Max Lucado Daily: Jesus Became Like Us
John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and lived among us." The God of the universe left the glory of heaven and moved into the neighborhood. Our neighborhood! Why? Because He loves to be with the ones he loves!
There is a remarkable story about a man injured in a fire. While attempting to save his parents, his face was burned and disfigured. He wouldn't let anyone see him, including his wife. When she went to a plastic surgeon for help, the doctor assured her that he could restore her husband's face. But she wasn't there to restore her husband's face. She wanted her face disfigured so she could share in his pain.
It's the way God feels about us. He took on our face, our disfigurement. He became like us-to show us how far he will go to be with the ones he loves!
From Next Door Savior
2 Kings 14
Amaziah King of Judah
In the second year of Jehoash[c] son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. 4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
5 After the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 6 Yet he did not put the children of the assassins to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses where the Lord commanded: “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”[d]
7 He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day.
8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the challenge: “Come, let us face each other in battle.”
9 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. 10 You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant. Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”
11 Amaziah, however, would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 12 Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 13 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits long.[e] 14 He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. He also took hostages and returned to Samaria.
15 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, what he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 16 Jehoash rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And Jeroboam his son succeeded him as king.
17 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 18 As for the other events of Amaziah’s reign, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
19 They conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. 20 He was brought back by horse and was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors, in the City of David.
21 Then all the people of Judah took Azariah,[f] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 22 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.
Jeroboam II King of Israel
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. 25 He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea,[g] in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.
26 The Lord had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering;[h] there was no one to help them. 27 And since the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.
28 As for the other events of Jeroboam’s reign, all he did, and his military achievements, including how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 29 Jeroboam rested with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. And Zechariah his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 14:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash; also in verses 13, 23 and 27
2 Kings 14:6 Deut. 24:16
2 Kings 14:13 That is, about 600 feet or about 180 meters
2 Kings 14:21 Also called Uzziah
2 Kings 14:25 Hebrew the Sea of the Arabah
2 Kings 14:26 Or Israel was suffering. They were without a ruler or leader
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Read: Philippians 2:1-11
Have the Attitude of Christ
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,[a]
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges[b];
he took the humble position of a slave[c]
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,[d]
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Footnotes:
2:6 Or Being in the form of God.
2:7a Greek he emptied himself.
2:7b Or the form of a slave.
2:7c Some English translations put this phrase in verse 8.
INSIGHT:
The church at Philippi, established by Paul during his second missionary journey (Acts 16:6–40), was a growing and faithful church that had actively supported Paul’s ministry (Phil. 1:5; 4:15–19). In this thank-you letter, Paul encouraged the Philippians to continue to grow and mature in their faith even in the midst of persecution (1:9–11, 25–30; 4:1). In today’s reading Paul describes what mature Christians look like. They are not selfish or proud, but genuinely care for others (vv. 3–4). Presenting Christ as their perfect model, Paul urged the believers to “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (v. 5)—to live as Jesus did with humility, unquestioned obedience, and sacrificial service (vv. 6–8)
You First!
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
[Jesus] humbled himself. Philippians 2:8
Tibetan-born Sherpa Nawang Gombu and American Jim Whittaker reached the top of Mount Everest on May 1, 1963. As they approached the peak, each considered the honor of being the first of the two to step to the summit. Whittaker motioned for Gombu to move ahead, but Gombu declined with a smile, saying, “You first, Big Jim!” Finally, they decided to step to the summit at the same time.
Paul encouraged the Philippian believers to demonstrate this kind of humility. He said, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4 nkjv). Selfishness and superiority can divide people, but humility unites us, since it is the quality of “being one in spirit and of one mind” (v. 2).
Practicing humility helps us to become more like Jesus.
When quarrels and disagreements occur, we can often diffuse them by giving up our right to be right. Humility calls us to show grace and gentleness when we would rather insist on our own way. “In humility value others above yourselves” (v. 3).
Practicing humility helps us to become more like Jesus who, for our sake, “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death” (vv. 7-8). Following in Jesus’ footsteps means backing away from what is best for us and doing what is best for others.
Jesus, You gave up Your life for me. Help me to see each sacrifice I make as a reflection of Your humility. In putting others first, let me honor You.
Humility promotes unity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Vision and Darkness
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. —Genesis 15:12
Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light— that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).
Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God…”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Your Personal Eclipse - #7572
If you've ever seen a total eclipse of the moon, you'd have to agree it's pretty amazing! The moon – the great light of the night – suddenly starts to disappear. That big old moon darkens little by little until finally there appears to be no more moon. But don't panic! The moon has no light of its own of course. It's just light reflected from the sun. So, when something comes between the moon and its light source, something like a little tennis ball called earth, the moon just goes dark.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Personal Eclipse."
Maybe that word eclipse describes the season you're going through right now. It feels like the light has gone out, things aren't working, answers aren't coming, and emotionally it's feeling dark right now. Why are things going into an eclipse? Well, it could be for the same reason the moon goes dark.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 32:1-5. David is speaking, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit." Okay, he's talking about being blessed by God. Well, that's the light that comes from the Son of God in your life. This is God's blessing.
But David goes on to talk about his personal eclipse and maybe yours. Here's what he says, "When I kept silent my bones wasted away and there was my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me." Have you ever felt like that, like God's hand was heavy on you? Then he says, "My strength was sapped as if in need of sunlight." Wow! He's depleted. He's worn out. He's weak. Sound familiar?
David couldn't figure out why he was having physical difficulty and spiritual heaviness and stress and weariness. He just knew that the light that had been there before seemed to have gone out. And then he figured out what caused the eclipse. Here we go, "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgression to the Lord, and You forgave the guilt of my sin.'"
In the verses that follow, you can tell the eclipse is over. He talks about songs of deliverance, the Lord's unfailing love surrounding him. He says, "Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, for the light is back." The reason for the eclipse? Something has come between
you and the light. Something is blocking God's blessing on you right now. And David nailed it. He said, "It's my sin."
Look, you could have looked everywhere for an explanation of this dark time, but the light's not going to come back until you quit covering up that sinful attitude, that sinful action or relationship or habit. Oh you've been excusing it. But you need to quit doing that and instead confess it and bring it to Jesus' cross in what the Bible calls repentance.
It didn't stay dark that night of the eclipse. No, see, the light came back as soon as that obstruction was removed. Well, I can assure you as David discovered, that the light of God's blessing, which you desperately need in your life right now, could start to return to you this very day if you will deal honestly and repentantly with the sin that is keeping the light from getting through. For you? Good news. The eclipse may finally be over.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
2 Kings 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: From the Inside Out
Suppose that for most of your life, you've had a heart condition. Your activities have been restricted. But then comes the transplant. You have a new heart. Within you dwells a new power. You might say, "I can't climb stairs, I'm too weak." Does your choice negate the presence of a new heart? Dismiss the work of the surgeon? No, it would suggest you haven't learned to trust your new power. At some point you've got to try those stairs.
The same is true in our walk with Christ. You have a new heart--you are not who you used to be! As a result you can do what you couldn't do before--you can forgive...you can love... you can live! Put your new heart to the test. You can climb the stairs not by your strength, but by His!
From Next Door Savior
2 Kings 13
Jehoahaz King of Israel
In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. 3 So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son.
4 Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5 The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6 But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole[a] remained standing in Samaria.
7 Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time.
8 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 9 Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash[b] his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoash King of Israel
10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.
12 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 13 Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
15 Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 16 “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
17 “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”
18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”
20 Elisha died and was buried.
Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
22 Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23 But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.
24 Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king. 25 Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 13:6 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 2 Kings
2 Kings 13:9 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash; also in verses 12-14 and 25
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 18, 2016
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,[a] so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Footnotes:
5:21 Or to become sin itself.
INSIGHT:
Our salvation changes everything about us. Paul says that the old has gone and the new has come. This is not a future event but a current state, for those who are in Christ are now a new creation. Paul uses the word reconcile for being made new (vv. 18–20)—we are being reconciled to God. To reconcile is to restore friendly relations, to erase division and distance. The purpose of being made into a new creation is so that we can help others become new creations too.
Minister of Reconciliation
By Tim Gustafson
While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son. Romans 5:10
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on a Sunday morning in 1957, he fought the temptation to retaliate against a society steeped in racism.
“How do you go about loving your enemies?” he asked the Dexter Avenue Baptist congregation in Montgomery, Alabama. “Begin with yourself. . . . When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it.”
Quoting from the words of Jesus, King said: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you . . . ; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:44-45 kjv).
As we consider those who harm us, we are wise to remember our former status as enemies of God (see Rom. 5:10). But “[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,” wrote Paul (2 Cor. 5:18). Now we have a holy obligation. “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (v. 19). We are to take that message to the world.
Racial and political tensions are nothing new. But the business of the church is never to feed divisiveness. We should not attack those unlike us or those who hold different opinions or even those who seek our destruction. Ours is a “ministry of reconciliation” that imitates the selfless servant-heart of Jesus.
