38). Though He was God in the flesh – the ultimate Man – He wasn't afraid to say He needed people.

So, wounded men do have a place to bleed. With the One who bled for them. As one high-powered enemy-turned-follower of Jesus said in our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 2:20, He "loved me and gave Himself for me." We would be lost in this life and horribly lost forever if Jesus hadn't paid the price to cure our terminal spiritual cancer called sin.

Guys get what sin is. It means, "I've gotta drive. You ride, God, but I'm driving." That's spiritual hijacking. Controlling a life that was made by God and for God and taking it where we want it to go instead. Sadly, we're like my four-year-old grandson standing behind the wheel of his daddy's parked car. He was never meant to drive.

Neither were we. And if we do, we'll ultimately crash, taking people we love with us. That's why God lets a man run into something he can't fix, he can't change, or he can't control to show us we never really were in control. So we see that we're created to have the One who gave us our life running our life.

To be blunt, we need a Savior. We need Jesus. Not a religion. Jesus. We need Him to forgive all the junk of our life; to open up this closed and wounded heart. To give us the power to be the man we want to be; that we need to be. And to fill us with the exhilaration of living our life for the one cause that's worth everything a guy's got.

A man can totally trust himself to this Jesus, because anyone who loved you enough to die for you will never do you wrong. You ready to surrender the pain, the sin to the Man who died to fix us? Well, this could be your new beginning today.

You know, our website is there to help you make that new beginning. It's called ANewStory.com. I hope you'll go there right now as soon as you can today. Maybe it's time to talk with someone about what it means to belong to Jesus. Text us at 442-244-WORD.

No longer does your heart have to be lonely and hurting. You're not alone. You have a place to bleed. Remember, with the Man who bled for you.

Acts 10, Bible reading in daily devotionals

Max Lucado: Goodness and Mercy

God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy.  She didn’t like the idea of his walking to school alone.  But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother.  She did her best to stay calm, quoting the 23rd Psalm to him every morning:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

One day she asked a neighbor who walked with her daughter to follow Timmy to school, but to stay at a distance.  After several days Timmy’s little friend said, “Do you know that woman who follows us to school?  “Sure,” Timmy answered.  “That’s Shirley Goodnest and her daughter, Marcy.”  My mom reads about them every day in the 23rd Psalm  She says they will follow me all the days of my life.  So, I guess I better get used to them!

You will too.  God never sends you out alone!

Taken from Fearless

Acts 10:1-23
New International Version (NIV)

Cornelius Calls for Peter
10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. 
Peter’s Vision 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” 
21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Peter at Cornelius’s House
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 7:9-17
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God, 
who sits on the throne, 
and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!” 
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes —who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God 
    and serve him day and night in his temple; 
and he who sits on the throne 
    will shelter them with his presence. 
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst. 
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
    nor any scorching heat. 
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd; 
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b] 
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]” 

The Gathering

May 28, 2012 — by David C. McCasland 

The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd [us] and lead [us] to living fountains of waters. —Revelation 7:17

During Oswald Chambers’ service as a YMCA chaplain in Egypt (1915–1917), he touched the lives of many soldiers who died in World War I. On November 6, 1916, Chambers wrote in his diary: “We have a letter from a New Zealand friend telling us that Ted Strack has been killed. And so Ted Strack has ‘gone to be with Jesus.’ That is just how he would have put it . . . . [He] was a rough beauty of nature and of grace, a fearless, loveable little saint. Thank God for every remembrance of him . . . . So they are gathering one by one.”

As we grieve the death of those we love, we cling to Jesus’ promise of life beyond the grave. The book of Revelation records John’s vision of a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and language gathered around God’s throne in heaven (7:9). The overarching truth of this passage is a glad, eternal reunion when “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd [us] and lead [us] to living fountains of waters” (v.17).

The passing of every believer in Christ foreshadows the day when we will join them with the Lord. In our sadness today, we are hopeful as we see that “they are gathering one by one.”

Beyond the sunset, O glad reunionWith our dear loved ones who’ve gone before;In that fair homeland we’ll know no parting—Beyond the sunset forevermore. —BrockGoodbyes are the law of earth; reunions are the law of heaven.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 28, 2012

Unquestion Revelation

In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23

When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?

