Max Lucado Daily: LONG LISTS AND STINKY TRASH
Life has a way of unloading its rubbish on us. Your boss expects too much. Your kids whine too much. Trash. Load after load of anger; guilt; pessimism; bitterness; and anxiety. It all piles up! As a result, we must guard our thoughts. Today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions. Today’s jealousy is tomorrow’s hate crime. Could that be why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “Love keeps no record of wrongs”? Paul also says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we have a choice: “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.”
Selfishness, step back! Envy, get lost! Rather than store up the sour thoughts, store up the sweet ones. Make a list of God’s mercies; the many times he has blessed you…the many times he has forgiven you. And you will find your thoughts resulting in happy days.
From A Love Worth Giving
Acts 16:1
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
Footnotes:
Acts 16:12 The text and meaning of the Greek for the leading city of that district are uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 19, 2016
Read: Habakkuk 3:16-19
I trembled inside when I heard this;
my lips quivered with fear.
My legs gave way beneath me,[a]
and I shook in terror.
I will wait quietly for the coming day
when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,[b]
able to tread upon the heights.
(For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)
Footnotes:
3:16 Hebrew Decay entered my bones.
3:19 Or He gives me the speed of a deer.
INSIGHT:
Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter three is the prophet’s response to a conversation he has been having with the Lord about justice—for Israel and the surrounding nations. After God responds to Habakkuk’s two complaints, the prophet launches into this song of praise for God’s righteous deeds and character. Habakkuk rehearses the great deeds of the Lord in protecting His people (vv. 1–15), but he also admits his fear when he sees the demonstration of God’s power and judgment (v. 16). But his fear does not control him, because God is his hope and strength (vv. 16–19).
The Voice of Faith
By Poh Fang Chia
Though the fig tree does not bud . . . yet I will rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk 3:17-18
The news was numbing. The tears came so quickly that she couldn’t fight them. Her mind raced with questions, and fear threatened to overwhelm her. Life had been going along so well, when it was abruptly interrupted and forever changed without warning.
Tragedy can come in many forms—the loss of a loved one, an illness, the loss of wealth or our livelihood. And it can happen to anyone at any time.
Our God who has proven Himself faithful throughout the years is always with us.
Although the prophet Habakkuk knew that tragedy was coming, it still struck fear in his heart. As he waited for the day when Babylon would invade the kingdom of Judah, his heart pounded, his lips quivered, and his legs trembled (Hab. 3:16).
Fear is a legitimate emotion in the face of tragedy, but it doesn’t have to immobilize us. When we don’t understand the trials we are going through, we can recount how God has worked in history (vv. 3-15). That’s what Habakkuk did. It didn’t dispel his fear, but it gave him the courage to move on by choosing to praise the Lord (v. 18).
Our God who has proven Himself faithful throughout the years is always with us. Because His character doesn’t change, in our fear we can say with a confident voice of faith, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength!” (v. 19).
Dear Lord, when my world is turned upside down, help me to trust You. You have always been faithful to me.
We can learn the lesson of trust in the school of trial.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 19, 2016
Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery
Arise, shine… —Isaiah 60:1
When it comes to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us— He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue— a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.
Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery— washing fishermen’s feet. He then says to them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer’s body has become “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly. Disciples Indeed, 393 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 19, 2016
The Reason For the Test - #7595
When I was young, I hate to say it, so was television. Prehistoric guy you know! One of my television heroes was a space explorer called Captain Video. I wish I still had his decoder ring.
The day they took me to that children's hospital for those tests, they tried to pull a Captain Video scam on me. See, I'd been born with a heart murmur, so I was in the hospital to have a series of what was then state of the art tests to see how my heart was doing.
I remember they gave me this foul tasting liquid to drink. It was probably something they could trace as it moved through my system – if I could swallow it that is. The next thing I knew, I'm in a dark room, looking up at this guy with a white coat and goggles. He told me he was Captain Video. I don't think so! Captain Video would never make me drink something this gross! All I know is they really put me through it that day. I'm sure the question I had was "Why?" Well, there was a very good answer. And thank God that heart murmur disappeared when I was a kid.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Reason For the Test."
Now has that question crossed your mind lately? God, why are you putting me through this? Why are you doing this to me? Maybe you've been through some really hard things lately, and they're hard to understand. It could be that your family, or your ministry, or your church have been facing some painful trials and you feel like I did on that stressful day in the children's hospital. What's going on here? I imagine God's ancient people were asking that same thing as God took them through a harsh and hostile desert.
He answers the question "why" in our word for today from the Word of God. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 says, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known."
Now, God says He takes you through the desert first to humble you; to bring you to a place where your resources are useless. A place where your Lord is all you've got left to depend on. It could be that your loving Lord brought you into the desert to get you out of the way so He could be totally depended upon. So you can then experience His incredible power in ways you never dreamed of when you were still in control.
But let's focus on that second reason. He says, "I bring you through the desert to test you in order to know what was in your heart." That's why Captain Video and my parents and all those other people were putting me through my hospital ordeal. The test would show what was going on in my heart. The good times don't show what's really inside of you. It's pressure that does that, it's pain, it's temptation, it's unanswered questions, unexplained problems. That's what exposes what's in your heart. The desert, the testing time, exposes what our real motives are, exposes our deep down resentments, our messed up priorities, our counterfeit faith, our unrepented sin, and our neglected relationship with our God.
What the test shows could scare us, but it brings us to the place where we are finally humble and we're ready for Jesus to perform the spiritual surgery we have avoided way too long. The test can also show a healthy heart, by the way; one that trusts God even when He's silent, that puts other people first even when it's hurting, that testifies to all who will listen about the awesome grace of God, even in...especially in the desert times.
Yes, you may be wondering what I was wondering that day of testing. Why are you putting me through this? Well, there was for me then, and there is for you now a very good reason. Because it's the best way to show what your heart is really like.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Galatians 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A REASON FOR JOY
As a believer in Christ—don’t focus on yourself; focus on all that you have in Christ!
“How’s life?” someone asks. And we who’ve been resurrected from the dead say things like…Well, things could be better…or, I couldn’t get a parking place… or, My parents won’t let me move to Hawaii.
Are you so focused on what you don’t have that you are blind to what you do? Paul asks in Philippians 2:1, “Have you received any encouragement? Any fellowship? Any consolation? Then don’t you have reason for joy?” You are blood-bought and heaven-made—a child of God! So be grateful and joyful! For isn’t it true? What you don’t have is much less than what you do! Don’t focus on yourself; focus on all you have in Christ!
From A Love Worth Giving
Galatians 6
Doing Good to All
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Not Circumcision but the New Creation
11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!
12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to[b] the Israel of God.
17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Footnotes:
Galatians 6:14 Or whom
Galatians 6:16 Or rule and to
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Read: Luke 9:1-2,10-17
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples[a] and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Footnotes:
9:1 Greek the Twelve; other manuscripts read the twelve apostles.
Luke 9:10-17
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.
12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”
13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”
“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there.
Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!
INSIGHT:
The miracle of the feeding of the multitude is recorded in all four gospels (see Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15). Each account provides specific details to help complete the story. Matthew tells us that the crowd numbered 5,000 men plus women and children. Mark tells us that the people sat in groups of 50 and 100. Luke informs us that this event is connected to the disciples’ report of their outreach trip. John’s account tells us that the food came from a young boy’s lunch.
Solitude and Service
By David McCasland
He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. Luke 9:11
Comedian Fred Allen said, “A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well-known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.” Fame often brings loss of privacy along with a relentless frenzy of attention.
When Jesus began His public ministry of teaching and healing, He was catapulted into the public eye and thronged by people seeking help. Crowds followed Him wherever He went. But Jesus knew that having regular time alone with God was essential to maintaining strength and perspective.
Jesus balanced service and solitude by taking time for rest and prayer with His Father.
After Jesus’ twelve disciples returned from their successful mission “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick,” He took them to a quiet place to rest (Luke 9:2,10). Soon, however, crowds of people found them and Jesus welcomed them. He “spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing” (v. 11). Instead of sending them away to find food, the Lord provided an outdoor picnic for 5,000! (vv. 12-17).
Jesus was not immune to the pressure of curious and hurting people, but He maintained the balance of public service and private solitude by taking time for rest and for prayer alone with His Father (Luke 5:16).
May we follow our Lord’s example as we serve others in His name.
Dear Father, as Jesus Your Son and our Savior honored You in solitude and service to others, may we follow His example in our lives.
Turning down the volume of life allows you to listen to God
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Taking the Initiative Against Despair
Rise, let us be going. —Matthew 26:46
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore.” If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, “Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing.” In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, “Get up, and do the next thing.” If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Time For Sunrise - #7594
It was another one of our marathon drives. It was a 20-hour trip and my wife and I were alternating at the wheel, and I was doing the night shift. And since it was an early winter trip, the night was a long night. I did my behind-the-wheel calisthenics, I sampled different radio stations, I played stimulating music, kept the temperature at a refreshing level – all those fun things you do when it's you against the night.
Frankly, by 6:00 A.M., I was tired of the darkness. Then, in my rear view mirror, I saw a beautiful sight. In the eastern sky, I could see this bright orange ball peeking over the horizon. The long night was over! The sun was coming up! And I could make the rest of the trip!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Time for Sunrise."