In Christ there is no east or west, in Him no south or north, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth. John Oxenham
Hate destroys the hater as well as the hated. Martin Luther King Jr.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 18, 2016
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" —John 20:28
“Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.
Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 18, 2016
Riding to Glory - #7571
I met a man from St. Joseph, Missouri, and I surprised him with my trivia knowledge when I said, "Oh, Pony Express country, right?" He confirmed my recollection that his town was the beginning of the famous Pony Express. What guys those were! Man, they rode their way right into the history books. They're practically legends of the Old West. I mean, they rode endless hours through hostile territory, risked their lives to deliver the mail to the West Coast. You knew that part. What you may not know is how many guys we're talking about here in this legendary operation-just 80 riders, and only one mail delivery was ever lost. How long did the Pony Express run? Only 18 months! It only took a few people a short time to make a great impact!
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Riding to Glory."
For most of us, our ride through this life will last, what do they say on average, 70 years or so? Some will get more, some a lot less. The question is how much of a mark will you leave in the years you have left? I think inside all of us is this deep desire to make our life count, to do something significant while we're here.
Maybe you know that restlessness that says, "I want to make a much greater difference with the rest of my life than I have made up until now." Then you need to hear our word for today from the Word of God in Daniel chapter 12, verse 3. It's God's roadmap to making the greatest possible mark you can make with the one life you have. Here's what it says. "Those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever." Wow!
God says the way to have a life that matters forever is to "lead many to righteousness." And this side of Jesus' cross, we know that means leading many people to Jesus. Now what immortalized those young men of the Pony Express? They were people with a message willing to risk whatever necessary to deliver that message. And they made a huge mark in a very short time.
If you belong to Jesus, you've got to see your life-assignment like God does. You're a person with a message to deliver. The significance of your life depends on how faithful you are in delivering it. In 2 Corinthians 5:19, the Bible says, "God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." The message: "Come to Jesus and get the relationship with God you were made for." The assignment: "ambassador"-Jesus' personal representative to the people where you work, or live, or go to school, or shop, or recreate. You're there by assignment from God to help some of those people be in heaven with you.
How are you doing? Maybe you say, "Well, I'm afraid to tell them about what Jesus did on the cross for them. I might mess it up." God doesn't need your perfect presentation to reach the heart of the person you care about. He does need for you to tell them about your Jesus. The only way you can fail in your mission is to remain silent.
Maybe you're not delivering your message because you fear the risks-the risk of building a relationship with someone who's lost, or getting started, of being rejected. But the Bible says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear." Please let God show you that the greatest risk of all is that you will lose this person forever because they never got the message about Jesus. Isn't that a greater fear what might happen to them than what could happen to you if you do tell them?
Like those heroic Pony Express riders, if you'll dedicate your life to delivering your life-giving message, if you'll risk whatever it takes to get that message through, then your heart-cry for a life that counts is going to be answered big-time. As you lead people to Jesus, you are riding to glory-eternal glory.
Suppose that for most of your life, you've had a heart condition. Your activities have been restricted. But then comes the transplant. You have a new heart. Within you dwells a new power. You might say, "I can't climb stairs, I'm too weak." Does your choice negate the presence of a new heart? Dismiss the work of the surgeon? No, it would suggest you haven't learned to trust your new power. At some point you've got to try those stairs.
The same is true in our walk with Christ. You have a new heart--you are not who you used to be! As a result you can do what you couldn't do before--you can forgive...you can love... you can live! Put your new heart to the test. You can climb the stairs not by your strength, but by His!
From Next Door Savior
2 Kings 13
Jehoahaz King of Israel
In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. 3 So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son.
4 Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5 The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6 But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole[a] remained standing in Samaria.
7 Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time.
8 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 9 Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash[b] his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoash King of Israel
10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.
12 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 13 Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
15 Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 16 “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
17 “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”
18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”
20 Elisha died and was buried.
Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
22 Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23 But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.
24 Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king. 25 Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 13:6 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 2 Kings
2 Kings 13:9 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash; also in verses 12-14 and 25
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 18, 2016
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,[a] so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Footnotes:
5:21 Or to become sin itself.
INSIGHT:
Our salvation changes everything about us. Paul says that the old has gone and the new has come. This is not a future event but a current state, for those who are in Christ are now a new creation. Paul uses the word reconcile for being made new (vv. 18–20)—we are being reconciled to God. To reconcile is to restore friendly relations, to erase division and distance. The purpose of being made into a new creation is so that we can help others become new creations too.
Minister of Reconciliation
By Tim Gustafson
While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son. Romans 5:10
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on a Sunday morning in 1957, he fought the temptation to retaliate against a society steeped in racism.
“How do you go about loving your enemies?” he asked the Dexter Avenue Baptist congregation in Montgomery, Alabama. “Begin with yourself. . . . When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it.”
Quoting from the words of Jesus, King said: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you . . . ; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:44-45 kjv).
As we consider those who harm us, we are wise to remember our former status as enemies of God (see Rom. 5:10). But “[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,” wrote Paul (2 Cor. 5:18). Now we have a holy obligation. “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (v. 19). We are to take that message to the world.
Racial and political tensions are nothing new. But the business of the church is never to feed divisiveness. We should not attack those unlike us or those who hold different opinions or even those who seek our destruction. Ours is a “ministry of reconciliation” that imitates the selfless servant-heart of Jesus.
In Christ there is no east or west, in Him no south or north, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth. John Oxenham
Hate destroys the hater as well as the hated. Martin Luther King Jr.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 18, 2016
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" —John 20:28
“Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.
Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 18, 2016
Riding to Glory - #7571
I met a man from St. Joseph, Missouri, and I surprised him with my trivia knowledge when I said, "Oh, Pony Express country, right?" He confirmed my recollection that his town was the beginning of the famous Pony Express. What guys those were! Man, they rode their way right into the history books. They're practically legends of the Old West. I mean, they rode endless hours through hostile territory, risked their lives to deliver the mail to the West Coast. You knew that part. What you may not know is how many guys we're talking about here in this legendary operation-just 80 riders, and only one mail delivery was ever lost. How long did the Pony Express run? Only 18 months! It only took a few people a short time to make a great impact!
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Riding to Glory."
For most of us, our ride through this life will last, what do they say on average, 70 years or so? Some will get more, some a lot less. The question is how much of a mark will you leave in the years you have left? I think inside all of us is this deep desire to make our life count, to do something significant while we're here.
Maybe you know that restlessness that says, "I want to make a much greater difference with the rest of my life than I have made up until now." Then you need to hear our word for today from the Word of God in Daniel chapter 12, verse 3. It's God's roadmap to making the greatest possible mark you can make with the one life you have. Here's what it says. "Those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever." Wow!
God says the way to have a life that matters forever is to "lead many to righteousness." And this side of Jesus' cross, we know that means leading many people to Jesus. Now what immortalized those young men of the Pony Express? They were people with a message willing to risk whatever necessary to deliver that message. And they made a huge mark in a very short time.
If you belong to Jesus, you've got to see your life-assignment like God does. You're a person with a message to deliver. The significance of your life depends on how faithful you are in delivering it. In 2 Corinthians 5:19, the Bible says, "God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." The message: "Come to Jesus and get the relationship with God you were made for." The assignment: "ambassador"-Jesus' personal representative to the people where you work, or live, or go to school, or shop, or recreate. You're there by assignment from God to help some of those people be in heaven with you.
How are you doing? Maybe you say, "Well, I'm afraid to tell them about what Jesus did on the cross for them. I might mess it up." God doesn't need your perfect presentation to reach the heart of the person you care about. He does need for you to tell them about your Jesus. The only way you can fail in your mission is to remain silent.
Maybe you're not delivering your message because you fear the risks-the risk of building a relationship with someone who's lost, or getting started, of being rejected. But the Bible says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear." Please let God show you that the greatest risk of all is that you will lose this person forever because they never got the message about Jesus. Isn't that a greater fear what might happen to them than what could happen to you if you do tell them?
Like those heroic Pony Express riders, if you'll dedicate your life to delivering your life-giving message, if you'll risk whatever it takes to get that message through, then your heart-cry for a life that counts is going to be answered big-time. As you lead people to Jesus, you are riding to glory-eternal glory.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
2 Kings 12 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: True Courage
Are you timid? Cautious? Could you use some courage? Scripture says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). If you're in Christ, these promises are not only a source of joy, they are the foundations of true courage!
When God looks at you, he doesn't see you; He sees the One who surrounds you. Failure's not a concern for you; your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous? In Hebrews 10:22, the writer says, "Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus-let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith."
The point is clear. The Father of Truth will win, and the followers of Truth will be saved. The prize is yours. Applaud the victory!
From The Applause of Heaven
2 Kings 12
Joash Repairs the Temple
[j]Joash[k] began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu’s reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.