“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”

A Word With You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Do I Love Him This Much? - #6621 
Monday, May 28, 2012

It was one of the great showdowns of my life - over a jar of peanut butter. Yeah. See, I was in love with my now "bride" for two and a half years before we got married, and because I loved her I began to change some things before we got married. I lost some weight; I changed my schedule to make sure there was a little time for her in there. I changed my after shave because there was one she liked. I became interested in her friends. My love was steadily changing one area after another in my life, until the day we went grocery shopping together.

Yeah. See, there was tension over whether to buy the expensive name brand of various items which I wanted to do, or the less expensive store brand which she had been raised to do. Since it was going to be "our" money when we got married, it got to be pretty tense. It came to a head over uh... yeah, a jar of peanut butter. My name brand versus her store brand. Suddenly I had hit a wall in how far this love thing was going to go, and the line was what I wanted in my favorite foods. Fortunately, I ended up deciding that she was more important than peanut butter or soft drinks. But every important love reaches a test point, and it's surprising what the issue often is.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Do I Love Him This Much?"

Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 40 , and I'll begin reading at verse 1. It's David's personal testimony, "I waited patiently for the Lord" he says. "He turned to me; He heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."

Now, David indicates here a very personal, very practical thing that the Lord changed when He came into his life. David says He changed my music. "He put a new song in my mouth; a hymn of praise to our God." Interestingly enough, that area of music is for many a major test of how much they love their Lord. Will I let Jesus affect my music...what I listen to?

Honestly, for many followers of Christ, that's the equivalent of the peanut butter test in my love for my wife. Do I love Jesus enough to let Him affect this - to let Him change my music? You say, "Come on, that's a teenage issue, right, that music stuff?" Not exclusively.

Music is one of the most powerful influences in our lives. It can make us feel romantic, or patriotic, or religious, sad. Music just drives in ideas. As one great composer said, "I loved music from being a young boy, because it bypasses the brain. It goes straight to the heart." That's true! Commercials use music all the time to drive messages into our head. See, if I'm going to live right, I've got to think right. And if I'm going to have to think right, I've got to get right input, which means I need to submit my music - this most powerful input - to the lordship of Christ. It doesn't matter if its country music, easy listening music, rock music, or rap music, whatever. The devil has planted his values in many styles of music. And honestly, it's often a separate compartment in many of our lives where we've put up a "No Trespassing" sign for Jesus. We say, "Well, that's just my entertainment." No! No, it's an important part of who you are. So important you won't let Jesus touch it.

He's looking at that locked closet and He's asking, "May I go in there? Didn't I die for that too?" Will you open up to the Lord this huge area of the music you listen to, who your music heroes are? Don't let it be an idol that He can't touch. Jesus is saying, "Let Me into your music."

Only you can answer the question that this raises, "Do I love Him this much?"

Ecclesiastes 9, Bible reading and daily devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Devotion

“I give my life for the sheep.” John 10:15

The ropes used to tie our Lord’s hands and the soldiers used to lead him to cross were unnecessary. They were incidental. Had they not been there, had there been no trial, no Pilate and no crowd, the very same crucifixion would have occurred. Had Jesus been forced to nail himself to the cross, he would have done it. For it was not the soldiers who killed him, nor the screams of the mob. It was his devotion to us.

Ecclesiastes 9

A Common Destiny for All

So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[f] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

As it is with the good,
    so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
    so with those who are afraid to take them.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[g]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

5 For the living know that they will die,
    but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
    and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
    and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
    in anything that happens under the sun.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,
    or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
    that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Wisdom Better Than Folly

13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
    than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
    but one sinner destroys much good.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 2 Timothy 2:19-26

19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

A Sense Of Dread


May 27, 2012 — by Bill Crowder

Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. —2 Timothy 2:23

In Tennyson’s classic poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” valiant cavalry troops riding into battle are described by the imposing phrase, “Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.” Those words portray a sense of foreboding that anticipated the tragedy that lay before them.

When I was a pastor, I sometimes felt a sense of dread when heading to church meetings. Being aware of current or potential areas of conflict can easily cause serious concern. But this does not need to be the case in the church.

