Max Lucado Daily: Our Family Reunion
The word good-bye. This word may be the challenge of your life. How does a person get through raging loneliness, strength-draining grief? The rest of the world has moved on and you ache to do the same. Take heart. God has served notice. All farewells are on the clock.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 begins, "The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God's trumpet blast! He will come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we'll be walking on air. And there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. Reassure one another with these words!"
Revelation 21:4 promises He will wipe every tear from our eyes. Isn't this our hope? God has promised a restoration of all things. All things-and that includes yours.
From You'll Get Through This
2 Corinthians 1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise to the God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Paul’s Change of Plans
12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity[b] and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas[c] and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 I call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
Footnotes:
2 Corinthians 1:8 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 8:1; 13:11.
2 Corinthians 1:12 Many manuscripts holiness
2 Corinthians 1:19 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, July 09, 2016
Read: 2 Peter 1:1–10
Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.
Don’t Put It Off
3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
INSIGHT:
Today’s passage reminds us that it is God who provides the power we need to live the Christian life (v. 3). One of the ways He does this is by giving us the Holy Spirit. The characteristics we display—the fruit of the indwelling Spirit—have strong implications for the way we live (vv. 5–9; see Gal. 5:22–23). But whose fruit is it? It is the Spirit’s. The Holy Spirit is the agent, the source, and the power that produces that fruit.
Adapted from Live Free: A Fresh Look at the Fruit of the Spirit.
Everything We Need and More
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. 2 Peter 1:3
In a field on the English countryside, G. K. Chesterton stood up from where he had been sitting and exploded with laughter. His outburst was so sudden and so loud that the cows could not take their eyes off him.
Just minutes before, the Christian writer and apologist had been miserable. That afternoon he had been wandering the hills, sketching pictures on brown paper using colored chalks. But he was dismayed to discover he had no white chalk, which he considered to be essential to his artwork. Soon, though, he began to laugh when he realized that the ground beneath him was porous limestone—the earth’s equivalent of white chalk. He broke off a piece and resumed drawing.
God has unlimited power.
Like Chesterton, who realized he “was sitting on an immense warehouse of white chalk,” believers have God’s unlimited spiritual resources within reach at all times. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him” (2 Peter 1:3).
Maybe you feel you are lacking some important element necessary for godliness such as faith, grace, or wisdom. If you know Christ, you have everything you need and more. Through Jesus, you have access to the Father—the one who graciously provides believers with all things.
Dear Lord, forgive me for overlooking Your power and trying to live in my own strength. I can’t do it. Thank You for providing everything I need.
God has unlimited power.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 09, 2016
Will You Examine Yourself?
Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord…" —Joshua 24:19
Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord…”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?
“The people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the Lord!’ ” (Joshua 24:21). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”
We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Friday, July 8, 2016
2 Chronicles 6 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: LET’S VIEW PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY
Let’s view people differently. Blemished, perhaps. Unfinished, for certain. Yet once rescued and restored, we may shed light, like the two stained-glass windows in my office. My brother found them on a junkyard heap. Some church had discarded them. A handy carpenter reclaimed them. He painted the chipped wood, repaired the worn frame, sealed the cracks in the colored glass. They’re not perfect. But if suspended where the sun passes through, they cascade multicolored light into the room.
The apostle Paul wrote, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. . .” (Colossians 1:13). You and I are going to come across some discarded people. Tossed out. Sometimes by a church. And we get to choose. Neglect or rescue? Label them or love them? We know Jesus’ choice. Just look at what he did with us!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 6
Solomon’s Dedication and Prayer
6 1-2 Then Solomon said,
God said he would dwell in a cloud,
But I’ve built a temple most splendid,
A place for you to live in forever.
3 The king then turned to face the congregation that had come together and blessed them:
4-6 “Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has done what he promised when he said, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel up from Egypt, I haven’t set apart one city among the tribes of Israel in which to build a temple to honor my Name, or chosen one person to be the leader. But now I have chosen both a city and a person: Jerusalem for honoring my Name and David to lead my people Israel.’
7-9 “My father David very much wanted to build a temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel, but God told him, ‘It was good that you wanted to build a temple in my honor—most commendable! But you are not the one to do it. Your son, who will carry on your dynasty, will build it for my Name.’
10-11 “And now you see the promise completed. God has done what he said he would do; I have succeeded David my father and now rule Israel; and I have built a temple to honor God, the God of Israel, and have secured a place for the Chest that holds the Covenant of God, the covenant he made with the people of Israel.”