Maybe it's been a long night for you. And, like me on that marathon drive, you're tired of driving in the dark. It's been lonely in your long night. You've gotten hurt in the dark, and sometimes you've gotten lost in the dark. Maybe you're wondering if you can make the rest of the trip like this. You're where I was that long night. You are ready for the sunrise, except you may need to change one letter from s-u-n rise to S-o-n Sonrise - that's Son, as in the Son of God.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 9:25, the story of a man whose whole life had been a ride in the darkness. He was blind from birth. Then Jesus invaded his dark world and the sun came up. Jesus did what no one else could do. He healed that man's lifetime blindness. The religious leaders who had it in for Jesus put the man through this brutal interrogation, trying to nail Jesus for violating the Jewish Sabbath by healing him. They were trying to get the man to agree that the person who healed him was really a sinner.
I love this man's bold answer. "One thing I know. I was blind, but now I see." I was in an endless darkness until Jesus touched my life. And I've come into the light. The sun has come up because of Jesus.
What Jesus did for that man, that's what He's done for me and it's what He's done for millions. Not physically, but emotionally and spiritually, and it's what He wants to do for you. There's a spiritual condition that keeps us all from being able to get out of the long night. It's the cause of the long night. It's called sin. It's the running of our own lives instead of God running them. And only Jesus can bring the long night of sin to an end in your life. Like the world's most famous hymn "Amazing Grace" says, "I once was lost but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see."
There's a reason that only Jesus can bring the sunrise. He descended deeper into the darkness of sin than anyone ever has. He went to a cross where, as He died, He absorbed all the guilt of your sin and mine, and all the punishment we deserve in a hell that has no exit. Because of that unspeakable sacrifice, the Bible says, "God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13). How? It says "He made peace through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20).
God brought you and me together today, I believe, because He wants you to know that your long drive in the darkness is almost over if you will put your trust in His Son, Jesus, to be your Rescuer from the darkness of your sin.
You tired of the night? You ready to begin a personal relationship with Jesus, who is "the light of the world" the Bible says? Tell Him that, "Jesus, beginning right here and beginning right now, with all my heart I'm yours." I hope your next step will be to go to our website ANewStory.com so you can be sure you have begun your relationship with this singular One who can save you from your sin. ANewStory.com. I hope you'll check it out as soon as you can today.
The long, lonely night has lasted long enough. It's time for the Sonrise. It's time for Jesus.
As a believer in Christ—don’t focus on yourself; focus on all that you have in Christ!
“How’s life?” someone asks. And we who’ve been resurrected from the dead say things like…Well, things could be better…or, I couldn’t get a parking place… or, My parents won’t let me move to Hawaii.
Are you so focused on what you don’t have that you are blind to what you do? Paul asks in Philippians 2:1, “Have you received any encouragement? Any fellowship? Any consolation? Then don’t you have reason for joy?” You are blood-bought and heaven-made—a child of God! So be grateful and joyful! For isn’t it true? What you don’t have is much less than what you do! Don’t focus on yourself; focus on all you have in Christ!
From A Love Worth Giving
Galatians 6
Doing Good to All
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Not Circumcision but the New Creation
11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!
12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to[b] the Israel of God.
17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Footnotes:
Galatians 6:14 Or whom
Galatians 6:16 Or rule and to
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Read: Luke 9:1-2,10-17
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples[a] and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Footnotes:
9:1 Greek the Twelve; other manuscripts read the twelve apostles.
Luke 9:10-17
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.
12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”
13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”
“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there.
Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!
INSIGHT:
The miracle of the feeding of the multitude is recorded in all four gospels (see Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15). Each account provides specific details to help complete the story. Matthew tells us that the crowd numbered 5,000 men plus women and children. Mark tells us that the people sat in groups of 50 and 100. Luke informs us that this event is connected to the disciples’ report of their outreach trip. John’s account tells us that the food came from a young boy’s lunch.
Solitude and Service
By David McCasland
He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. Luke 9:11
Comedian Fred Allen said, “A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well-known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.” Fame often brings loss of privacy along with a relentless frenzy of attention.
When Jesus began His public ministry of teaching and healing, He was catapulted into the public eye and thronged by people seeking help. Crowds followed Him wherever He went. But Jesus knew that having regular time alone with God was essential to maintaining strength and perspective.
Jesus balanced service and solitude by taking time for rest and prayer with His Father.
After Jesus’ twelve disciples returned from their successful mission “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick,” He took them to a quiet place to rest (Luke 9:2,10). Soon, however, crowds of people found them and Jesus welcomed them. He “spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing” (v. 11). Instead of sending them away to find food, the Lord provided an outdoor picnic for 5,000! (vv. 12-17).
Jesus was not immune to the pressure of curious and hurting people, but He maintained the balance of public service and private solitude by taking time for rest and for prayer alone with His Father (Luke 5:16).
May we follow our Lord’s example as we serve others in His name.
Dear Father, as Jesus Your Son and our Savior honored You in solitude and service to others, may we follow His example in our lives.
Turning down the volume of life allows you to listen to God
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Taking the Initiative Against Despair
Rise, let us be going. —Matthew 26:46
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore.” If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, “Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing.” In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, “Get up, and do the next thing.” If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Time For Sunrise - #7594
It was another one of our marathon drives. It was a 20-hour trip and my wife and I were alternating at the wheel, and I was doing the night shift. And since it was an early winter trip, the night was a long night. I did my behind-the-wheel calisthenics, I sampled different radio stations, I played stimulating music, kept the temperature at a refreshing level – all those fun things you do when it's you against the night.
Frankly, by 6:00 A.M., I was tired of the darkness. Then, in my rear view mirror, I saw a beautiful sight. In the eastern sky, I could see this bright orange ball peeking over the horizon. The long night was over! The sun was coming up! And I could make the rest of the trip!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Time for Sunrise."
Maybe it's been a long night for you. And, like me on that marathon drive, you're tired of driving in the dark. It's been lonely in your long night. You've gotten hurt in the dark, and sometimes you've gotten lost in the dark. Maybe you're wondering if you can make the rest of the trip like this. You're where I was that long night. You are ready for the sunrise, except you may need to change one letter from s-u-n rise to S-o-n Sonrise - that's Son, as in the Son of God.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 9:25, the story of a man whose whole life had been a ride in the darkness. He was blind from birth. Then Jesus invaded his dark world and the sun came up. Jesus did what no one else could do. He healed that man's lifetime blindness. The religious leaders who had it in for Jesus put the man through this brutal interrogation, trying to nail Jesus for violating the Jewish Sabbath by healing him. They were trying to get the man to agree that the person who healed him was really a sinner.
I love this man's bold answer. "One thing I know. I was blind, but now I see." I was in an endless darkness until Jesus touched my life. And I've come into the light. The sun has come up because of Jesus.
What Jesus did for that man, that's what He's done for me and it's what He's done for millions. Not physically, but emotionally and spiritually, and it's what He wants to do for you. There's a spiritual condition that keeps us all from being able to get out of the long night. It's the cause of the long night. It's called sin. It's the running of our own lives instead of God running them. And only Jesus can bring the long night of sin to an end in your life. Like the world's most famous hymn "Amazing Grace" says, "I once was lost but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see."
There's a reason that only Jesus can bring the sunrise. He descended deeper into the darkness of sin than anyone ever has. He went to a cross where, as He died, He absorbed all the guilt of your sin and mine, and all the punishment we deserve in a hell that has no exit. Because of that unspeakable sacrifice, the Bible says, "God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13). How? It says "He made peace through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20).
God brought you and me together today, I believe, because He wants you to know that your long drive in the darkness is almost over if you will put your trust in His Son, Jesus, to be your Rescuer from the darkness of your sin.
You tired of the night? You ready to begin a personal relationship with Jesus, who is "the light of the world" the Bible says? Tell Him that, "Jesus, beginning right here and beginning right now, with all my heart I'm yours." I hope your next step will be to go to our website ANewStory.com so you can be sure you have begun your relationship with this singular One who can save you from your sin. ANewStory.com. I hope you'll check it out as soon as you can today.
The long, lonely night has lasted long enough. It's time for the Sonrise. It's time for Jesus.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
2 Kings 23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Cure for Selfishness
Forgive me for being the one to tell you-but you're infected! You are a diseased carrier. You have a case of-brace yourself-selfishness! Don't believe me? When you look at a group photo, where do you look? And if you look good, do you like the picture?
Do you suffer from clutching hands? Do your fingers ever wrap and close around possessions? How about heavy feet? When a car wants to cut in front of you, do you sense a sudden heaviness of foot on the accelerator?
Look in your eyes…into your pupils. Do you see a tiny figure? An image of a person? An image of you? The self-centered see everything through self. Their motto? It's all about me! What is the cure for selfishness? Get your self out of your eye by taking your eye off yourself. Quit staring at the little self, and focus on your great Savior!
From A Love Worth Giving
2 Kings 23
Josiah Renews the Covenant
Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court[c] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”
The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
18 “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19 Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20 Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. 25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’[d]”
28 As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. 33 Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents[e] of silver and a talent[f] of gold. 34 Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. 35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29
2 Kings 23:33 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
2 Kings 23:33 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Read: Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Footnotes:
28:19 Or all peoples.
INSIGHT:
In today’s passage Jesus gives what is known as the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20). We carry out this commission when we testify to the death and resurrection of Jesus, who offers forgiveness of sins, and when we teach Christ-followers to obey God’s Word (v. 20).