To a young pastor struggling with the pressures of ministry, Paul wrote, “Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife” (2 Tim. 2:23). This applies to pastors as well as church attenders. Our personal conduct can help to reduce the amount of friction instead of elevating it through unwise actions or words. We can model for others the biblical way to avoid, manage, and even resolve conflict. Verses 24-25 encourage us to be gentle, patient, and humble in relating to others.

As James says, “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18). Pursuing the goal of being a peacemaker can reduce the sense of dread that conflicts generate.

O Lord, help us to turn aside
From words that spring from selfish pride,
For You would have Your children one
In praise and love for Your dear Son. —D. De Haan
Christians at war with each other cannot be at peace with their heavenly Father.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2012

The Life To Know Him

. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49

The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.

The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.

It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.

Ecclesiastes 8, bible reading and devotionals.

Max Lucado Daily: He Leads Us

He Leads Us

“We will find grace to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16, NLT

God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene . . . so you might as well quit looking for it. He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know he leads us and “we will find grace to help us when we need it.”

Ecclesiastes 8

Who is like the wise?
    Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
    and changes its hard appearance.
Obey the King

2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing? ”

5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
    and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
    though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7 Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so[c] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own[d] hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried —those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[e] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life , because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth —people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Exodus 14:5-22

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen[a] and troops —pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Stand Or Go?

May 26, 2012 — by Dave Branon

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord”—Exodus 14:13

The Israelites were trapped. Soon after leaving slavery and Egypt behind, they looked up and saw a distressing sight. A cloud of dust was moving their way, and in that dust was a massive army. Pharaoh’s “disease” had returned—hardening of the heart (Ex. 14:8). As a result, he sent his chariots after Moses and his people.

Once the Egyptian army caught up with the Israelites, all seemed lost. They were trapped between a wall of soldiers and a sea of water. In panic, they cried out to both Moses and God.

Both of them responded with instructions. Moses said, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. ” (14:13). And God told them, “Go forward” (v.15). While that may seem to be contradictory advice, both commands were from God and right. First, the people had to “stand still” or “firm” long enough to get instructions from God. What if they had rushed headlong into the Red Sea without consulting the Lord? But in standing still, they heard God’s instructions, which included both what they were to do—move on, and what Moses was to do—stretch out his hand over the sea in obedience and God would part the waters.

Do circumstances have you trapped? Stand still. Take time to consult God and His Word. Then, using His instructions, move ahead and let God guide you.

It matters not how dark the way,
How thick the clouds from day to day,
God will direct in all we do
If we take time to pray it through. —Mead
If you’re looking for guidance, follow Christ as your guide.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 26, 2012

Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught

Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17

Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing . . .”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “. . . everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But . . . , but . . . .” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.

Ecclesiastes 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Touch the World

Where will God go to touch the world? What a great thought and an even better question! It’s that time of year when we hear about the virgin birth. And yet it’s much, much more than a Christmas story.  It is a story of how close Christ will come to you!

The first stop on his itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep within Mary for an answer. Better still—look deep within yourself.  Christ in you, the hope of glory! Christ grew in Mary until he had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs.  He will come out in your speech, in your actions, and in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem. And every day you live will be a Christmas. Deliver Christ into the world!

From Grace for the Moment

Ecclesiastes 7

Wisdom for Life
A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume.
    And the day you die is better than the day you are born.
2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties.
    After all, everyone dies—
    so the living should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for sadness has a refining influence on us.
4 A wise person thinks a lot about death,
    while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
5 Better to be criticized by a wise person
    than to be praised by a fool.
6 A fool’s laughter is quickly gone,
    like thorns crackling in a fire.
    This also is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns wise people into fools,
    and bribes corrupt the heart.
8 Finishing is better than starting.
    Patience is better than pride.
9 Control your temper,
    for anger labels you a fool.
10 Don’t long for “the good old days.”
    This is not wise.
11 Wisdom is even better when you have money.
    Both are a benefit as you go through life.
12 Wisdom and money can get you almost anything,
    but only wisdom can save your life.
13 Accept the way God does things,
    for who can straighten what he has made crooked?
14 Enjoy prosperity while you can,
    but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.
    Remember that nothing is certain in this life.
The Limits of Human Wisdom
15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people. 16 So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? 17 On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time? 18 Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.[a]

19 One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!

20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

21 Don’t eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you. 22 For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.