4 One day King Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as a sacred offering to the Lord’s Temple, whether it is a regular assessment, a payment of vows, or a voluntary gift. 5 Let the priests take some of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed at the Temple.”
6 But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple. 7 So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple? Don’t use any more money for your own needs. From now on, it must all be spent on Temple repairs.” 8 So the priests agreed not to accept any more money from the people, and they also agreed to let others take responsibility for repairing the Temple.
9 Then Jehoiada the priest bored a hole in the lid of a large chest and set it on the right-hand side of the altar at the entrance of the Temple of the Lord. The priests guarding the entrance put all of the people’s contributions into the chest. 10 Whenever the chest became full, the court secretary and the high priest counted the money that had been brought to the Lord’s Temple and put it into bags. 11 Then they gave the money to the construction supervisors, who used it to pay the people working on the Lord’s Temple—the carpenters, the builders, 12 the masons, and the stonecutters. They also used the money to buy the timber and the finished stone needed for repairing the Lord’s Temple, and they paid any other expenses related to the Temple’s restoration.
13 The money brought to the Temple was not used for making silver bowls, lamp snuffers, basins, trumpets, or other articles of gold or silver for the Temple of the Lord. 14 It was paid to the workmen, who used it for the Temple repairs. 15 No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men. 16 However, the money that was contributed for guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Lord’s Temple. It was given to the priests for their own use.
The End of Joash’s Reign
17 About this time King Hazael of Aram went to war against Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. 18 King Joash collected all the sacred objects that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the previous kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with what he himself had dedicated. He sent them all to Hazael, along with all the gold in the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace. So Hazael called off his attack on Jerusalem.
19 The rest of the events in Joash’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.
20 Joash’s officers plotted against him and assassinated him at Beth-millo on the road to Silla. 21 The assassins were Jozacar[l] son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer—both trusted advisers. Joash was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Amaziah became the next king.
Footnotes:
12:1a Verses 12:1-21 are numbered 12:2-22 in Hebrew text.
12:1b Hebrew Jehoash, a variant spelling of Joash; also in 12:2, 4, 6, 7, 18.
12:21 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Jozabad.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Read: 1 Corinthians 14:6-12,26
Dear brothers and sisters,[a] if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language,[b] how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. 7 Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody. 8 And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?
9 It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.
10 There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. 11 But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12 And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.
Footnotes:
14:6a Greek brothers; also in 14:20, 26, 39.
14:6b Or in tongues; also in 14:19, 23.
INSIGHT:
Corinth, the destination of this letter, was located about fifty miles from Athens in the isthmus that connects northern Greece with the Peloponnesus of southern Greece. This strategic location made Corinth a bustling trade center and an important shipping port. Corinth was also the home of the Isthmian Games, an athletic competition in the ancient world that was second only to the ancient Olympics. This may explain Paul’s use of athletic illustrations in his first letter to the Corinthians (see 1 Cor. 9:24–27).
A Hint of Heaven
By Julie Ackerman Link
Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. 1 Corinthians 14:12
The world-class botanical garden across the street from our church was the setting for an all-church community gathering. As I walked around the gardens greeting people I have known for years, catching up with those I hadn’t seen recently, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings cared for by people who know and love plants, I realized that the evening was rich with symbols of how the church is supposed to function—a little hint of heaven on earth.
A garden is a place where each plant is placed in an environment in which it will thrive. Gardeners prepare the soil, protect the plants from pests, and make sure each one receives the food, water, and sunlight it needs. The result is a beautiful, colorful, and fragrant place for people to enjoy.
Healthy churches draw people to God.
Like a garden, church is meant to be a place where everyone works together for the glory of God and the good of all; a place where everyone flourishes because we are living in a safe environment; a place where people are cared for according to their needs; where each of us does work we love—work that benefits others (1 Cor. 14:26).
Like well-cared-for plants, people growing in a healthy environment have a sweet fragrance that draws people to God by displaying the beauty of His love. The church is not perfect, but it really is a hint of heaven.
How can you promote the health of your church? Ask God to help you serve others as Christ serves us. Serve in a role that matches your skills and interests. Listen well to others and pray for them.
Hearts fragrant with the love of Christ display His beauty.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 17, 2016
The Call of the Natural Life
When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… —Galatians 1:15-16
The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the natural life was stated by the apostle Paul— “When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is, purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles….”
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
Are you timid? Cautious? Could you use some courage? Scripture says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). If you're in Christ, these promises are not only a source of joy, they are the foundations of true courage!
When God looks at you, he doesn't see you; He sees the One who surrounds you. Failure's not a concern for you; your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous? In Hebrews 10:22, the writer says, "Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus-let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith."
The point is clear. The Father of Truth will win, and the followers of Truth will be saved. The prize is yours. Applaud the victory!
From The Applause of Heaven
2 Kings 12
Joash Repairs the Temple
[j]Joash[k] began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu’s reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.
4 One day King Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as a sacred offering to the Lord’s Temple, whether it is a regular assessment, a payment of vows, or a voluntary gift. 5 Let the priests take some of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed at the Temple.”
6 But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple. 7 So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple? Don’t use any more money for your own needs. From now on, it must all be spent on Temple repairs.” 8 So the priests agreed not to accept any more money from the people, and they also agreed to let others take responsibility for repairing the Temple.
9 Then Jehoiada the priest bored a hole in the lid of a large chest and set it on the right-hand side of the altar at the entrance of the Temple of the Lord. The priests guarding the entrance put all of the people’s contributions into the chest. 10 Whenever the chest became full, the court secretary and the high priest counted the money that had been brought to the Lord’s Temple and put it into bags. 11 Then they gave the money to the construction supervisors, who used it to pay the people working on the Lord’s Temple—the carpenters, the builders, 12 the masons, and the stonecutters. They also used the money to buy the timber and the finished stone needed for repairing the Lord’s Temple, and they paid any other expenses related to the Temple’s restoration.
13 The money brought to the Temple was not used for making silver bowls, lamp snuffers, basins, trumpets, or other articles of gold or silver for the Temple of the Lord. 14 It was paid to the workmen, who used it for the Temple repairs. 15 No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men. 16 However, the money that was contributed for guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Lord’s Temple. It was given to the priests for their own use.
The End of Joash’s Reign
17 About this time King Hazael of Aram went to war against Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. 18 King Joash collected all the sacred objects that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the previous kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with what he himself had dedicated. He sent them all to Hazael, along with all the gold in the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace. So Hazael called off his attack on Jerusalem.
19 The rest of the events in Joash’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.
20 Joash’s officers plotted against him and assassinated him at Beth-millo on the road to Silla. 21 The assassins were Jozacar[l] son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer—both trusted advisers. Joash was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Amaziah became the next king.
Footnotes:
12:1a Verses 12:1-21 are numbered 12:2-22 in Hebrew text.
12:1b Hebrew Jehoash, a variant spelling of Joash; also in 12:2, 4, 6, 7, 18.
12:21 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Jozabad.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Read: 1 Corinthians 14:6-12,26
Dear brothers and sisters,[a] if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language,[b] how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. 7 Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody. 8 And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?
9 It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.
10 There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. 11 But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12 And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.
Footnotes:
14:6a Greek brothers; also in 14:20, 26, 39.
14:6b Or in tongues; also in 14:19, 23.
INSIGHT:
Corinth, the destination of this letter, was located about fifty miles from Athens in the isthmus that connects northern Greece with the Peloponnesus of southern Greece. This strategic location made Corinth a bustling trade center and an important shipping port. Corinth was also the home of the Isthmian Games, an athletic competition in the ancient world that was second only to the ancient Olympics. This may explain Paul’s use of athletic illustrations in his first letter to the Corinthians (see 1 Cor. 9:24–27).
A Hint of Heaven
By Julie Ackerman Link
Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. 1 Corinthians 14:12
The world-class botanical garden across the street from our church was the setting for an all-church community gathering. As I walked around the gardens greeting people I have known for years, catching up with those I hadn’t seen recently, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings cared for by people who know and love plants, I realized that the evening was rich with symbols of how the church is supposed to function—a little hint of heaven on earth.
A garden is a place where each plant is placed in an environment in which it will thrive. Gardeners prepare the soil, protect the plants from pests, and make sure each one receives the food, water, and sunlight it needs. The result is a beautiful, colorful, and fragrant place for people to enjoy.
Healthy churches draw people to God.
Like a garden, church is meant to be a place where everyone works together for the glory of God and the good of all; a place where everyone flourishes because we are living in a safe environment; a place where people are cared for according to their needs; where each of us does work we love—work that benefits others (1 Cor. 14:26).
Like well-cared-for plants, people growing in a healthy environment have a sweet fragrance that draws people to God by displaying the beauty of His love. The church is not perfect, but it really is a hint of heaven.
How can you promote the health of your church? Ask God to help you serve others as Christ serves us. Serve in a role that matches your skills and interests. Listen well to others and pray for them.