Opening Doors
By Bill Crowder
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:19
Charlie Sifford is an important name in American sports. He became the first African-American playing member of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour, joining a sport that, until 1961, had a “whites only” clause in its by-laws. Enduring racial injustice and harassment, Sifford earned his place at the game’s highest level, won two tournaments, and in 2004 was the first African-American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Charlie Sifford opened the doors of professional golf for players of all ethnicities.
Opening doors is also a theme at the heart of the gospel mission. Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).
Jesus' work on the cross opened the way to the Father for everyone.
The word nations (v. 19) is from the Greek word ethnos, which is also the source of the word ethnic. In other words, “Go and make disciples of all ethnicities.” Jesus’ work on the cross opened the way to the Father for everyone.
Now we have the privilege of caring for others as God has cared for us. We can open the door for someone who never dreamed they’d be welcomed personally into the house and family of God.
Lord, help me to be sensitive to others I meet today. Give me the words to tell others about You.
Jesus opened the doors of salvation to all who will believe.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
Arise and eat. —1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things— things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
You're Nothing Without Your Prayer Cover - #7593
It used to be that two armies would line up, then they would plunge into combat, and the best army would win. It was simpler then. Today it isn't necessarily the fellas with the best army who win; it's the ones with the best air force. It happened in World War II, it happened in certain Vietnam engagements, and it happened dramatically in the Persian Gulf War. I mean, the air force went in, they immobilized Iraq's capacity to respond, and then they kind of softened up the opposing forces, and there was an air war before anybody moved on the ground. And then once the troops started to move, the planes provided that vital air cover for their operations. Saddam Hussein had a big army, but he lost because his air cover just didn't function.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You're Nothing Without Your Prayer Cover."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 4:2. The great missionary, Paul, says, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." Here's the greatest missionary of all time and he is virtually begging for people to pray for him. "Please pray for us!" And then he gives some specific requests; pray for open doors; pray for clarity as we present it.
In another passage, in Romans 15:30, writing to another group of believers he makes a similar appeal, "I urge you, brothers, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in all Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there." Here again, specific requests. I think there's a message coming through loud and clear. In the writings of the Apostle Paul, he says to people who care about his ministry, "I'm counting on you, do you know that? And I feel really close to the people I'm counting on. Pray for me, guys."
Somewhere today there is a pastor, a missionary, a Christian leader, a guy you hear on the radio who's counting on you; on your prayer support. Faithful prayer support, fervent prayer support, specific prayer support. It's like that air cover in battle. Prayer is a Christian leader's "air cover." It's a missionary's "air cover." It's what God uses to immobilize the enemy.
As you pray you know you are tying the hands of the enemy and you're fighting his efforts to bring discouragement, to stop the resources from getting through, from attacking that worker's family? And you can bet, if that person's making a difference for the Lord, they are under attack. Your prayers make a difference; probably a decisive difference! And like that air cover, you're softening up the opposition and you're tearing down strongholds so it's easier for the Gospel to win. You're helping the advance of the ground troops with your "prayer cover."
Every summer I go with a Native American team to some of the hardest to reach places in North America on reservations. A team of Native Americans (about 60 of them), and when we go into battle in stronghold places, we say, "Oh, Lord, we just pray that those people who said they would pray for us are doing it now." We have found prayer is the decision maker. It literally is the game-changer.
You remember when Joshua was leading the troops of Israel in the Old Testament and Moses was on the hill praying with his arms uplifted? When he was praying they won, when he stopped praying they lost. The prayer person makes all the difference. Paul once said only Luke is with me. Maybe you're "Luke" for someone. Somewhere there is a Christian worker who says, "Well, I know that he or she is standing by me." When they get into a painful moment they know you're praying that day, 'cause you do every day.
Are you bonded to someone in God's work like that? Their safety, their opportunities, their results, their morale, are directly linked to your "air cover"; your prayer cover. Let God bond you to one of His servants. Be their "air cover" that goes ahead of them into their ministry and accomplishes things for them as they move forward for Christ.
Remember the "prayer cover." Prayer cover literally determines the outcome of the battle.
Forgive me for being the one to tell you-but you're infected! You are a diseased carrier. You have a case of-brace yourself-selfishness! Don't believe me? When you look at a group photo, where do you look? And if you look good, do you like the picture?
Do you suffer from clutching hands? Do your fingers ever wrap and close around possessions? How about heavy feet? When a car wants to cut in front of you, do you sense a sudden heaviness of foot on the accelerator?
Look in your eyes…into your pupils. Do you see a tiny figure? An image of a person? An image of you? The self-centered see everything through self. Their motto? It's all about me! What is the cure for selfishness? Get your self out of your eye by taking your eye off yourself. Quit staring at the little self, and focus on your great Savior!
From A Love Worth Giving
2 Kings 23
Josiah Renews the Covenant
Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court[c] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”
The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
18 “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19 Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20 Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. 25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’[d]”
28 As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. 33 Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents[e] of silver and a talent[f] of gold. 34 Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. 35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29
2 Kings 23:33 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
2 Kings 23:33 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Read: Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Footnotes:
28:19 Or all peoples.
INSIGHT:
In today’s passage Jesus gives what is known as the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20). We carry out this commission when we testify to the death and resurrection of Jesus, who offers forgiveness of sins, and when we teach Christ-followers to obey God’s Word (v. 20).
Opening Doors
By Bill Crowder
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:19
Charlie Sifford is an important name in American sports. He became the first African-American playing member of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour, joining a sport that, until 1961, had a “whites only” clause in its by-laws. Enduring racial injustice and harassment, Sifford earned his place at the game’s highest level, won two tournaments, and in 2004 was the first African-American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Charlie Sifford opened the doors of professional golf for players of all ethnicities.
Opening doors is also a theme at the heart of the gospel mission. Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).
Jesus' work on the cross opened the way to the Father for everyone.
The word nations (v. 19) is from the Greek word ethnos, which is also the source of the word ethnic. In other words, “Go and make disciples of all ethnicities.” Jesus’ work on the cross opened the way to the Father for everyone.
Now we have the privilege of caring for others as God has cared for us. We can open the door for someone who never dreamed they’d be welcomed personally into the house and family of God.
Lord, help me to be sensitive to others I meet today. Give me the words to tell others about You.
Jesus opened the doors of salvation to all who will believe.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
Arise and eat. —1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things— things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
You're Nothing Without Your Prayer Cover - #7593
It used to be that two armies would line up, then they would plunge into combat, and the best army would win. It was simpler then. Today it isn't necessarily the fellas with the best army who win; it's the ones with the best air force. It happened in World War II, it happened in certain Vietnam engagements, and it happened dramatically in the Persian Gulf War. I mean, the air force went in, they immobilized Iraq's capacity to respond, and then they kind of softened up the opposing forces, and there was an air war before anybody moved on the ground. And then once the troops started to move, the planes provided that vital air cover for their operations. Saddam Hussein had a big army, but he lost because his air cover just didn't function.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You're Nothing Without Your Prayer Cover."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 4:2. The great missionary, Paul, says, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." Here's the greatest missionary of all time and he is virtually begging for people to pray for him. "Please pray for us!" And then he gives some specific requests; pray for open doors; pray for clarity as we present it.
In another passage, in Romans 15:30, writing to another group of believers he makes a similar appeal, "I urge you, brothers, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in all Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there." Here again, specific requests. I think there's a message coming through loud and clear. In the writings of the Apostle Paul, he says to people who care about his ministry, "I'm counting on you, do you know that? And I feel really close to the people I'm counting on. Pray for me, guys."
Somewhere today there is a pastor, a missionary, a Christian leader, a guy you hear on the radio who's counting on you; on your prayer support. Faithful prayer support, fervent prayer support, specific prayer support. It's like that air cover in battle. Prayer is a Christian leader's "air cover." It's a missionary's "air cover." It's what God uses to immobilize the enemy.
As you pray you know you are tying the hands of the enemy and you're fighting his efforts to bring discouragement, to stop the resources from getting through, from attacking that worker's family? And you can bet, if that person's making a difference for the Lord, they are under attack. Your prayers make a difference; probably a decisive difference! And like that air cover, you're softening up the opposition and you're tearing down strongholds so it's easier for the Gospel to win. You're helping the advance of the ground troops with your "prayer cover."
Every summer I go with a Native American team to some of the hardest to reach places in North America on reservations. A team of Native Americans (about 60 of them), and when we go into battle in stronghold places, we say, "Oh, Lord, we just pray that those people who said they would pray for us are doing it now." We have found prayer is the decision maker. It literally is the game-changer.
You remember when Joshua was leading the troops of Israel in the Old Testament and Moses was on the hill praying with his arms uplifted? When he was praying they won, when he stopped praying they lost. The prayer person makes all the difference. Paul once said only Luke is with me. Maybe you're "Luke" for someone. Somewhere there is a Christian worker who says, "Well, I know that he or she is standing by me." When they get into a painful moment they know you're praying that day, 'cause you do every day.
Are you bonded to someone in God's work like that? Their safety, their opportunities, their results, their morale, are directly linked to your "air cover"; your prayer cover. Let God bond you to one of His servants. Be their "air cover" that goes ahead of them into their ministry and accomplishes things for them as they move forward for Christ.