23 I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work. 24 Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find. 25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

26 I discovered that a seductive woman[b] is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

27 “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. 28 Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! 29 But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

Footnotes:

7:18 Or will follow them both.
7:26 Hebrew a woman.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Read: Ephesians 1:1-10
Greetings from Paul
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus,[a] who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Spiritual Blessings
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.[b] 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

Footnotes:

1:1 The most ancient manuscripts do not include in Ephesus.
1:6 Greek to us in the beloved.

INSIGHT:
The city of Ephesus was “the capital of . . . the western part of Asia Minor. It was colonized principally from Athens. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of ‘the first and greatest metropolis of Asia.’ It was distinguished for the Temple of Diana, who there had her chief shrine; and for its theatre, which was the largest in the world, capable of containing 50,000 spectators. It was, like all ancient theatres, open to the sky. Here were exhibited the fights of wild beasts and of men with beasts (1 Cor. 4:9; 9:24, 25; 15:32). Many Jews took up their residence in this city, and here the seeds of the gospel were sown immediately after Pentecost (Acts 2:9; 6:9).”

Just the Ticket
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

In him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 1:7

When a police officer stopped a woman because her young daughter was riding in a car without the required booster seat, he could have written her a ticket for a traffic violation. Instead, he asked the mother and daughter to meet him at a nearby store where he personally paid for the needed car seat. The mother was going through a difficult time and could not afford to buy a seat.

Although the woman should have received a fine for her misdemeanor, she walked away with a gift instead. Anyone who knows Christ has experienced something similar. All of us deserve a penalty for breaking God’s laws (Eccl. 7:20). Yet, because of Jesus, we experience undeserved favor from God. This favor excuses us from the ultimate consequence for our sin, which is death and eternal separation from God (Rom. 6:23). “In [Jesus] we have . . . the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Eph. 1:7).

Never stop thanking God for His amazing grace.
Some refer to grace as “love in action.” When the young mother experienced this, she later remarked, “I will be forever grateful! . . . And as soon as I can afford it I will be paying it forward.” This grateful and big-hearted response to the officer’s gift is an inspiring example for those of us who have received the gift of God’s grace!

Dear Father, thank You for giving us what we don’t deserve. You have forgiven my sins and provided a way for me to be reconciled to You through the gift of Your Son. Help me to always be grateful for Your grace.

God’s gift is grace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 09, 2015

The Opposition of the Natural

Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians 5:24

The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.

The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 09, 2015

The Highest Title On Earth - #7543

There have been a number of movies and television shows about angels taking human form."Touched By An Angel" was a television series that ran for nine seasons. You can still find it in "re-run." I remember this particular episode (for some reason, it really stuck with me) where a young angel was kneeling at the feet of a man who I think had been a homeless guy. I think maybe he had been in prison, and he just was pretty unkempt. Didn't look like much of a match for an angel. But the angel had this basin of water, and the man was telling her not to do what she was about to do. The angel was about to wash this old guy's feet. But she looked at him with tears in her eyes and she gave an answer that came from deep in her heart. She said, "I have to do this so I remember who I am." That stuck.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Highest Title On Earth."

Our Word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 20:25. The disciples are having some problems because they all want to be the top dog on Jesus' team. The Bible says, "Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you'" - now imagine them holding their breath, "Yeah, yeah, what is it?" - "'must be your servant." You can imagine their heads suddenly at half mast. "Whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many."

Jesus totally inverts our human idea of which position is really important. He told His disciples – and all of us His followers – to go for the highest title on earth; the one He chose, the one He lived: "servant." Though the "Touched by an Angel" episode is obviously fiction, the angel in it was thinking like Jesus. Although she had all the powers of an angel and had messages directly from God, she didn't want to forget who she really was – a servant, a foot-washer, someone who is here to pour out her life in the service of others, not herself. Well, that's my calling and it's your calling. And that is Gospel fact, not fiction. When we sacrifice our own comfort, our own needs, and our own pride for others, we are remembering who we are.

It's easy to forget that. Especially when your life is so full and so you become really self-focused just to get it all done, or to get your needs met. Maybe you've developed a case of creeping self-importance recently. Strangely enough, when God starts using us, we tend to forget we are servants. We begin to think we're stars or heroes or someone who's above the dirty work, the little jobs, the needs of one person who has nothing really to contribute to us.