Hearts fragrant with the love of Christ display His beauty.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 17, 2016
The Call of the Natural Life
When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… —Galatians 1:15-16
The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the natural life was stated by the apostle Paul— “When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is, purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles….”
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
Saturday, January 16, 2016
2 Kings 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Allow Fear to Win
The fear-filled cannot love deeply. They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarantee of return. They cannot dream wildly. What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? Fear paralyzes people. Are you afraid? Afraid of job loss? Afraid of what people are saying about you?
Jesus wages a war against fear. In Matthew 10:28 He says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” In John 14:27 Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Fear’s main goal is to keep you from God’s plan for your life. Don’t allow it to win! Punch fear in the face! If anything should be afraid, it should be fear itself.
From Max on Life
2 Kings 11
Queen Athaliah Rules in Judah
When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead, she began to destroy the rest of the royal family. 2 But Ahaziah’s sister Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram,[e] took Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash, and stole him away from among the rest of the king’s children, who were about to be killed. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom, and they hid him from Athaliah, so the child was not murdered. 3 Joash remained hidden in the Temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled over the land.
Revolt against Athaliah
4 In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest summoned the commanders, the Carite mercenaries, and the palace guards to come to the Temple of the Lord. He made a solemn pact with them and made them swear an oath of loyalty there in the Lord’s Temple; then he showed them the king’s son.
5 Jehoiada told them, “This is what you must do. A third of you who are on duty on the Sabbath are to guard the royal palace itself. 6 Another third of you are to stand guard at the Sur Gate. And the final third must stand guard behind the palace guard. These three groups will all guard the palace. 7 The other two units who are off duty on the Sabbath must stand guard for the king at the Lord’s Temple. 8 Form a bodyguard around the king and keep your weapons in hand. Kill anyone who tries to break through. Stay with the king wherever he goes.”
9 So the commanders did everything as Jehoiada the priest ordered. The commanders took charge of the men reporting for duty that Sabbath, as well as those who were going off duty. They brought them all to Jehoiada the priest, 10 and he supplied them with the spears and small shields that had once belonged to King David and were stored in the Temple of the Lord. 11 The palace guards stationed themselves around the king, with their weapons ready. They formed a line from the south side of the Temple around to the north side and all around the altar.
12 Then Jehoiada brought out Joash, the king’s son, placed the crown on his head, and presented him with a copy of God’s laws.[f] They anointed him and proclaimed him king, and everyone clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”
The Death of Athaliah
13 When Athaliah heard the noise made by the palace guards and the people, she hurried to the Lord’s Temple to see what was happening. 14 When she arrived, she saw the newly crowned king standing in his place of authority by the pillar, as was the custom at times of coronation. The commanders and trumpeters were surrounding him, and people from all over the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. When Athaliah saw all this, she tore her clothes in despair and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”
15 Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders who were in charge of the troops, “Take her to the soldiers in front of the Temple,[g] and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be killed in the Temple of the Lord.” 16 So they seized her and led her out to the gate where horses enter the palace grounds, and she was killed there.
Jehoiada’s Religious Reforms
17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. 18 And all the people of the land went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
Jehoiada the priest stationed guards at the Temple of the Lord. 19 Then the commanders, the Carite mercenaries, the palace guards, and all the people of the land escorted the king from the Temple of the Lord. They went through the gate of the guards and into the palace, and the king took his seat on the royal throne. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was peaceful because Athaliah had been killed at the king’s palace.
21 [h]Joash[i] was seven years old when he became king.
Footnotes:
11:2 Hebrew Joram, a variant spelling of Jehoram.
11:12 Or a copy of the covenant.
11:15 Or Bring her out from between the ranks; or Take her out of the Temple precincts. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
11:21a Verse 11:21 is numbered 12:1 in Hebrew text.
11:21b Hebrew Jehoash, a variant spelling of Joash.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Read: Hebrews 5:11-14
A Call to Spiritual Growth
There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word.[a] You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Footnotes:
5:12 Or about the oracles of God.
INSIGHT:
Because of severe persecution in the first century, Jewish Christians were pressured to abandon Christianity and revert to Judaism. The unnamed writer of Hebrews wrote to encourage them by affirming the pre-eminence, superiority, and sufficiency of Christ. As he embarked on teaching about Jesus, the writer realized his readers were not able to comprehend it because they were spiritually immature (5:12–13) and had not lived holy lives according to the instructions of the Scriptures (vv. 13–14).
Desiring Growth
By Keila Ochoa
Anyone who lives on milk . . . is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. Hebrews 5:13
The axolotl (pronounced ACK suh LAH tuhl) is a biological enigma. Instead of maturing into adult form, this endangered Mexican salamander retains tadpole-like characteristics throughout its life. Writers and philosophers have used the axolotl as a symbol of someone who fears growth.
In Hebrews 5 we learn about Christians who were avoiding healthy growth, remaining content with spiritual “milk” intended for new believers. Perhaps because of fear of persecution, they weren’t growing in the kind of faithfulness to Christ that would enable them to be strong enough to suffer with Him for the sake of others (vv. 7-10). Instead they were in danger of sliding backward from the Christlike attitudes they had already shown (6:9-11). They weren’t ready for a solid diet of self-sacrifice (5:14). So the author wrote, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand” (v. 11).
Growth in His likeness honors God as we unselfishly encourage others.
Axolotls follow the natural pattern set for them by their Creator. But followers of Christ are designed to grow into spiritual maturity. As we do, we discover that growing up in Him involves more than our own peace and joy. Growth in His likeness honors God as we unselfishly encourage others.
Lord, I want to grow, so help me to go deeper into Your Word. Teach me more each day, so that I am better equipped to serve and worship You.
The more we live on a diet of God’s Word, the more we grow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 16, 2016
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
The fear-filled cannot love deeply. They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarantee of return. They cannot dream wildly. What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? Fear paralyzes people. Are you afraid? Afraid of job loss? Afraid of what people are saying about you?
Jesus wages a war against fear. In Matthew 10:28 He says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” In John 14:27 Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Fear’s main goal is to keep you from God’s plan for your life. Don’t allow it to win! Punch fear in the face! If anything should be afraid, it should be fear itself.
From Max on Life
2 Kings 11
Queen Athaliah Rules in Judah
When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead, she began to destroy the rest of the royal family. 2 But Ahaziah’s sister Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram,[e] took Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash, and stole him away from among the rest of the king’s children, who were about to be killed. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom, and they hid him from Athaliah, so the child was not murdered. 3 Joash remained hidden in the Temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled over the land.
Revolt against Athaliah
4 In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest summoned the commanders, the Carite mercenaries, and the palace guards to come to the Temple of the Lord. He made a solemn pact with them and made them swear an oath of loyalty there in the Lord’s Temple; then he showed them the king’s son.
5 Jehoiada told them, “This is what you must do. A third of you who are on duty on the Sabbath are to guard the royal palace itself. 6 Another third of you are to stand guard at the Sur Gate. And the final third must stand guard behind the palace guard. These three groups will all guard the palace. 7 The other two units who are off duty on the Sabbath must stand guard for the king at the Lord’s Temple. 8 Form a bodyguard around the king and keep your weapons in hand. Kill anyone who tries to break through. Stay with the king wherever he goes.”
9 So the commanders did everything as Jehoiada the priest ordered. The commanders took charge of the men reporting for duty that Sabbath, as well as those who were going off duty. They brought them all to Jehoiada the priest, 10 and he supplied them with the spears and small shields that had once belonged to King David and were stored in the Temple of the Lord. 11 The palace guards stationed themselves around the king, with their weapons ready. They formed a line from the south side of the Temple around to the north side and all around the altar.
12 Then Jehoiada brought out Joash, the king’s son, placed the crown on his head, and presented him with a copy of God’s laws.[f] They anointed him and proclaimed him king, and everyone clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”
The Death of Athaliah
13 When Athaliah heard the noise made by the palace guards and the people, she hurried to the Lord’s Temple to see what was happening. 14 When she arrived, she saw the newly crowned king standing in his place of authority by the pillar, as was the custom at times of coronation. The commanders and trumpeters were surrounding him, and people from all over the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. When Athaliah saw all this, she tore her clothes in despair and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”
15 Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders who were in charge of the troops, “Take her to the soldiers in front of the Temple,[g] and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be killed in the Temple of the Lord.” 16 So they seized her and led her out to the gate where horses enter the palace grounds, and she was killed there.
Jehoiada’s Religious Reforms
17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. 18 And all the people of the land went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
Jehoiada the priest stationed guards at the Temple of the Lord. 19 Then the commanders, the Carite mercenaries, the palace guards, and all the people of the land escorted the king from the Temple of the Lord. They went through the gate of the guards and into the palace, and the king took his seat on the royal throne. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was peaceful because Athaliah had been killed at the king’s palace.
21 [h]Joash[i] was seven years old when he became king.
Footnotes:
11:2 Hebrew Joram, a variant spelling of Jehoram.