Remember the "prayer cover." Prayer cover literally determines the outcome of the battle.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
2 Kings 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Wearing Jesus
Galatians 3:27 says: "All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." We wear Jesus! And those who don't believe in Jesus note what we do! People make decisions about Christ by watching us. When we are kind, they assume Christ is kind. When we are gracious, they assume Christ is gracious. No wonder Paul says in Colossians 4:5, "Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity."
ous conduct honors Christ. It also honors his children. When you surrender a parking place to someone, you honor him. When you make an effort to greet everyone in the room, especially the ones others have overlooked, you honor God's children. Do your best! You can't control the attitudes of others-but you can manage yours!
From A Love Worth Giving
2 Kings 22
The Book of the Law Found
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”
8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.
15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made,[a] my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse[b] and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”
So they took her answer back to the king.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 22:17 Or by everything they have done
2 Kings 22:19 That is, their names would be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, others would see that they are cursed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Read: Deuteronomy 6:1-12
A Call for Wholehearted Commitment
“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.
Footnotes:
6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
INSIGHT:
Today’s passage begins with three verses of instruction about the benefits of keeping the commands of the Lord. Moses begins verse 4 with “Hear, O Israel.” Hear doesn’t mean “listen”; it means “understand” or “know.” The Israelites were to “know” the Lord—and so are we.
Written on Our Hearts
By Lawrence Darmani
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Deuteronomy 6:6
In my neighborhood, religious inscriptions abound—on plaques, walls, doorposts, commercial vehicles, and even as registered names of businesses. By the Grace of God reads an inscription on a mini-bus; God’s Divine Favor Bookshop adorns a business signboard. The other day I couldn’t help smiling at this one on a Mercedes Benz: Keep Off—Angels on Guard!
But religious inscriptions, whether on wall plaques, jewelry, or T-shirts, are not a reliable indicator of a person’s love for God. It’s not the words on the outside that count but the truth we carry on the inside that reveals our desire to be changed by God.
When God's Word is hidden in our heart, His ways will become our ways.
I recall a program sponsored by a local ministry that distributed cards with Bible verses written on both sides that helped people memorize God’s Word. Such a practice is in keeping with the instructions Moses gave the Israelites when he told them to write the commandments of God “on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deut. 6:9). We are to treasure God’s Word in our hearts (v. 6), to impress it on our children, and to talk about it “when [we] walk along the road, when [we] lie down and when [we] get up” (v. 7).
May our faith be real and our commitment true, so we can love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength (v. 5).
Father, may Your words be more than nice sayings to us. May they be written on our hearts so that we will love You and others.
When God’s Word is hidden in our heart, His ways will become our ways.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Arise from the dead… —Ephesians 5:14
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard— just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead….” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead…,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. So Send I You, 1325 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Death Orbit - #7592
The day is about to end. I invite my wife to go for a romantic walk with me as we look toward the west at the beautiful colors of the sunset. Well, that's what you'd call it, right? And so would I. But we would be scientifically incorrect. Since when does the sun set? The sun doesn't go anywhere; it's the earth that's moving! Right? So, "Honey, let's go for a romantic walk and watch the beautiful earth set?" I don't think so!
The National Science Foundation conducted a poll and discovered that one in four Americans believed at that time that the sun orbits around the earth! They're confused about what's revolving around what!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Death Orbit."
What's far more significant-and far more deadly-is God's survey about what orbit you and I are in. In the words of the Bible, we were "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Like the earth is created to revolve around the sun, so you and I are created to revolve our life around our Creator.
But here are the disturbing results of God's survey of the human race. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 53:6. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way." God says that 100% of us have left the orbit we were made for, and we've gone to an orbit simply called "My Way". Just in case some of us religious folks would like to think we're not included, God says in Romans 3 that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...there is no one righteous" (by God's standard, that is) "not even one."
It's like the earth leaving its orbit around the sun and saying, "I think I'll go off on this orbit of my own. I'm free now." No, the earth away from the sun will die. You or me away from God-we'll die. And that's why life just isn't working. That's why the loneliness, the emptiness, the confusion about living, the fear about dying. We are out of the orbit we were created for.
We are all in trouble with God – big trouble. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities (that's your sins) have separated you from your God" So, picture it-a huge wall between you and God. No wonder you're empty. The only One who can fill the hole in your heart is on the other side of a wall. No wonder you're lonely. The One whose love you were made for is on the other side of that wall. No wonder you're nervous about eternity. You should be. The God you'll meet the moment you die is on the other side of the wall.
Maybe you're tired of that wall between you and God. It can finally come down before this day is over. But you can't take it down. No religion can take it down. Only Jesus can do that. Why? Well, in that verse that says we've all turned away from God, He says, speaking of Jesus, "The Lord has laid on Him the wrongdoing of us all." The same sins that keep you from God, Jesus had transferred to Him when He died on the cross for you. See, He loves you that much. He really doesn't want to lose you.
The wall between you and God comes down from the moment you put your trust in Jesus to forgive you for a lifetime of sin. Please, don't let procrastination or religious pride cost you this relationship or cost you heaven.
I invite you this very day to say to Jesus, "Jesus, I believe that what You did on that cross was for me. I believe You walked out of your grave so you could walk into my life. And beginning here and beginning now I'm yours." Our website is really for you at a moment just like this to help you secure your personal relationship with Jesus and your eternity. Would you go there today as soon as you can, ANewStory.com. Remember that, ANewStory.com.
Haven't you spent enough days, enough years away from the One who loves you most in that death orbit of running your own life? Man, it's time to come home.
Galatians 3:27 says: "All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." We wear Jesus! And those who don't believe in Jesus note what we do! People make decisions about Christ by watching us. When we are kind, they assume Christ is kind. When we are gracious, they assume Christ is gracious. No wonder Paul says in Colossians 4:5, "Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity."
ous conduct honors Christ. It also honors his children. When you surrender a parking place to someone, you honor him. When you make an effort to greet everyone in the room, especially the ones others have overlooked, you honor God's children. Do your best! You can't control the attitudes of others-but you can manage yours!
From A Love Worth Giving
2 Kings 22
The Book of the Law Found
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”
8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.
15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made,[a] my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse[b] and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”
So they took her answer back to the king.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 22:17 Or by everything they have done
2 Kings 22:19 That is, their names would be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, others would see that they are cursed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Read: Deuteronomy 6:1-12
A Call for Wholehearted Commitment
“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.
Footnotes:
6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
INSIGHT:
Today’s passage begins with three verses of instruction about the benefits of keeping the commands of the Lord. Moses begins verse 4 with “Hear, O Israel.” Hear doesn’t mean “listen”; it means “understand” or “know.” The Israelites were to “know” the Lord—and so are we.
Written on Our Hearts
By Lawrence Darmani
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Deuteronomy 6:6
In my neighborhood, religious inscriptions abound—on plaques, walls, doorposts, commercial vehicles, and even as registered names of businesses. By the Grace of God reads an inscription on a mini-bus; God’s Divine Favor Bookshop adorns a business signboard. The other day I couldn’t help smiling at this one on a Mercedes Benz: Keep Off—Angels on Guard!
But religious inscriptions, whether on wall plaques, jewelry, or T-shirts, are not a reliable indicator of a person’s love for God. It’s not the words on the outside that count but the truth we carry on the inside that reveals our desire to be changed by God.
When God's Word is hidden in our heart, His ways will become our ways.
I recall a program sponsored by a local ministry that distributed cards with Bible verses written on both sides that helped people memorize God’s Word. Such a practice is in keeping with the instructions Moses gave the Israelites when he told them to write the commandments of God “on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deut. 6:9). We are to treasure God’s Word in our hearts (v. 6), to impress it on our children, and to talk about it “when [we] walk along the road, when [we] lie down and when [we] get up” (v. 7).
May our faith be real and our commitment true, so we can love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength (v. 5).
Father, may Your words be more than nice sayings to us. May they be written on our hearts so that we will love You and others.
When God’s Word is hidden in our heart, His ways will become our ways.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Arise from the dead… —Ephesians 5:14
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard— just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead….” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead…,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. So Send I You, 1325 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Death Orbit - #7592
The day is about to end. I invite my wife to go for a romantic walk with me as we look toward the west at the beautiful colors of the sunset. Well, that's what you'd call it, right? And so would I. But we would be scientifically incorrect. Since when does the sun set? The sun doesn't go anywhere; it's the earth that's moving! Right? So, "Honey, let's go for a romantic walk and watch the beautiful earth set?" I don't think so!
The National Science Foundation conducted a poll and discovered that one in four Americans believed at that time that the sun orbits around the earth! They're confused about what's revolving around what!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Death Orbit."
What's far more significant-and far more deadly-is God's survey about what orbit you and I are in. In the words of the Bible, we were "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Like the earth is created to revolve around the sun, so you and I are created to revolve our life around our Creator.
But here are the disturbing results of God's survey of the human race. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 53:6. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way." God says that 100% of us have left the orbit we were made for, and we've gone to an orbit simply called "My Way". Just in case some of us religious folks would like to think we're not included, God says in Romans 3 that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...there is no one righteous" (by God's standard, that is) "not even one."
It's like the earth leaving its orbit around the sun and saying, "I think I'll go off on this orbit of my own. I'm free now." No, the earth away from the sun will die. You or me away from God-we'll die. And that's why life just isn't working. That's why the loneliness, the emptiness, the confusion about living, the fear about dying. We are out of the orbit we were created for.