Maybe we start to almost feel like a privileged character; entitled to some things. At that point, we have left the blueprint of Jesus. For even though He was the mighty Son of God, His agenda was not to have others serve Him but to totally serve others to the point of dying for us. What's your agenda? Is it you? Or is it them?

No matter what positions you hold, no matter what recognition you receive, no matter who you are or what you do, it never changes your real title. The one Jesus gave you. The one Jesus lived – servant of all. There are some feet to be washed. There's some dirty work to do. There are unnoticed acts of kindness to be done and there's a lot of unlovable people to love. Look for those assignments, because they'll help you remember who you really are.

Acts 9:23-43, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Crown of Life

Why all the effort to stay fit…to stay alive?  We pop pills, pump pecks, pass on the pie and pursue the polyunsaturates! Why? Because we're worried about staying alive.
In heaven-that will not be a worry! In fact, you won't be worrying at all. You won't worry about your kids getting hurt. In heaven, there will be no pain. You won't worry about getting old. We will all be ceaselessly strong! Scripture describes heaven as a place where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain.
We are not made of steel, we are made of dust. And this life is not crowned with life, it is crowned with death. The next life, however, is different!  Jesus urges us to "be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life!" (Revelation 2:10).
From Grace for the Moment

Acts 9:23-43

After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him. 24 They were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot. 25 So during the night, some of the other believers[a] lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.

26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer! 27 Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

28 So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He debated with some Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him. 30 When the believers[b] heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.

31 The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.

Peter Heals Aeneas and Raises Dorcas
32 Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda. 33 There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly. 35 Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.

36 There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas[c]). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. 37 About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. 38 But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!”

39 So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. 40 But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! 41 He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

42 The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, a tanner of hides.

Footnotes:

9:25 Greek his disciples.
9:30 Greek brothers.
9:36 The names Tabitha in Aramaic and Dorcas in Greek both mean “gazelle.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Read: Romans 12:1-8

A Living Sacrifice to God

And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.[b] 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

3 Because of the privilege and authority[c] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.[d] 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Footnotes:

12:1a Greek brothers.
12:1b Or This is your spiritual worship; or This is your reasonable service.
12:3a Or Because of the grace; compare 1:5.
12:3b Or by the faith God has given you; or by the standard of our God-given faith.

INSIGHT:
There are five listings of spiritual gifts in the New Testament: Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; 12:28-30; Ephesians 4:11; and 1 Peter 4:11. In each of these lists the emphasis is not on the different types of gifts but on their diversity and how they are to be used in a way that promotes love and unity in the church (1 Cor. 12:12–13:13). Gifts are to be used to build up the spiritual maturity of the believers (Eph. 4:12-16) and to bring glory to the Lord (1 Peter 4:9-11). In Romans 12 Paul encourages believers to use their gifts in humility (v. 3), in unity (vv. 4-5), and with sincere love and respect (vv. 9-10).

The Perfect Gift
By Julie Ackerman Link

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Psalm 96:8

Every year our local botanical garden hosts a celebration of Christmas around the world. My favorite display is a French nativity. Instead of the traditional scene showing shepherds and wise men with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh gathered around the manger, it shows French villagers bringing their gifts to baby Jesus. They bring bread, wine, cheese, flowers, and other items that God has given them the ability to produce. This reminds me of the Old Testament command to bring the firstfruits of our labor to the house of the Lord (Ex. 23:16-19). This depiction of the nativity illustrates that everything we have comes from God, so the only thing we have to give is something that God has given us.

When Paul instructed the Romans to present themselves as a living sacrifice, he was telling them to give back to God what God had given them—their own selves (Rom. 12:1). This includes the gifts He gave them, even their ability to earn a living. We know that God gives people special abilities. Some, like David, were skilled in music (1 Sam. 16:18). Some, like Bezalel and Oholiab, were skilled in artistic works (Ex. 35:30-35). Others have skill in writing, teaching, gardening, and many other things.

When we give back to God what He has first given to us, we give Him the perfect gift—ourselves.

What can you offer to Jesus?
Share on our Facebook page: facebook.com/ourdailybread

Give your all to Christ who gave His all for you.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 08, 2015

The Impartial Power of God

By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14

We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.

No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “… there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. “In Him we have redemption through His blood…” (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.