11:12 Or a copy of the covenant.
11:15 Or Bring her out from between the ranks; or Take her out of the Temple precincts. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
11:21a Verse 11:21 is numbered 12:1 in Hebrew text.
11:21b Hebrew Jehoash, a variant spelling of Joash.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Read: Hebrews 5:11-14
A Call to Spiritual Growth
There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word.[a] You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Footnotes:
5:12 Or about the oracles of God.
INSIGHT:
Because of severe persecution in the first century, Jewish Christians were pressured to abandon Christianity and revert to Judaism. The unnamed writer of Hebrews wrote to encourage them by affirming the pre-eminence, superiority, and sufficiency of Christ. As he embarked on teaching about Jesus, the writer realized his readers were not able to comprehend it because they were spiritually immature (5:12–13) and had not lived holy lives according to the instructions of the Scriptures (vv. 13–14).
Desiring Growth
By Keila Ochoa
Anyone who lives on milk . . . is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. Hebrews 5:13
The axolotl (pronounced ACK suh LAH tuhl) is a biological enigma. Instead of maturing into adult form, this endangered Mexican salamander retains tadpole-like characteristics throughout its life. Writers and philosophers have used the axolotl as a symbol of someone who fears growth.
 |
| Axolotl |
Growth in His likeness honors God as we unselfishly encourage others.
Axolotls follow the natural pattern set for them by their Creator. But followers of Christ are designed to grow into spiritual maturity. As we do, we discover that growing up in Him involves more than our own peace and joy. Growth in His likeness honors God as we unselfishly encourage others.
Lord, I want to grow, so help me to go deeper into Your Word. Teach me more each day, so that I am better equipped to serve and worship You.
The more we live on a diet of God’s Word, the more we grow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 16, 2016
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
Friday, January 15, 2016
2 Kings 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Change in Our Nature
My dog Molly couldn't be a sweeter mutt. She sees every person as a friend and every day as a holiday. I have no problem with Molly's attitude. I have a problem with her habits. Eating scraps out of the trash. Licking dirty plates in the dishwasher. What kind of behavior is that? It's dog behavior!
Here's my idea: a me-to-her transfusion. I want to deposit in her a kernel of human character. As it grows, will she not change? You think the plan is crazy? What I'd like to do with Molly, God does with us. He changes our nature from the inside out. God doesn't send us to obedience school to learn new habits; he deposits a new heart-his heart-within us. Forget training; he gives transplants!
From Next Door Savior
2 Kings 10
Ahab’s Family Killed
Now there were in Samaria seventy sons of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel,[a] to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab’s children. He said, 2 “You have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons. Now as soon as this letter reaches you, 3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.”
4 But they were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, how can we?”
5 So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.”
6 Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. 7 When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. 8 When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the princes.”
Then Jehu ordered, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”
9 The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10 Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he announced through his servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.
12 Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”
They said, “We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.”
14 “Take them alive!” he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked—forty-two of them. He left no survivor.
15 After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?”
“I am,” Jehonadab answered.
“If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.
Servants of Baal Killed
18 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 Jehu said, “Call an assembly in honor of Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. 22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around and see that no one who serves the Lord is here with you—only servants of Baal.” 24 So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: “If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.”
25 As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill them; let no one escape.” So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
28 So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. 29 However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” 31 Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
32 In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory 33 east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
34 As for the other events of Jehu’s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
35 Jehu rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 10:1 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate of the city
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 15, 2016
Read: Ephesians 2:4-7
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
INSIGHT:
In today’s text Paul reminds the believers in the church at Ephesus that their salvation is wholly God’s doing—after all, dead things (v. 5) can’t do anything to change their situation. But Paul doesn’t stop with the reminder that it is God who makes us alive. He adds that the goal of that gracious action is to show the incomparable riches of God’s grace. God saves us to show us who He is.
What’s in the Bank?
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
In the winter of 2009, a large passenger plane made an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River. The pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who landed the plane safely with no casualties, was later asked about those moments in the air when he was faced with a life-or-death decision. “One way of looking at this,” he said, “might be that for 42 years I’ve been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education, and training. And on [that day] the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.”
Most of us will at some time face a crisis. Perhaps it will be a job termination or the results of a medical test, or the loss of a precious family member or friend. It is in those times that we must dig down deep into the reserves of our spiritual bank account.
And what might we find there? If we have enjoyed a deepening relationship with God, we’ve been making regular “deposits” of faith. We have experienced His grace (2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 2:4-7). We trust the promise of Scripture that God is just and faithful (Deut. 32:4; 2 Thess. 3:3).
God’s love and grace are available when His children need to make a “withdrawal” (Ps. 9:10; Heb. 4:16).
Great is Your faithfulness, O Lord God! Each day I see You provide for me and show me mercy. Thank You.
Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past strengthens us for the future.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 15, 2016
Do You Walk In White?
We were buried with Him…that just as Christ was raised from the dead…even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral” — the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection— a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.
Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).
Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ‘white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”
“This is the will of God, your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 15, 2016
How to Test Spiritual Leadership - #7570
I think there's like an art to shopping for produce. You can't just grab the first apple or tomato you see. You have to learn to squeeze the lettuce. My wife taught me how to do that. You have to learn how to check for holes and dents in apples and peaches; you don't just take the first one off the pile. You have to check to see how yellow those bananas are, or how green, or how black. There are ways to tell whether a vegetable is one you should buy. Now it's much tougher to shop for a spiritual leader you can trust. But there is a way to tell.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Test Spiritual Leadership."
It's getting tougher and tougher to know which spiritual leaders you can trust. Look, we're living in a time when a lot of Christian heroes have let us down, right? People who say spiritual things, lead spiritual causes, give spiritual counsel, and then all of a sudden something happens that exposes their hypocrisy. In a way, it kind of makes a lot of us hold back and wonder who can we trust?
Well, we're not supposed to have our eyes on man. The Bible makes that clear. And yet, God does give His people leadership; He does raise up teachers. There are authentic spiritual leaders. He does want us to be able to get His teachings and see His love coming through people, but so many have let us down. How can you tell whether a pastor is a leader from God or a person who's doing his own thing in God's name?
Well, there's one person that Jesus really held up as a model leader. It was John the Baptist. He said, "There has been no greater man born among women." Now I cannot think of a stronger endorsement than that. Jesus said John the Baptist was the real deal; a real spiritual leader. And out of the life of John, we get one test for a pastor, a Christian musician, a TV or radio personality, a youth leader.
John 3:30, here's John's statement. Speaking of Jesus, he said, "He must become greater; I must become less." The King James Version says, "He must increase; I must decrease." You know how to test a spiritual leader? Well, one of the tests is this: Does he leave you thinking more about him or more about Jesus? Where is the spotlight? More about his organization, his goals, his ministry, his programs, or more about Jesus? An authentic man or woman of God, like John the Baptist, puts himself or herself in the background. The leader doing his own thing is heavy on sentences that have "I", "me", "mine" in them.
Is this the only test? No, but it's a pretty good start. If you're in leadership, measure yourself that way. Who is getting the spotlight, you the leader or the Savior? The real spiritual leaders, the ones you can trust, are the ones who put Jesus in the spotlight and make you think about Him and forget about them.
Years ago I read about a man who maybe a hundred years ago had lived in the countryside in England. He traveled to London and wrote to his wife and said, "Honey, today I went to two of the great churches of London. This morning I heard Dr. Cartwright and he is a great preacher. Tonight I went to Metropolitan Tabernacle and I heard Mr. Charles Spurgeon." He said, "Mr. Spurgeon has a great Savior."
Do you want them to remember a great you or do you leave them thinking about a great Savior? Maybe you've been burned by Christians, by a Christian leader. Don't let them cause you to miss Jesus in the midst of it all. Jesus said, "Follow Me."
If you've never begun a relationship with Him, please don't let Christians or Christian leaders, or Christianity keep you from Christ. I hope you'll say today, "Jesus, you loved me enough to die for me. I'm yours." You can go to ANewStory.com to get the rest of the story.
If you see a leader who leaves you thinking about Jesus, in the crowded spiritual supermarket that you and I shop in, you'll know that's one you can buy.
My dog Molly couldn't be a sweeter mutt. She sees every person as a friend and every day as a holiday. I have no problem with Molly's attitude. I have a problem with her habits. Eating scraps out of the trash. Licking dirty plates in the dishwasher. What kind of behavior is that? It's dog behavior!
Here's my idea: a me-to-her transfusion. I want to deposit in her a kernel of human character. As it grows, will she not change? You think the plan is crazy? What I'd like to do with Molly, God does with us. He changes our nature from the inside out. God doesn't send us to obedience school to learn new habits; he deposits a new heart-his heart-within us. Forget training; he gives transplants!
From Next Door Savior
2 Kings 10
Ahab’s Family Killed
Now there were in Samaria seventy sons of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel,[a] to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab’s children. He said, 2 “You have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons. Now as soon as this letter reaches you, 3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.”