We are all in trouble with God – big trouble. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities (that's your sins) have separated you from your God" So, picture it-a huge wall between you and God. No wonder you're empty. The only One who can fill the hole in your heart is on the other side of a wall. No wonder you're lonely. The One whose love you were made for is on the other side of that wall. No wonder you're nervous about eternity. You should be. The God you'll meet the moment you die is on the other side of the wall.
Maybe you're tired of that wall between you and God. It can finally come down before this day is over. But you can't take it down. No religion can take it down. Only Jesus can do that. Why? Well, in that verse that says we've all turned away from God, He says, speaking of Jesus, "The Lord has laid on Him the wrongdoing of us all." The same sins that keep you from God, Jesus had transferred to Him when He died on the cross for you. See, He loves you that much. He really doesn't want to lose you.
The wall between you and God comes down from the moment you put your trust in Jesus to forgive you for a lifetime of sin. Please, don't let procrastination or religious pride cost you this relationship or cost you heaven.
I invite you this very day to say to Jesus, "Jesus, I believe that what You did on that cross was for me. I believe You walked out of your grave so you could walk into my life. And beginning here and beginning now I'm yours." Our website is really for you at a moment just like this to help you secure your personal relationship with Jesus and your eternity. Would you go there today as soon as you can, ANewStory.com. Remember that, ANewStory.com.
Haven't you spent enough days, enough years away from the One who loves you most in that death orbit of running your own life? Man, it's time to come home.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Galatians 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Receive the Courtesy of Christ
My wife has a heart for single moms. She loves to include them at the table when we go to a restaurant. Through the years I've noticed a common appreciation from them. They love it when I pull out their chair. More than once they've specifically thanked me. One mom in particular comes to mind. "My," she said, brushing the sudden moisture from her eye, "it's been a while since anyone did that."
Has it been a while for you as well? People can be so rude. We snatch parking places. We forget names. Could you use some courtesy? Has it been a while since someone pulled out your chair? Then let Jesus! Don't hurry through this thought. Receive the courtesy of Christ. He's your groom. Let Christ do what he longs to do. For as you receive his love, you'll find it easier to give yours away!
From A Love Worth Giving
Galatians 5
Freedom in Christ
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Footnotes:
Galatians 5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.
Galatians 5:14 Lev. 19:18
Galatians 5:17 Or you do not do what
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 15, 2016
Read: Psalm 34:15-22
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right;
his ears are open to their cries for help.
16 But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil;
he will erase their memory from the earth.
17 The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
He rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
19 The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
20 For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous;
not one of them is broken!
21 Calamity will surely destroy the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
22 But the Lord will redeem those who serve him.
No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
INSIGHT:
In the superscription of Psalm 34, a song of David, we are told that it was written “when he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.” That event is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:13. In fleeing from Saul, David sought refuge in the city of Gath—the hometown of the warrior Goliath who David had killed in battle. When the people of Gath protested David’s presence in their city, he pretended to be insane in order to escape. It may seem that David escaped by his own cleverness, but he clearly gives God the credit for his rescue.
A Widow’s Choice
By Dave Branon
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Psalm 34:18
When a good friend suddenly lost her husband to a heart attack, we grieved with her. As a counselor, she had comforted many others. Now, after 40 years of marriage, she faced the unwelcome prospect of returning to an empty house at the end of each day.
In the midst of her grief, our friend leaned on the One who “is close to the brokenhearted.” As God walked with her through her pain, she told us she would choose to “wear the label widow proudly,” because she felt it was the label God had given her.
God is always close to broken hearts.
All grief is personal, and others may grieve differently than she does. Her response doesn’t diminish her grief or make her home less empty. Yet it reminds us that even in the midst of our worst sorrows, our sovereign and loving God can be trusted.
Our heavenly Father suffered a profound separation of His own. As Jesus hung on the cross He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Yet He endured the pain and separation of crucifixion for our sins out of love for us!
He understands! And because “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted” (Ps. 34:18), we find the comfort we need. He is near.
Dear heavenly Father, as we think about the sadness that comes from the death of a loved one, help us to cling to You and trust Your love and goodness. Thank You for being close to our broken hearts.
Know anyone who is hurting? Share this devotional from our Facebook page: Facebook.com/ourdailybread
God shares in our sorrow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 15, 2016
“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”
None of us lives to himself… —Romans 14:7
Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places…” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God…” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).
“You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “…lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man. Disciples Indeed, 388 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 15, 2016
Return to Sender - #7591
Our sons really enjoyed being uncles for the first time. Their sister was kind enough to give them two boys to call them uncle. The youngest grandson at the time was four years old and he really enjoyed how his uncles played with him. They kept finding quarters in his nose or his ear. (The old magic trick.) Now, before I receive emails about this, rest assured that he had been carefully taught not to put anything in his nose or ear. The grandson that is, not my sons. But he loved it when his uncles pretended they found money there.
I remember the time that one of the uncles told the four year old that he was having a particularly hard time getting that shiny thing out of his nephew's nose. So he turned him upside down and gently shook him. Four quarters fell on the carpet! Bingo!!! But much to uncle's surprise, the little guy picked up the dollar in change and he put it in his uncle's hand. Our son objected and he said, "No, no, no this money is yours now." To which our grandson answered, "No, I want you to have it." See, his uncle was in a ministry with Native American young people. Our grandson said, "Use it to tell more kids about Jesus." Now, that was the best trick of the day.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Return to Sender."
Without being told, our little guy understood that some of what he has isn't for him – it's for helping other people hear about Jesus. The secret here is that he was only giving back to the person who gave it to him in the first place. Right? Just like us when we give to the work of God on earth. We're just giving it back to the one who gave it to us in the first place.
1 Corinthians 4:2 is our word for today from the Word of God, and it clearly spells out this "circle of giving". It says, "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust (or "who are stewards" in the King James Version) must prove faithful." See, what you have is a trust from God which He expects you to use faithfully, especially when it comes to it being available for the work that His Son gave His life for.
Imagine trusting $10,000 of your money to the local bank. A few months later, you go to the bank and ask for your money for a need you have. The banker says, "Oh, I'm sorry. I spent your money." He has betrayed your trust. But no more than we do when we hold onto money that God's expecting back for the work He wants to do.
Sadly, the greatest factor limiting the work of Christ in the world today is the lack of funds. Is God withholding money from His work? Probably not. He's entrusted it into the hands of His people. And research shows consistently that the more believers make the smaller percentage of their income they give to the Lord.
Malachi actually calls that "robbing God" (Malachi 3:9). In the prophet Haggai's day, the rebuilding of God's temple was at a standstill. Here's how God described what was happening: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin? My house remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house" (Haggai 1:4, 9). That could have been written today.
There is a world of people God so loves, whose only hope is to know about Jesus. A hundred and fifty thousand of our fellow humans every day go into eternity ready or not. You know, there are servants of Christ poised around the world and across the country to lay down the rest of their lives to tell those people about Jesus. All they need is the money to send them and it isn't there.
Satan hasn't been able to stop the workers from stepping up, so he tries to stop the bullets from getting to the army. But you and I have the power to stop him, to participate in the life-saving work Christ spent His life on if we'll open up our hand and give back what God gave us and just tell Him, "Use this to tell more people about Jesus."
My wife has a heart for single moms. She loves to include them at the table when we go to a restaurant. Through the years I've noticed a common appreciation from them. They love it when I pull out their chair. More than once they've specifically thanked me. One mom in particular comes to mind. "My," she said, brushing the sudden moisture from her eye, "it's been a while since anyone did that."
Has it been a while for you as well? People can be so rude. We snatch parking places. We forget names. Could you use some courtesy? Has it been a while since someone pulled out your chair? Then let Jesus! Don't hurry through this thought. Receive the courtesy of Christ. He's your groom. Let Christ do what he longs to do. For as you receive his love, you'll find it easier to give yours away!
From A Love Worth Giving
Galatians 5
Freedom in Christ
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Footnotes:
Galatians 5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.
Galatians 5:14 Lev. 19:18
Galatians 5:17 Or you do not do what
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 15, 2016
Read: Psalm 34:15-22
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right;
his ears are open to their cries for help.
16 But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil;
he will erase their memory from the earth.
17 The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
He rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
19 The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
20 For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous;
not one of them is broken!
21 Calamity will surely destroy the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
22 But the Lord will redeem those who serve him.
No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
INSIGHT:
In the superscription of Psalm 34, a song of David, we are told that it was written “when he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.” That event is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:13. In fleeing from Saul, David sought refuge in the city of Gath—the hometown of the warrior Goliath who David had killed in battle. When the people of Gath protested David’s presence in their city, he pretended to be insane in order to escape. It may seem that David escaped by his own cleverness, but he clearly gives God the credit for his rescue.
A Widow’s Choice
By Dave Branon
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Psalm 34:18
When a good friend suddenly lost her husband to a heart attack, we grieved with her. As a counselor, she had comforted many others. Now, after 40 years of marriage, she faced the unwelcome prospect of returning to an empty house at the end of each day.
In the midst of her grief, our friend leaned on the One who “is close to the brokenhearted.” As God walked with her through her pain, she told us she would choose to “wear the label widow proudly,” because she felt it was the label God had given her.
God is always close to broken hearts.