God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Stopped By a Storm - #7542

Every New York television station you turned to had the same bold graphic, Blizzard of '96. I still remember it. It was barely 1996; we were only six days into the new year when anywhere between 20 – 30 inches of snow unloaded on the Metropolitan New York area. It was like a mega-ton snow bomb hit the area, and it literally drove the Big Apple to its knees.

This is a city that doesn't shut down…except for a monster storm like this. The schools were closed for an almost unprecedented two days. City workers were told not to come in and bridges to the city were closed. Some of the busiest streets in the world were bare except for an occasional snow plow or emergency vehicle that went by. The trains couldn't make it because snow had choked the tracks. Major sporting events? They were impossible. I had never seen New York like that. The city that never stops had been stopped.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stopped by a Storm."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 9. It's really from the life of a very goal-oriented high-achiever on his way to a major conquest. His name is Saul. This is a man, sort of like New York, who couldn't be stopped. The brightest young religious leader of his time, but deeply angered by the heresy of the new followers of a man named Jesus. Well, Saul's on his way to eliminate the problem. The man who never stopped was stopped by a sudden storm you might say.

Verse 3 begins by saying this, "As Saul neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting' he replied."

Well suddenly this hard driver could drive no farther. He was knocked from his horse, he's down on the ground, and he was unable to see. Perhaps you're kind of a Saul or a Saulina (whatever the female version is). You've been running full speed. You've gotten a lot done. You're competent, you're gifted, you're doing pretty well, and you're moving too fast to think about getting right with your Creator. Oh, you've got some religious credentials maybe but there's no doubt who's really God in your life. Your god's the one who's running your life? That would be you.

And suddenly there's been this heavy storm. Maybe you've been hit with something medical or financial, or your family is in a crisis or someone you love is gone or you found yourself out of work, out of money, out of hope. Sometimes a struggling son or daughter knocks us off our horse.

Whatever the storm, would you allow me to suggest a reason it might be happening? For the same reason it happened to Saul, so you would finally be able to hear the voice of Jesus; Jesus who created you. Jesus, against whom we've rebelled as we've run our life our way, not His way. Jesus, who is the only one who loved you enough to die for you; to pay the death penalty for sin that you deserved to pay. Jesus, the one who has been knocking gently on the door of your heart for a long time, but you've always been on your way somewhere else until now.

And the storm has stopped you so you could finally meet your Savior. He's calling your name today just like He did Saul's that day. And He says, "I am Jesus." That day Saul surrendered his life to the Son of God. Maybe this day you will. Maybe it's time to say, "Lord, I've run it long enough. I need a Savior from my sin. I'm yours Jesus." This storm that seemed to be blowing you off course is really bringing you home.

So, I want to invite you to go to our website, and I'll walk you through there the way you can be sure you have begun your personal relationship with the One who loves you the most. Just go to ANewStory.com.

If you want to talk with someone about what it means to follow Jesus Christ then text us at 442-244-WORD. Let Jesus step into your storm and say what He did to a storm with His disciples so many years ago, "Peace be still."

Ecclesiastes 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Family Expectations

Many of us have a fantasy that our family will be like the Waltons or the expectation that our friends will be like members of our family.  Jesus did not have that expectation. Look how Jesus defined his family in Mark 3:35: "My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants." When Jesus' brothers did not share his convictions, he didn't try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual family could give him what his physical family did not.
We cannot control how our families respond to us. Our hands are tied. We have to move beyond the expectation that if we do good, our family will treat us right! The fact is they may; and then again, they may not! Let God give you what your physical, earthly family does not. And don't lose heart! God still changes families.
From Grace for the Moment

Ecclesiastes 6

There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity. 2 God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy.

3 A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead. 4 His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name, 5 and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man. 6 He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?

7 All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. 8 So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?

9 Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

The Future—Determined and Unknown
10 Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

11 The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?

12 In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 07, 2015

Read: Joshua 14:6-15

Caleb Requests His Land

A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, 8 but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. 9 So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’

10 “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. 11 I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. 12 So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”

13 So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. 14 Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 (Previously Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the descendants of Anak.)

And the land had rest from war.