4 But they were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, how can we?”
5 So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.”
6 Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. 7 When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. 8 When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the princes.”
Then Jehu ordered, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”
9 The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10 Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he announced through his servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.
12 Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”
They said, “We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.”
14 “Take them alive!” he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked—forty-two of them. He left no survivor.
15 After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?”
“I am,” Jehonadab answered.
“If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.
Servants of Baal Killed
18 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 Jehu said, “Call an assembly in honor of Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. 22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around and see that no one who serves the Lord is here with you—only servants of Baal.” 24 So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: “If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.”
25 As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill them; let no one escape.” So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
28 So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. 29 However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” 31 Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
32 In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory 33 east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
34 As for the other events of Jehu’s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
35 Jehu rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 10:1 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate of the city
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 15, 2016
Read: Ephesians 2:4-7
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
INSIGHT:
In today’s text Paul reminds the believers in the church at Ephesus that their salvation is wholly God’s doing—after all, dead things (v. 5) can’t do anything to change their situation. But Paul doesn’t stop with the reminder that it is God who makes us alive. He adds that the goal of that gracious action is to show the incomparable riches of God’s grace. God saves us to show us who He is.
What’s in the Bank?
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
In the winter of 2009, a large passenger plane made an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River. The pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who landed the plane safely with no casualties, was later asked about those moments in the air when he was faced with a life-or-death decision. “One way of looking at this,” he said, “might be that for 42 years I’ve been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education, and training. And on [that day] the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.”
Most of us will at some time face a crisis. Perhaps it will be a job termination or the results of a medical test, or the loss of a precious family member or friend. It is in those times that we must dig down deep into the reserves of our spiritual bank account.
And what might we find there? If we have enjoyed a deepening relationship with God, we’ve been making regular “deposits” of faith. We have experienced His grace (2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 2:4-7). We trust the promise of Scripture that God is just and faithful (Deut. 32:4; 2 Thess. 3:3).
God’s love and grace are available when His children need to make a “withdrawal” (Ps. 9:10; Heb. 4:16).
Great is Your faithfulness, O Lord God! Each day I see You provide for me and show me mercy. Thank You.
Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past strengthens us for the future.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 15, 2016
Do You Walk In White?
We were buried with Him…that just as Christ was raised from the dead…even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral” — the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection— a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.
Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).
Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ‘white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”
“This is the will of God, your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 15, 2016
How to Test Spiritual Leadership - #7570
I think there's like an art to shopping for produce. You can't just grab the first apple or tomato you see. You have to learn to squeeze the lettuce. My wife taught me how to do that. You have to learn how to check for holes and dents in apples and peaches; you don't just take the first one off the pile. You have to check to see how yellow those bananas are, or how green, or how black. There are ways to tell whether a vegetable is one you should buy. Now it's much tougher to shop for a spiritual leader you can trust. But there is a way to tell.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Test Spiritual Leadership."
It's getting tougher and tougher to know which spiritual leaders you can trust. Look, we're living in a time when a lot of Christian heroes have let us down, right? People who say spiritual things, lead spiritual causes, give spiritual counsel, and then all of a sudden something happens that exposes their hypocrisy. In a way, it kind of makes a lot of us hold back and wonder who can we trust?
Well, we're not supposed to have our eyes on man. The Bible makes that clear. And yet, God does give His people leadership; He does raise up teachers. There are authentic spiritual leaders. He does want us to be able to get His teachings and see His love coming through people, but so many have let us down. How can you tell whether a pastor is a leader from God or a person who's doing his own thing in God's name?
Well, there's one person that Jesus really held up as a model leader. It was John the Baptist. He said, "There has been no greater man born among women." Now I cannot think of a stronger endorsement than that. Jesus said John the Baptist was the real deal; a real spiritual leader. And out of the life of John, we get one test for a pastor, a Christian musician, a TV or radio personality, a youth leader.
John 3:30, here's John's statement. Speaking of Jesus, he said, "He must become greater; I must become less." The King James Version says, "He must increase; I must decrease." You know how to test a spiritual leader? Well, one of the tests is this: Does he leave you thinking more about him or more about Jesus? Where is the spotlight? More about his organization, his goals, his ministry, his programs, or more about Jesus? An authentic man or woman of God, like John the Baptist, puts himself or herself in the background. The leader doing his own thing is heavy on sentences that have "I", "me", "mine" in them.
Is this the only test? No, but it's a pretty good start. If you're in leadership, measure yourself that way. Who is getting the spotlight, you the leader or the Savior? The real spiritual leaders, the ones you can trust, are the ones who put Jesus in the spotlight and make you think about Him and forget about them.
Years ago I read about a man who maybe a hundred years ago had lived in the countryside in England. He traveled to London and wrote to his wife and said, "Honey, today I went to two of the great churches of London. This morning I heard Dr. Cartwright and he is a great preacher. Tonight I went to Metropolitan Tabernacle and I heard Mr. Charles Spurgeon." He said, "Mr. Spurgeon has a great Savior."
Do you want them to remember a great you or do you leave them thinking about a great Savior? Maybe you've been burned by Christians, by a Christian leader. Don't let them cause you to miss Jesus in the midst of it all. Jesus said, "Follow Me."
If you've never begun a relationship with Him, please don't let Christians or Christian leaders, or Christianity keep you from Christ. I hope you'll say today, "Jesus, you loved me enough to die for me. I'm yours." You can go to ANewStory.com to get the rest of the story.
If you see a leader who leaves you thinking about Jesus, in the crowded spiritual supermarket that you and I shop in, you'll know that's one you can buy.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
James 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Serpent Crushed
Satan can disturb us, but he cannot defeat us. The head of the serpent is crushed!
A petroleum company was hiring strong backs and weak minds to lay a pipeline. Since I qualified, much of a high-school summer was spent shoveling in a shoulder-high West Texas trough. One afternoon the digging machine dislodged more than dirt! "Snake!" shouted the foreman. We popped out of that hole faster than a jack-in-the-box. One worker launched his shovel and beheaded the rattler.
That scene is a parable of where we are in life. In Revelation 20:2 John calls Satan, "that old snake who is the devil." Has he not been decapitated? Not with a shovel, but with a cross. So how does that leave us? Confident-in Jesus' power over Satan! Trust the work of your Savior!
From Next Door Savior
James 4
Submit Yourselves to God
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Footnotes:
James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Read: Luke 9:57-62
The Cost of Following Jesus
As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead![a] Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Footnotes:
9:60 Greek Let the dead bury their own dead.
INSIGHT:
Luke’s account of Christ’s earthly life and ministry has several key features that distinguish it from the other three gospel records (Matthew, Mark, John). First, it contains the longest and most detailed narrative of Jesus’s birth—including the announcement of Mary’s pregnancy (Luke 1–2). Second, Luke’s account has a significant focus on Jesus’s interactions with women (see Luke 8:1–3). Third, Luke places more emphasis on Jesus’s parables than the other gospels—it contains eighteen unique parables, including the Good Samaritan (10:25–37) and the Prodigal Son (15:11–32). If, as many scholars believe, Luke’s record was primarily written to a Greek audience, their focus on learning would certainly account for that emphasis. Finally, since Luke was a physician, we find interesting medical details that the other gospels don’t include (see 9:29; 10:34; 22:44).
Saying Goodbye
By C. P. Hia
No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62
Saying goodbye is hard—to family and friends, to a favorite and familiar place, to an occupation or livelihood.
In Luke 9:57-62 our Lord describes the cost of being His disciple. A would-be follower says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (vv. 61-62). Is He asking His followers to say goodbye to everything and every relationship considered precious?
God wants what is best for us.
In the Chinese language there is no direct equivalent of the English word goodbye. The two Chinese characters used to translate this word really mean “see you again.” Becoming a disciple of Christ may sometimes mean others will reject us, but it does not mean we say goodbye to people in the sense that we are to forget all our past relationships. Saying goodbye means that God wants us to follow Him on His terms—wholeheartedly. Then we will see people again from the right perspective.
God wants the best for us, but we must allow Him to take priority over everything else.
Dear Lord, I want to follow You wholeheartedly. Help me not to place anything or anyone before You.
When we follow Jesus we get a new perspective.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Called By God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
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
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Staying Clean in a Locker Room World - #7569
If you've ever been in an athlete's locker room, because you were playing or because you were working with the team, you know there is something very distinctive about the aroma in a locker room. And I don't think there will ever be a best selling fragrance, for example, called Essence of Locker Room. No, see, athletes carry into that room all the accumulated odors of sweat and dirt from their exercising. Fortunately, they leave their odors there if they get a shower every day; which they had better. And you'll be able to tell if they haven't! That's even more important if you live in a locker room like you and I do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Staying Clean In A Locker Room World."