All grief is personal, and others may grieve differently than she does. Her response doesn’t diminish her grief or make her home less empty. Yet it reminds us that even in the midst of our worst sorrows, our sovereign and loving God can be trusted.
Our heavenly Father suffered a profound separation of His own. As Jesus hung on the cross He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Yet He endured the pain and separation of crucifixion for our sins out of love for us!
He understands! And because “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted” (Ps. 34:18), we find the comfort we need. He is near.
Dear heavenly Father, as we think about the sadness that comes from the death of a loved one, help us to cling to You and trust Your love and goodness. Thank You for being close to our broken hearts.
Know anyone who is hurting? Share this devotional from our Facebook page: Facebook.com/ourdailybread
God shares in our sorrow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 15, 2016
“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”
None of us lives to himself… —Romans 14:7
Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places…” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God…” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).
“You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “…lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man. Disciples Indeed, 388 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 15, 2016
Return to Sender - #7591
Our sons really enjoyed being uncles for the first time. Their sister was kind enough to give them two boys to call them uncle. The youngest grandson at the time was four years old and he really enjoyed how his uncles played with him. They kept finding quarters in his nose or his ear. (The old magic trick.) Now, before I receive emails about this, rest assured that he had been carefully taught not to put anything in his nose or ear. The grandson that is, not my sons. But he loved it when his uncles pretended they found money there.
I remember the time that one of the uncles told the four year old that he was having a particularly hard time getting that shiny thing out of his nephew's nose. So he turned him upside down and gently shook him. Four quarters fell on the carpet! Bingo!!! But much to uncle's surprise, the little guy picked up the dollar in change and he put it in his uncle's hand. Our son objected and he said, "No, no, no this money is yours now." To which our grandson answered, "No, I want you to have it." See, his uncle was in a ministry with Native American young people. Our grandson said, "Use it to tell more kids about Jesus." Now, that was the best trick of the day.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Return to Sender."
Without being told, our little guy understood that some of what he has isn't for him – it's for helping other people hear about Jesus. The secret here is that he was only giving back to the person who gave it to him in the first place. Right? Just like us when we give to the work of God on earth. We're just giving it back to the one who gave it to us in the first place.
1 Corinthians 4:2 is our word for today from the Word of God, and it clearly spells out this "circle of giving". It says, "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust (or "who are stewards" in the King James Version) must prove faithful." See, what you have is a trust from God which He expects you to use faithfully, especially when it comes to it being available for the work that His Son gave His life for.
Imagine trusting $10,000 of your money to the local bank. A few months later, you go to the bank and ask for your money for a need you have. The banker says, "Oh, I'm sorry. I spent your money." He has betrayed your trust. But no more than we do when we hold onto money that God's expecting back for the work He wants to do.
Sadly, the greatest factor limiting the work of Christ in the world today is the lack of funds. Is God withholding money from His work? Probably not. He's entrusted it into the hands of His people. And research shows consistently that the more believers make the smaller percentage of their income they give to the Lord.
Malachi actually calls that "robbing God" (Malachi 3:9). In the prophet Haggai's day, the rebuilding of God's temple was at a standstill. Here's how God described what was happening: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin? My house remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house" (Haggai 1:4, 9). That could have been written today.
There is a world of people God so loves, whose only hope is to know about Jesus. A hundred and fifty thousand of our fellow humans every day go into eternity ready or not. You know, there are servants of Christ poised around the world and across the country to lay down the rest of their lives to tell those people about Jesus. All they need is the money to send them and it isn't there.
Satan hasn't been able to stop the workers from stepping up, so he tries to stop the bullets from getting to the army. But you and I have the power to stop him, to participate in the life-saving work Christ spent His life on if we'll open up our hand and give back what God gave us and just tell Him, "Use this to tell more people about Jesus."
Sunday, February 14, 2016
2 Kings 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Come to Me
Invitations are special.
"You're invited to a gala celebrating the grand opening of. . ."
"Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request your presence at the wedding of their daughter. . ."
To be invited is to be honored-to be held in high esteem! The most incredible invitations aren't found in envelopes, but rather, they are found in the Bible. God invited Eve to marry Adam, the animals to enter the ark, and Mary to give birth to His son.
"Come," he invited, "Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)."
"Come," he would say. God is the King who invites us to come, who prepares the palace, sets the table, and invites his subjects to come in. His invitation for you, however, is not just for a meal, it's for life!
From And the Angels Were Silent
2 Kings 21
Manasseh King of Judah
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5 In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
7 He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them.” 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; 15 they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”
16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
17 As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
Amon King of Judah
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. 22 He forsook the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him.
23 Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. 24 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.
25 As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Read: Hebrews 12:18-29
You have not come to a physical mountain,[a] to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. 19 For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. 20 They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[b] 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”[c]
22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! 26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”[d] 27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire.
Footnotes:
12:18 Greek to something that can be touched.
12:20 Exod 19:13.
12:21 Deut 9:19.
12:26 Hag 2:6.
INSIGHT:
Because of severe persecution in the days of the early church, Jewish Christians were being pressured to abandon Christianity and revert to Judaism. The letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage these believers to remain faithful to Christ. The unnamed writer affirms that Jesus is God’s Son and is superior to angelic beings, the Mosaic covenant, the Aaronic priesthood, and animal sacrifices (Heb. 1–10). Because Jesus offered Himself once for all as a perfect sacrifice (7:27–28; 9:12, 28), He is the author and perfecter of true faith (12:2), “the mediator of a new covenant” (9:15; 12:24), and the giver of “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (12:28). In response to who He is, His followers are to “be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (v. 28).
The Ease of Ingratitude
By Randy Kilgore
Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. Hebrews 12:28
Thwip, thwap. Thwip, thwap.
The windshield wipers slamming back and forth trying to keep up with the pelting rain only added to my irritation as I adjusted to driving the used car I had just purchased—an old station wagon with 80,000+ miles and no side-impact airbag protection for the kids.
Let us not let the trials of the moment strip us of the memory of God's protection.
To get this station wagon, and some badly needed cash for groceries, I had sold the last “treasure” we owned: a 1992 Volvo station wagon with side-impact airbag protection for the kids. By then, everything else was gone. Our house and our savings had all disappeared under the weight of uncovered medical expenses from life-threatening illnesses.
“Okay, God,” I actually said out loud, “now I can’t even protect my kids from side-impact crashes. If anything happens to them, let me tell You what I’m going to do . . .”
Thwip, thwap. Thwip, thwap. (Gulp.)
I was instantly ashamed. In the previous 2 years God had spared both my wife and my son from almost certain death, and yet here I was whining about “things” I had lost. Just like that I’d learned how quickly I could grow ungrateful to God. The loving Father, who did not spare His own Son so I could be saved, had actually spared my son in a miraculous fashion.
“Forgive me, Father,” I prayed. Already done, My child.
How easy it is, Lord, to let the trials of the moment strip us of the memory of Your protection and provision. Praise You, Father, for Your patience and Your unending, unconditional love.
Thankfulness is the soil in which joy thrives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 14, 2016
The Discipline of Hearing
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark…” — pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Invitations are special.
"You're invited to a gala celebrating the grand opening of. . ."
"Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request your presence at the wedding of their daughter. . ."
To be invited is to be honored-to be held in high esteem! The most incredible invitations aren't found in envelopes, but rather, they are found in the Bible. God invited Eve to marry Adam, the animals to enter the ark, and Mary to give birth to His son.
"Come," he invited, "Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)."
"Come," he would say. God is the King who invites us to come, who prepares the palace, sets the table, and invites his subjects to come in. His invitation for you, however, is not just for a meal, it's for life!
From And the Angels Were Silent
2 Kings 21
Manasseh King of Judah
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5 In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
7 He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them.” 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; 15 they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”
16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
17 As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
Amon King of Judah
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. 22 He forsook the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him.
23 Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. 24 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.
25 As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Read: Hebrews 12:18-29
You have not come to a physical mountain,[a] to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. 19 For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. 20 They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[b] 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”[c]
22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! 26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”[d] 27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire.
Footnotes:
12:18 Greek to something that can be touched.
12:20 Exod 19:13.
12:21 Deut 9:19.
12:26 Hag 2:6.
INSIGHT:
Because of severe persecution in the days of the early church, Jewish Christians were being pressured to abandon Christianity and revert to Judaism. The letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage these believers to remain faithful to Christ. The unnamed writer affirms that Jesus is God’s Son and is superior to angelic beings, the Mosaic covenant, the Aaronic priesthood, and animal sacrifices (Heb. 1–10). Because Jesus offered Himself once for all as a perfect sacrifice (7:27–28; 9:12, 28), He is the author and perfecter of true faith (12:2), “the mediator of a new covenant” (9:15; 12:24), and the giver of “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (12:28). In response to who He is, His followers are to “be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (v. 28).
The Ease of Ingratitude
By Randy Kilgore
Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. Hebrews 12:28
Thwip, thwap. Thwip, thwap.
The windshield wipers slamming back and forth trying to keep up with the pelting rain only added to my irritation as I adjusted to driving the used car I had just purchased—an old station wagon with 80,000+ miles and no side-impact airbag protection for the kids.
Let us not let the trials of the moment strip us of the memory of God's protection.
To get this station wagon, and some badly needed cash for groceries, I had sold the last “treasure” we owned: a 1992 Volvo station wagon with side-impact airbag protection for the kids. By then, everything else was gone. Our house and our savings had all disappeared under the weight of uncovered medical expenses from life-threatening illnesses.