INSIGHT:
Discipleship has been called “a long obedience in the same direction.” The point is not how much we have done, but whether or not we have been faithful to our Lord. Caleb was faithful for 45 years in the wilderness. When Christ returns, our faithfulness will be rewarded when we hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).

A Faithful Servant
By Keila Ochoa

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:11

Madaleno is a bricklayer. From Monday to Thursday he builds walls and repairs roofs. He is quiet, reliable, and hardworking. Then from Friday to Sunday he goes up to the mountains to teach the Word of God. Madaleno speaks Nahuatl (a Mexican dialect), so he can easily communicate the good news of Jesus to the people in that region. At age 70, he still works with his hands building houses, but he also works to build the family of God.

His life has been threatened several times. He has slept under the stars and faced death from car accidents and falls. He has been kicked out of towns. But he thinks that God has called him to do what he does, and he serves happily. Believing that people need to know the Lord, he relies on God for the strength he needs.

Relying on God's #strength allows us to serve him better.
Madaleno’s faithfulness reminds me of the faithfulness of Caleb and Joshua, two of the men Moses sent to explore the Promised Land and report back to the Israelites (Num. 13; Josh. 14:6-13). Their companions were afraid of the people who lived there, but Caleb and Joshua trusted in God and believed He would help them conquer the land.

The work entrusted to us may be different than Madaleno’s or Caleb’s and Joshua’s. But our confidence can be the same. In reaching out to others, we rely not on ourselves but on the strength of our God.

Where has God placed you to serve? Are you being faithful?

We grow strong when we serve the Lord.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 07, 2015
Repentance

Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation… —2 Corinthians 7:10

Conviction of sin is best described in the words:

My sins, my sins, my Savior, How sad on Thee they fall.

Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.

The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. Approved Unto God, 11 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 07, 2015

Shaping Them While They're Soft - #7541

Like most families, our family looks forward to Christmas traditions. And several of those traditions have to do with calories. Maybe the best of those traditions would be Christmas cookies! One year when our kids were young, my wife broke her hand in a traffic accident. And she has been the baker of the cookies. So, the kids went into mild shock, "Oh no! Christmas without Mom's cookies?" So she attempted to explain what it took to make them. Friends of ours, who knew the tremendous trauma our kids were in, offered to bake some of her recipes.

So I would hear her explaining to various people, including the members of our family who may have needed to make their own cookies! You know, we love these little jam prints, and raspberry tea cookies, and snowballs, and stars and bells. (I'm going home and get some.) Now, as I listen to all those instructions, one thing is clear even to a culinary klutz like me. You have to shape them, and that's the problem. My wife was unable to shape them with one hand. And you have to shape them while they're soft. Once the cookie gets hard there's no more molding it. You know, you're probably in the shaping business.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shaping Them While They're Soft."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy 6, beginning with verse 5, where God says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

You notice here when important ideas get communicated? It's in the unstructured times; it's in the classroom of everyday life: sitting down at home, walking along the road, getting up time, going to bed time. The fundamental building block for raising straight children in a crooked world is unstructured time together.

If you've ever tried to run real fast and talk to somebody or have them talk to you, it's very hard to communicate when you're running. That's true socially as well. And some of us have been running so fast our kids can't catch up. There's no communication while we're running.

The most important time for them is a daily debriefing with you. How do you communicate with them the Lord's view about friends, or sex, or your concerns, about God Himself? It's not so much in those formal talk times, "Let's talk." It's in those relaxed, no agenda times. Why? Because that's when we're soft like those cookies; we're soft when we're relaxed.

Take them to the store with you. Take them to the gas station with you. Take them on an errand with you. Go away with them on a weekend. Find things you can do together. Capture that chauffeuring time. There's plenty of that! Capture bedtime. Capture the send-off time to school. See, all too soon the soft years will be gone. It's a strange thing isn't it that when they have time we don't? And when we finally have time, they don't. The time is now; no days to waste.

We need to make a commitment to relaxed time together with the people whose lives we want to mark, because all too soon the heat of a lost world will turn a child's heart too tough to mold.

Maybe you've had a very rushed life and it's just been hard for them to get in. Maybe you've had a forced communication time or a formal communication time, and there's a wall there instead of a willing heart. Well, just remember, a child is a lot like those Christmas cookies; you can make them into something beautiful, something attractive, but you need some soft times together to do the shaping.