Our word for today from the Word of God is about getting clean. It's in John 15:3. Jesus said, "Now you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." That's a simple but profound statement. Jesus is talking to us here about the cleansing power of the Bible-of God's Word. It's referred to again in that great marriage passage in Ephesians chapter 5, where it talks about "Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her..." Now, what happens as a result of Christ's love for the church, because that's talking about His love for us, He says he did that "...to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through The Word."
There we go again. The Bible gives us a brain washing, and our brain needs to be washed because we live in a locker room. Each 24 hours you and I are bombarded with so much dirt. We hear a lot of inappropriate talk and language. In fact, it's so common we almost don't even notice it any more. And that's sad. We're bombarded with programs, and commercials, and websites, and billboards, and humor, and Facebook posts, and music, and it's promoting what's dirty, what's selfish, what's greedy, what's godless.
And unless you live in a monastery, you're going to get a truckload of dirt dumped on you every day. And that's how often you need a spiritual shower, like the guys in the locker room-except we need a daily Bible bath. A daily Bible bath is a basic necessity. Each 24 hour period of time, we get hit with the aromas, and the dirt, and the smells of life in a broken and lost world. So, you've got to have a shower. And you need it every day, because the other stuff's coming every day.
So it means you need to consciously, intentionally set aside time in God's holy, cleansing presence, where you and He are together exclusively-nobody else is there, you're not listening to any other voices, and you let God's viewpoint, from His Word, wash your soul and get you back to a pure starting point for that day; washing you off again.
The dirt's going to accumulate on you, but it shouldn't stay there for long. It's got to be removed every day. The alternative is that the dirt of the world in which we live accumulates on you, it wears you down, and you start to accept as normal and acceptable and maybe even attractive. But it's what God calls sick, repulsive and deadly.
I didn't let my son go a day without a shower. He was a high school athlete. And I know that God expects a spiritual shower from his kids every day too. After all, in a spiritual sense, you and I really are living in a locker room.
We can't avoid the odors, but we can wash them off with a daily shower from the Word of God.
Satan can disturb us, but he cannot defeat us. The head of the serpent is crushed!
A petroleum company was hiring strong backs and weak minds to lay a pipeline. Since I qualified, much of a high-school summer was spent shoveling in a shoulder-high West Texas trough. One afternoon the digging machine dislodged more than dirt! "Snake!" shouted the foreman. We popped out of that hole faster than a jack-in-the-box. One worker launched his shovel and beheaded the rattler.
That scene is a parable of where we are in life. In Revelation 20:2 John calls Satan, "that old snake who is the devil." Has he not been decapitated? Not with a shovel, but with a cross. So how does that leave us? Confident-in Jesus' power over Satan! Trust the work of your Savior!
From Next Door Savior
James 4
Submit Yourselves to God
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Footnotes:
James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Read: Luke 9:57-62
The Cost of Following Jesus
As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead![a] Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Footnotes:
9:60 Greek Let the dead bury their own dead.
INSIGHT:
Luke’s account of Christ’s earthly life and ministry has several key features that distinguish it from the other three gospel records (Matthew, Mark, John). First, it contains the longest and most detailed narrative of Jesus’s birth—including the announcement of Mary’s pregnancy (Luke 1–2). Second, Luke’s account has a significant focus on Jesus’s interactions with women (see Luke 8:1–3). Third, Luke places more emphasis on Jesus’s parables than the other gospels—it contains eighteen unique parables, including the Good Samaritan (10:25–37) and the Prodigal Son (15:11–32). If, as many scholars believe, Luke’s record was primarily written to a Greek audience, their focus on learning would certainly account for that emphasis. Finally, since Luke was a physician, we find interesting medical details that the other gospels don’t include (see 9:29; 10:34; 22:44).
Saying Goodbye
By C. P. Hia
No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62
Saying goodbye is hard—to family and friends, to a favorite and familiar place, to an occupation or livelihood.
In Luke 9:57-62 our Lord describes the cost of being His disciple. A would-be follower says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (vv. 61-62). Is He asking His followers to say goodbye to everything and every relationship considered precious?
God wants what is best for us.
In the Chinese language there is no direct equivalent of the English word goodbye. The two Chinese characters used to translate this word really mean “see you again.” Becoming a disciple of Christ may sometimes mean others will reject us, but it does not mean we say goodbye to people in the sense that we are to forget all our past relationships. Saying goodbye means that God wants us to follow Him on His terms—wholeheartedly. Then we will see people again from the right perspective.
God wants the best for us, but we must allow Him to take priority over everything else.
Dear Lord, I want to follow You wholeheartedly. Help me not to place anything or anyone before You.
When we follow Jesus we get a new perspective.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Called By God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
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
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Staying Clean in a Locker Room World - #7569
If you've ever been in an athlete's locker room, because you were playing or because you were working with the team, you know there is something very distinctive about the aroma in a locker room. And I don't think there will ever be a best selling fragrance, for example, called Essence of Locker Room. No, see, athletes carry into that room all the accumulated odors of sweat and dirt from their exercising. Fortunately, they leave their odors there if they get a shower every day; which they had better. And you'll be able to tell if they haven't! That's even more important if you live in a locker room like you and I do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Staying Clean In A Locker Room World."
Our word for today from the Word of God is about getting clean. It's in John 15:3. Jesus said, "Now you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." That's a simple but profound statement. Jesus is talking to us here about the cleansing power of the Bible-of God's Word. It's referred to again in that great marriage passage in Ephesians chapter 5, where it talks about "Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her..." Now, what happens as a result of Christ's love for the church, because that's talking about His love for us, He says he did that "...to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through The Word."
There we go again. The Bible gives us a brain washing, and our brain needs to be washed because we live in a locker room. Each 24 hours you and I are bombarded with so much dirt. We hear a lot of inappropriate talk and language. In fact, it's so common we almost don't even notice it any more. And that's sad. We're bombarded with programs, and commercials, and websites, and billboards, and humor, and Facebook posts, and music, and it's promoting what's dirty, what's selfish, what's greedy, what's godless.
And unless you live in a monastery, you're going to get a truckload of dirt dumped on you every day. And that's how often you need a spiritual shower, like the guys in the locker room-except we need a daily Bible bath. A daily Bible bath is a basic necessity. Each 24 hour period of time, we get hit with the aromas, and the dirt, and the smells of life in a broken and lost world. So, you've got to have a shower. And you need it every day, because the other stuff's coming every day.
So it means you need to consciously, intentionally set aside time in God's holy, cleansing presence, where you and He are together exclusively-nobody else is there, you're not listening to any other voices, and you let God's viewpoint, from His Word, wash your soul and get you back to a pure starting point for that day; washing you off again.
The dirt's going to accumulate on you, but it shouldn't stay there for long. It's got to be removed every day. The alternative is that the dirt of the world in which we live accumulates on you, it wears you down, and you start to accept as normal and acceptable and maybe even attractive. But it's what God calls sick, repulsive and deadly.
I didn't let my son go a day without a shower. He was a high school athlete. And I know that God expects a spiritual shower from his kids every day too. After all, in a spiritual sense, you and I really are living in a locker room.
We can't avoid the odors, but we can wash them off with a daily shower from the Word of God.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
James 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: When We See Our Groom
2 Corinthians 4:17 reminds us, "These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us."
A diving accident left Joni Eareckson paralyzed. Her handicap didn't keep her from marrying Ken Tada, but it almost kept her from the joy of the wedding. While waiting to go down the aisle, she discovered across her beautiful wedding dress a big, black grease mark courtesy of her chair. The bouquet of daisies on her lap slid off center; her paralyzed hands unable to re-arrange them. She felt far from a picture-perfect bride! But as she looked down the aisle-she saw her groom. She says, "Grease stains? Flowers out of place? Who cares? The love in Ken's eyes washed it all away! Everything changes when you look at your groom!
From Next Door Savior
James 3
Taming the Tongue
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Read: John 10:1-9
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.
Footnotes:
10:8 Some manuscripts do not include before me.
10:9 Or will find safety.
INSIGHT:
Jewish shepherds kept their sheep in two kinds of sheepfolds. In the villages, the shepherds led their flocks into stone-walled communal enclosures guarded by gatekeepers (John 10:1–5). In the morning, the shepherd would arrive at the gate, be recognized by the gatekeeper, and be allowed to enter the sheepfold. As the shepherd walked and called among the mixed flocks, only his own sheep would respond to him. Hearing and recognizing the shepherd’s voice, his sheep would follow him out of the sheepfold to the pasture. Out in the wilderness, sheepfolds were often makeshift low-walled enclosures made of stones. The shepherd slept across a narrow opening in front to protect them and keep them from wandering (vv. 7–9). Jesus said, “I am the gate for the sheep” (v. 7).
Gates of Paradise
By Dennis Fisher
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. John 10:9
Italian artist Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455) spent years skillfully crafting images of Jesus’ life into the bronze doors of Italy’s Florence Baptistery. These bronze reliefs were so moving that Michelangelo called them the Gates of Paradise.