“Okay, God,” I actually said out loud, “now I can’t even protect my kids from side-impact crashes. If anything happens to them, let me tell You what I’m going to do . . .”
Thwip, thwap. Thwip, thwap. (Gulp.)
I was instantly ashamed. In the previous 2 years God had spared both my wife and my son from almost certain death, and yet here I was whining about “things” I had lost. Just like that I’d learned how quickly I could grow ungrateful to God. The loving Father, who did not spare His own Son so I could be saved, had actually spared my son in a miraculous fashion.
“Forgive me, Father,” I prayed. Already done, My child.
How easy it is, Lord, to let the trials of the moment strip us of the memory of Your protection and provision. Praise You, Father, for Your patience and Your unending, unconditional love.
Thankfulness is the soil in which joy thrives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 14, 2016
The Discipline of Hearing
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark…” — pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Saturday, February 13, 2016
2 Kings 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: We Can Fear Less
In Luke 24:38, Jesus asks, "Why are you frightened? Why are your hearts filled with doubt?" Jesus doesn't want you to live in a state of fear.
Nor do you. You've never made statements like these: Thank God for my pessimism. I've been such a better person since I lost hope. Or, My doctor says if I don't begin fretting, I'll lose my health. We've learned the high cost of fear. If we medicate fear with angry outbursts, drinking binges, sullen withdrawals, or viselike control, we exclude God from the solution and exacerbate the problem.
Hysteria isn't from God. Scripture says, "God has not given us the spirit of fear" (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear may fill our world, but it doesn't have to fill our hearts. It will always knock on the door. Just don't invite it in.
The promise of Christ is simple: we can fear less tomorrow than we do today!
From Fearless
2 Kings 20
Hezekiah’s Illness
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”
9 Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”
10 “It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”
11 Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
Envoys From Babylon
12 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. 13 Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”
15 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
19 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Read: 1 Corinthians 12:4-14
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[a]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[b] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[c] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
One Body with Many Parts
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[d] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[e]
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
Footnotes:
12:8a Or gives a word of wisdom.
12:8b Or gives a word of knowledge.
12:10 Or in various tongues; also in 12:28, 30.
12:13a Greek some are Greeks.
12:13b Greek we were all given one Spirit to drink.
INSIGHT:
Today’s passage was written to a group of people who were celebrating the value of some gifts over others. The apostle Paul makes three points to convince the church at Corinth that all gifts are of equal value: They all come from the same source—the Spirit (vv. 4, 11); they are not a reflection of the person but of the Spirit, and each person receives the gift that the Spirit determines (v. 11); and they all have the same purpose—the “common good” of the church (v. 7).
Ice Flowers
By Dennis Fisher
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 1 Corinthians 12:4
Fifteen-year-old Wilson Bentley was captivated by the intricate beauty of snowflakes. He looked with fascination through an old microscope his mother had given him and made hundreds of sketches of their remarkable designs, but they melted too quickly to adequately capture their detail. Several years later, in 1885, he had an idea. He attached a bellows camera to the microscope and, after much trial and error, took his first picture of a snowflake. During his lifetime Bentley would capture 5,000 snowflake images and each one was a unique design. He described them as “tiny miracles of beauty” and “ice flowers.”
No two snowflakes are alike, yet all come from the same source. So it is with followers of Christ. We all come from the same Creator and Redeemer, yet we are all different. In God’s glorious plan He has chosen to bring a variety of people together into a unified whole, and He has gifted us in various ways. In describing the diversity of gifts to believers, Paul writes: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (1 Cor. 12:4-6).
The Spirit has gifted us in various ways, used to serve Him and others.
Thank God for the unique contribution you can offer as you help and serve others.
Dear Lord, thank You for the unique way that You have gifted me. Help me to use my gifts faithfully to serve You and others.
Each person is a unique expression of God's loving design.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 13, 2016
The Devotion of Hearing
Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." —1 Samuel 3:10
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends…” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
In Luke 24:38, Jesus asks, "Why are you frightened? Why are your hearts filled with doubt?" Jesus doesn't want you to live in a state of fear.
Nor do you. You've never made statements like these: Thank God for my pessimism. I've been such a better person since I lost hope. Or, My doctor says if I don't begin fretting, I'll lose my health. We've learned the high cost of fear. If we medicate fear with angry outbursts, drinking binges, sullen withdrawals, or viselike control, we exclude God from the solution and exacerbate the problem.
Hysteria isn't from God. Scripture says, "God has not given us the spirit of fear" (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear may fill our world, but it doesn't have to fill our hearts. It will always knock on the door. Just don't invite it in.
The promise of Christ is simple: we can fear less tomorrow than we do today!
From Fearless
2 Kings 20
Hezekiah’s Illness
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”
9 Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”
10 “It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”
11 Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
Envoys From Babylon
12 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. 13 Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”
15 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
19 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Read: 1 Corinthians 12:4-14
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[a]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[b] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[c] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
One Body with Many Parts
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[d] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[e]
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
Footnotes:
12:8a Or gives a word of wisdom.
12:8b Or gives a word of knowledge.
12:10 Or in various tongues; also in 12:28, 30.
12:13a Greek some are Greeks.
12:13b Greek we were all given one Spirit to drink.
INSIGHT:
Today’s passage was written to a group of people who were celebrating the value of some gifts over others. The apostle Paul makes three points to convince the church at Corinth that all gifts are of equal value: They all come from the same source—the Spirit (vv. 4, 11); they are not a reflection of the person but of the Spirit, and each person receives the gift that the Spirit determines (v. 11); and they all have the same purpose—the “common good” of the church (v. 7).
Ice Flowers
By Dennis Fisher
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 1 Corinthians 12:4
Fifteen-year-old Wilson Bentley was captivated by the intricate beauty of snowflakes. He looked with fascination through an old microscope his mother had given him and made hundreds of sketches of their remarkable designs, but they melted too quickly to adequately capture their detail. Several years later, in 1885, he had an idea. He attached a bellows camera to the microscope and, after much trial and error, took his first picture of a snowflake. During his lifetime Bentley would capture 5,000 snowflake images and each one was a unique design. He described them as “tiny miracles of beauty” and “ice flowers.”
No two snowflakes are alike, yet all come from the same source. So it is with followers of Christ. We all come from the same Creator and Redeemer, yet we are all different. In God’s glorious plan He has chosen to bring a variety of people together into a unified whole, and He has gifted us in various ways. In describing the diversity of gifts to believers, Paul writes: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (1 Cor. 12:4-6).
The Spirit has gifted us in various ways, used to serve Him and others.
Thank God for the unique contribution you can offer as you help and serve others.
Dear Lord, thank You for the unique way that You have gifted me. Help me to use my gifts faithfully to serve You and others.
Each person is a unique expression of God's loving design.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 13, 2016
The Devotion of Hearing
Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." —1 Samuel 3:10
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends…” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
Friday, February 12, 2016
2 Kings 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Valentine for My Daughters
The whirlwind of adolescent doubts and pressure was making regular runs through our house. So on Valentine's Day, 1997, I wrote the following for each of my daughters:
I have a special gift for you. My gift is warmth at night and sunlit afternoons, chuckles and giggles and happy Saturdays. Is there a store which sells laughter? A catalog that offers kisses? No. Such a treasure can't be bought. But it can be given. Your Valentine's Day gift is a promise, a promise that I will always love your mother. With God as my helper, I will never leave her. You'll never come home to find me gone. You'll never wake up and find that I have run away. You'll always have two parents. I will love your mother. I will honor your mother. I will cherish your mother. That is my promise. That is my gift.
Love dad!
From A Love Worth Giving
2 Kings 19
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 “‘Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
26 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.
27 “‘But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.’
29 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 12, 2016
Read: John 8:39-47
“Our father is Abraham!” they declared.
“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.[a] 40 Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41 No, you are imitating your real father.”
They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”
42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! 46 Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”
Footnotes:
8:39 Some manuscripts read if you are really the children of Abraham, follow his example.
INSIGHT:
John 8 is a chapter filled with conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. In verses 1–11 the conflict is based on whether a woman caught in sin should be publicly executed or shown compassion. In verses 12–20 the point of friction focuses on whether Jesus is who He claims to be: the “Light of the world” and the Son of God. The religious leaders dispute Jesus’s claim that God is His Father, even accusing Him of being born illegitimately (v. 41). When Jesus says that He existed before Abraham was born (vv. 56–58), His antagonists respond by attempting to stone Him to death.
Undigested Knowledge
By Tim Gustafson
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. John 8:31
In his book on language, British diplomat Lancelot Oliphant (1881–1965) observed that many students give correct answers on tests but fail to put those lessons into practice. “Such undigested knowledge is of little use,” declared Oliphant.
Author Barnabas Piper noticed a parallel in his own life: “I thought I was close to God because I knew all the answers,” he said, “but I had fooled myself into thinking that was the same as relationship with Jesus.”
Faith is not accepting the fact of God but receiving the life of God.
At the temple one day, Jesus encountered people who thought they had all the right answers. They were proudly proclaiming their status as Abraham’s descendants yet refused to believe in God’s Son.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did” (John 8:39). And what was that? Abraham “believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Still, Jesus’ hearers refused to believe. “The only Father we have is God himself,” they said (John 8:41). Jesus replied, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (v. 47).
Piper recalls how things “fell apart” for him before he “encountered God’s grace and the person of Jesus in a profound way.” When we allow God’s truth to transform our lives, we gain much more than the right answer. We introduce the world to Jesus.
Father, thank You that You receive anyone who turns to You in faith.
Faith is not accepting the fact of God but of receiving the life of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 12, 2016
Are You Listening to God?
They said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." —Exodus 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
“You speak with us,…but let not God speak with us….” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”
Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. The Place of Help, 1051 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 12, 2016
The Spiritual Cure You Can Die From - #7590
When my friends tell me they have a headache, they don't always get a lot of sympathy. I usually just say, "You know, pain always attacks at the weakest point." They really appreciate that! That helps. Well, actually, we all have our favorite headache remedy – one or two of this pill or that and we wait for the relief as those pills race through our system. I know they do. I saw it on a commercial once.
Do you remember the twisted act of individual terrorism that happened in 1982 when relief was turned into tragedy? Someone managed to put poison in some pain relief capsules and there were a series of sudden deaths. The victims had taken this brand of pain reliever. I remember reading about a flight attendant in particular who arrived home after a trip with a serious headache. She reached for a couple pain relief capsules. I'm sure she thought they would make her feel better soon. Instead, she died from them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Spiritual Cure You Can Die From."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 14:12. It is one of the most sobering, unsettling statements in the Bible. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." God's trying to warn us here that we can be on a spiritual road that feels right, that we really believe will give us what we've been hoping for, but it will lead us to death.
In 1997, just before Good Friday, America was stunned by the mass suicide of 39 members of the "Heaven's Gate" cult. Then we saw some of the video testimonials made by those people just before they took their own lives. They talked about how at peace they were, how happy to be taking this next step – suicide. And we learned that these were not some religious freaks; they were bright, competent people. They believed very sincerely that they were graduating to something better.
But listen to Jesus, the Son of God. He says, "I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved" (John 10:9). And it is Jesus who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." If you're counting on anything or anyone other than Jesus to get you to heaven, you're not going to make it. Sincerity doesn't make what you believe in right. That flight attendant sincerely believed that pain reliever would help her. Peaceful feelings don't validate what you're counting on either. The people who died from those poisoned capsules were expecting relief. Instead they died.
Our hearts are incurably spiritual. We need a spiritual answer, and we know it. We're looking for something bigger than ourselves, something that can give us significance, that can conquer the darkness inside of us; that can take us to something better someday. Ultimately, we are looking for a savior who can make us what we could never otherwise be and take us to a heaven we could never otherwise go to.
And there is only one Savior. There's only one person who died the death penalty for the sinning you and I have done, and that is Jesus Christ on the cross. And no belief, no religion, even if it's all about Jesus, can get you to heaven when you die. Only the Savior can do that. You may be on a beautiful spiritual road that looks right and feels right. But like pain relievers that contained poison it may lead you to death.
But Jesus is reaching out to you right now, "the way, the truth, and the life" man. He's urging you to put all your faith in Him; to make the Savior your Savior. Isn't this the day to do that? Why would you risk another day without Him? Today you can say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
The information you need to be sure you belong to Him is right at our website. Just go to ANewStory.com. Can you remember that? Let your new story begin today. The days that are B.C. (before Christ) in your life end today. And days living with Jesus all the way into eternity can begin right now right where you are.
Jesus died so you don't have to. Don't risk depending on a remedy that cannot cure sin, because only the Savior can do that. He is what your heart's been longing for all this time.
The whirlwind of adolescent doubts and pressure was making regular runs through our house. So on Valentine's Day, 1997, I wrote the following for each of my daughters:
I have a special gift for you. My gift is warmth at night and sunlit afternoons, chuckles and giggles and happy Saturdays. Is there a store which sells laughter? A catalog that offers kisses? No. Such a treasure can't be bought. But it can be given. Your Valentine's Day gift is a promise, a promise that I will always love your mother. With God as my helper, I will never leave her. You'll never come home to find me gone. You'll never wake up and find that I have run away. You'll always have two parents. I will love your mother. I will honor your mother. I will cherish your mother. That is my promise. That is my gift.
Love dad!
From A Love Worth Giving
2 Kings 19
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 “‘Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
26 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.
27 “‘But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.’
29 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 12, 2016
Read: John 8:39-47
“Our father is Abraham!” they declared.
“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.[a] 40 Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41 No, you are imitating your real father.”
They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”
42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! 46 Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”
Footnotes:
8:39 Some manuscripts read if you are really the children of Abraham, follow his example.
INSIGHT:
John 8 is a chapter filled with conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. In verses 1–11 the conflict is based on whether a woman caught in sin should be publicly executed or shown compassion. In verses 12–20 the point of friction focuses on whether Jesus is who He claims to be: the “Light of the world” and the Son of God. The religious leaders dispute Jesus’s claim that God is His Father, even accusing Him of being born illegitimately (v. 41). When Jesus says that He existed before Abraham was born (vv. 56–58), His antagonists respond by attempting to stone Him to death.
Undigested Knowledge
By Tim Gustafson
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. John 8:31
In his book on language, British diplomat Lancelot Oliphant (1881–1965) observed that many students give correct answers on tests but fail to put those lessons into practice. “Such undigested knowledge is of little use,” declared Oliphant.
Author Barnabas Piper noticed a parallel in his own life: “I thought I was close to God because I knew all the answers,” he said, “but I had fooled myself into thinking that was the same as relationship with Jesus.”
Faith is not accepting the fact of God but receiving the life of God.
At the temple one day, Jesus encountered people who thought they had all the right answers. They were proudly proclaiming their status as Abraham’s descendants yet refused to believe in God’s Son.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did” (John 8:39). And what was that? Abraham “believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Still, Jesus’ hearers refused to believe. “The only Father we have is God himself,” they said (John 8:41). Jesus replied, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (v. 47).
Piper recalls how things “fell apart” for him before he “encountered God’s grace and the person of Jesus in a profound way.” When we allow God’s truth to transform our lives, we gain much more than the right answer. We introduce the world to Jesus.
Father, thank You that You receive anyone who turns to You in faith.
Faith is not accepting the fact of God but of receiving the life of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 12, 2016
Are You Listening to God?
They said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." —Exodus 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
“You speak with us,…but let not God speak with us….” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”
Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. The Place of Help, 1051 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 12, 2016
The Spiritual Cure You Can Die From - #7590
When my friends tell me they have a headache, they don't always get a lot of sympathy. I usually just say, "You know, pain always attacks at the weakest point." They really appreciate that! That helps. Well, actually, we all have our favorite headache remedy – one or two of this pill or that and we wait for the relief as those pills race through our system. I know they do. I saw it on a commercial once.
Do you remember the twisted act of individual terrorism that happened in 1982 when relief was turned into tragedy? Someone managed to put poison in some pain relief capsules and there were a series of sudden deaths. The victims had taken this brand of pain reliever. I remember reading about a flight attendant in particular who arrived home after a trip with a serious headache. She reached for a couple pain relief capsules. I'm sure she thought they would make her feel better soon. Instead, she died from them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Spiritual Cure You Can Die From."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 14:12. It is one of the most sobering, unsettling statements in the Bible. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." God's trying to warn us here that we can be on a spiritual road that feels right, that we really believe will give us what we've been hoping for, but it will lead us to death.
In 1997, just before Good Friday, America was stunned by the mass suicide of 39 members of the "Heaven's Gate" cult. Then we saw some of the video testimonials made by those people just before they took their own lives. They talked about how at peace they were, how happy to be taking this next step – suicide. And we learned that these were not some religious freaks; they were bright, competent people. They believed very sincerely that they were graduating to something better.
But listen to Jesus, the Son of God. He says, "I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved" (John 10:9). And it is Jesus who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." If you're counting on anything or anyone other than Jesus to get you to heaven, you're not going to make it. Sincerity doesn't make what you believe in right. That flight attendant sincerely believed that pain reliever would help her. Peaceful feelings don't validate what you're counting on either. The people who died from those poisoned capsules were expecting relief. Instead they died.
Our hearts are incurably spiritual. We need a spiritual answer, and we know it. We're looking for something bigger than ourselves, something that can give us significance, that can conquer the darkness inside of us; that can take us to something better someday. Ultimately, we are looking for a savior who can make us what we could never otherwise be and take us to a heaven we could never otherwise go to.
And there is only one Savior. There's only one person who died the death penalty for the sinning you and I have done, and that is Jesus Christ on the cross. And no belief, no religion, even if it's all about Jesus, can get you to heaven when you die. Only the Savior can do that. You may be on a beautiful spiritual road that looks right and feels right. But like pain relievers that contained poison it may lead you to death.
But Jesus is reaching out to you right now, "the way, the truth, and the life" man. He's urging you to put all your faith in Him; to make the Savior your Savior. Isn't this the day to do that? Why would you risk another day without Him? Today you can say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
The information you need to be sure you belong to Him is right at our website. Just go to ANewStory.com. Can you remember that? Let your new story begin today. The days that are B.C. (before Christ) in your life end today. And days living with Jesus all the way into eternity can begin right now right where you are.
Jesus died so you don't have to. Don't risk depending on a remedy that cannot cure sin, because only the Savior can do that. He is what your heart's been longing for all this time.
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