As an artistic treasure, the doors greet visitors with echoes of the gospel story. It was Jesus who said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9). On the night before His crucifixion, He told His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6). Within a few hours Jesus would say to one of the criminals being crucified at His side, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Jesus is the way, the truth, & the life.
The apostle Peter a few weeks later boldly proclaimed to those who had called for Jesus’ death that “there is no other name under heaven . . . by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Years later, the apostle Paul wrote that there is only one mediator between God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).
The gates of paradise are found in the Savior who offers everlasting life to all who believe and come to Him. Enter into the joy of His salvation.
I needed a mediator because of my sin. Thank You, Jesus, for being the way to the Father by Your death and resurrection. I will be forever grateful.
Jesus died in our place to give us His peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)
When He was alone…the twelve asked Him about the parable. —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common-sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me. The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 530 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
A Titanic Tragedy - #7568
It's been over 100 years, but there's something about the sinking of the Titanic that fascinates us. The latest evidence, newly unearthed photographs and stories, the incredible success of the blockbuster movie, "Titanic". I mean, they've kind of refocused us on it. I've always found the story of the last hours of this supposedly unsinkable ship to be a haunting story. The people on the Titanic represented just about all the kinds of people that there are. Then I start thinking about how most of them died. At best, only a few hundred of them got into lifeboats. Many more of them went down with the ship only wearing life jackets. And, you know, there were different ways people handled those terrifying hours on that sinking ship, and it tells us a lot about what we're really like.
Only about 700 of the Titanic's 2200 passengers survived. But what's even more tragic is that many of the 1500 who died didn't have to die because many of the lifeboats were only half full. And those who made it aboard could hear hundreds of people in the water, crying for help. But almost all those people died - not from drowning - they were in their lifejackets. They died from hypothermia.
Here's the awful truth: there were 20 lifeboats, from the Titanic, most partially empty. Only one of those twenty went back - too late for most of the people in the water. Only six of those people were saved. Most of them could have been saved if only those who had already been rescued had gone back for those who had no other chance but them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Titanic Tragedy."
Our Word for today from the Word of God comes from Ezekiel 33:6. It's about the watchman on the walls of an ancient city who sees the hostile army approaching. It says, "If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood."
God says, "If you know someone is going to die and you're in a position to do something about it, and you don't, that person's blood is on your hands." We're appalled to think that those who had been saved from the Titanic would just row off into the night, save themselves, but doing nothing about those who were dying around them. But I have to ask, "Dear God, is that us?"
We've been rescued from sin's sinking ship - from an eternity without God and without hope. But are we just rowing on, enjoying our cozy lifeboat with others who are already saved, singing our lifeboat songs, going to our lifeboat committee meetings, and building a more comfortable lifeboat for those who are already saved? And oblivious sometimes to our co-workers, our neighbors, our loved ones, our friends who will die if we don't turn the lifeboat around and reach out for them and tell them about our Jesus. Maybe we're not oblivious - maybe we're just afraid to go after them, to reach out to them. Whatever the reason, the result is the same - we're saved, they're not and they're going to die and their blood will be on our hands.
God's clear word in Proverbs 24:11-12 says, "Rescue those who are being led away to death. If you say, 'We knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?" God is accepting no excuses on this.
He's wonderfully pulled you into His lifeboat. He's rescued you from an awful eternity. And now He has put you in the middle of some people who need to know that Jesus died for them; that He's the relationship they've been looking for their whole life. People who are destined to die eternally without Jesus if they don't find out what He did for them on the cross. You're in a position to rescue them. They're within your reach.
There's still room in the lifeboat for the people around you. Please, don't leave them where they are.
2 Corinthians 4:17 reminds us, "These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us."
A diving accident left Joni Eareckson paralyzed. Her handicap didn't keep her from marrying Ken Tada, but it almost kept her from the joy of the wedding. While waiting to go down the aisle, she discovered across her beautiful wedding dress a big, black grease mark courtesy of her chair. The bouquet of daisies on her lap slid off center; her paralyzed hands unable to re-arrange them. She felt far from a picture-perfect bride! But as she looked down the aisle-she saw her groom. She says, "Grease stains? Flowers out of place? Who cares? The love in Ken's eyes washed it all away! Everything changes when you look at your groom!
From Next Door Savior
James 3
Taming the Tongue
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Read: John 10:1-9
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.
Footnotes:
10:8 Some manuscripts do not include before me.
10:9 Or will find safety.
INSIGHT:
Jewish shepherds kept their sheep in two kinds of sheepfolds. In the villages, the shepherds led their flocks into stone-walled communal enclosures guarded by gatekeepers (John 10:1–5). In the morning, the shepherd would arrive at the gate, be recognized by the gatekeeper, and be allowed to enter the sheepfold. As the shepherd walked and called among the mixed flocks, only his own sheep would respond to him. Hearing and recognizing the shepherd’s voice, his sheep would follow him out of the sheepfold to the pasture. Out in the wilderness, sheepfolds were often makeshift low-walled enclosures made of stones. The shepherd slept across a narrow opening in front to protect them and keep them from wandering (vv. 7–9). Jesus said, “I am the gate for the sheep” (v. 7).
Gates of Paradise
By Dennis Fisher
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. John 10:9
Italian artist Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455) spent years skillfully crafting images of Jesus’ life into the bronze doors of Italy’s Florence Baptistery. These bronze reliefs were so moving that Michelangelo called them the Gates of Paradise.
As an artistic treasure, the doors greet visitors with echoes of the gospel story. It was Jesus who said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9). On the night before His crucifixion, He told His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6). Within a few hours Jesus would say to one of the criminals being crucified at His side, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Jesus is the way, the truth, & the life.
The apostle Peter a few weeks later boldly proclaimed to those who had called for Jesus’ death that “there is no other name under heaven . . . by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Years later, the apostle Paul wrote that there is only one mediator between God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).
The gates of paradise are found in the Savior who offers everlasting life to all who believe and come to Him. Enter into the joy of His salvation.
I needed a mediator because of my sin. Thank You, Jesus, for being the way to the Father by Your death and resurrection. I will be forever grateful.
Jesus died in our place to give us His peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)
When He was alone…the twelve asked Him about the parable. —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common-sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me. The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 530 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
A Titanic Tragedy - #7568
It's been over 100 years, but there's something about the sinking of the Titanic that fascinates us. The latest evidence, newly unearthed photographs and stories, the incredible success of the blockbuster movie, "Titanic". I mean, they've kind of refocused us on it. I've always found the story of the last hours of this supposedly unsinkable ship to be a haunting story. The people on the Titanic represented just about all the kinds of people that there are. Then I start thinking about how most of them died. At best, only a few hundred of them got into lifeboats. Many more of them went down with the ship only wearing life jackets. And, you know, there were different ways people handled those terrifying hours on that sinking ship, and it tells us a lot about what we're really like.
Only about 700 of the Titanic's 2200 passengers survived. But what's even more tragic is that many of the 1500 who died didn't have to die because many of the lifeboats were only half full. And those who made it aboard could hear hundreds of people in the water, crying for help. But almost all those people died - not from drowning - they were in their lifejackets. They died from hypothermia.
Here's the awful truth: there were 20 lifeboats, from the Titanic, most partially empty. Only one of those twenty went back - too late for most of the people in the water. Only six of those people were saved. Most of them could have been saved if only those who had already been rescued had gone back for those who had no other chance but them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Titanic Tragedy."
Our Word for today from the Word of God comes from Ezekiel 33:6. It's about the watchman on the walls of an ancient city who sees the hostile army approaching. It says, "If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood."
God says, "If you know someone is going to die and you're in a position to do something about it, and you don't, that person's blood is on your hands." We're appalled to think that those who had been saved from the Titanic would just row off into the night, save themselves, but doing nothing about those who were dying around them. But I have to ask, "Dear God, is that us?"
We've been rescued from sin's sinking ship - from an eternity without God and without hope. But are we just rowing on, enjoying our cozy lifeboat with others who are already saved, singing our lifeboat songs, going to our lifeboat committee meetings, and building a more comfortable lifeboat for those who are already saved? And oblivious sometimes to our co-workers, our neighbors, our loved ones, our friends who will die if we don't turn the lifeboat around and reach out for them and tell them about our Jesus. Maybe we're not oblivious - maybe we're just afraid to go after them, to reach out to them. Whatever the reason, the result is the same - we're saved, they're not and they're going to die and their blood will be on our hands.
God's clear word in Proverbs 24:11-12 says, "Rescue those who are being led away to death. If you say, 'We knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?" God is accepting no excuses on this.
He's wonderfully pulled you into His lifeboat. He's rescued you from an awful eternity. And now He has put you in the middle of some people who need to know that Jesus died for them; that He's the relationship they've been looking for their whole life. People who are destined to die eternally without Jesus if they don't find out what He did for them on the cross. You're in a position to rescue them. They're within your reach.
There's still room in the lifeboat for the people around you. Please, don't leave them where they are.
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