12-16 Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took his position at the Altar of God and stretched out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze dais seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high and placed it inside the court; that’s where he now stood. Then he knelt in full view of the whole congregation, stretched his hands to heaven, and prayed:
God, O God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below, who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and unfailingly loves them while they sincerely live in obedience to your way. You kept your word to David my father, your promise. You did exactly what you promised—every detail. The proof is before us today!
Keep it up, God, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the one condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”
17 O God, God of Israel, let this all happen—
confirm and establish it!
18-21 Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built. Even so, I’m bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now. Keep your eyes open to this Temple day and night, this place you promised to dignify with your Name. And listen to the prayers that I pray in this place. And listen to your people Israel when they pray at this place.
Listen from your home in heaven
and when you hear, forgive.
22 When someone hurts a neighbor and promises to make things right, and then comes and repeats the promise before your Altar in this Temple,
23 Listen from heaven and act;
judge your servants, making the offender pay for the offense
And set the offended free,
dismissing all charges.
24-25 When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they’ve sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven;
forgive the sin of your people Israel,
return them to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.
26-27 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quit their sins because you have scourged them,
Listen from your home in heaven,
forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel.
Then start over with them;
train them to live right and well;
Send rain on the land
you gave as inheritance to your people.
28-31 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that’s prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, their hearts penetrated by disaster, hands and arms thrown out for help to this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven, forgive and reward us:
reward each life and circumstance,
For you know each life from the inside,
(you’re the only one with such inside knowledge!),
So they’ll live before you in lifelong reverence and believing
obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.
32 And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation—people are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonderworking power—and who come to pray to this Temple.
33 Listen from your home in heaven
and honor the prayers of the foreigner,
So that people all over the world
will know who you are and what you’re like,
And live in reverent obedience before you,
just as your own people Israel do,
So they’ll know that you personally
make this Temple that I’ve built what it is.
34-35 When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and The Temple I’ve built to honor your Name,
Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for
and do what is right for them.
36-39 When they sin against you—and they certainly will; there’s no one without sin!—and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy’s land, whether far or near, but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, “We’ve sinned; we’ve done wrong; we’ve been most wicked,” and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name,
Listen from your home in heaven
to their prayers desperate and devout;
Do what is best for them.
Forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40 And now, dear God, be alert and attentive to prayer, all prayer, offered in this place.
41-42 Up, God, enjoy your new place of quiet repose,
you and your mighty covenant Chest;
Dress your priests up in salvation clothes,
let your holy people celebrate goodness.
And don’t, God, back out on your anointed ones,
keep in mind the love promised to David your servant.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, July 08, 2016
Read: Matthew 7:12–23
“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Being and Doing
13-14 “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
15-20 “Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
21-23 “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading comes from what we call the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7). This was His first major teaching address and captured many of the values that are to be characteristic of a wisely lived life. Beginning with the Beatitudes (5:3–12), Christ expressed principles on witness (5:13–16), the law (5:17–20), relationships with people (5:21–48), relationship with God (6:1–18), attitudes toward possessions and needs (6:19–34), the need for self-examination (7:1–6), trust in God (7:7–14), and spiritual dangers (7:15–29). The Sermon on the Mount is a masterpiece of preaching, and its truths are timeless.
Our Chief Task
By Tim Gustafson
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
When a British scholar called on the world’s religions to work together for worldwide unity, people everywhere applauded. Pointing out that the major religions share a belief in the Golden Rule, she suggested, “The chief task of our time is to build a global society where people of all persuasions can live together in peace and harmony.”
Jesus cited the Golden Rule in His Sermon on the Mount: “Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matt. 7:12). In the same sermon, He said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (5:44). Putting those radical commands into practice would indeed go a long way toward peace and harmony. But immediately following the Golden Rule, Jesus called for discernment. “Watch out for false prophets,” He warned. “They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (7:15).
Our respect for others is vital to winning their respect.
Respect for others and discernment of the truth go hand in hand. If we have the truth, we have a message worth telling. But God extends to everyone the freedom to choose Him or reject Him. Our responsibility is to lovingly present the truth and respect the personal choice of others just as God does.
Our respect for others is vital to winning their respect. It’s an important step in gaining an opportunity to convey the message of Jesus, who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
Father in heaven, help us to see each individual as uniquely made in Your image and worthy of our love and respect. Show Your love through our lives in some small way today.
Love people; love the truth.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 08, 2016
Will To Be Faithful
…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… —Joshua 24:15
A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.
Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves…” (Joshua 24:22). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 08, 2016
The Wall You Cannot Afford - #7695
I was speaking for an Easter Sunrise Service in the Ozarks, and I saw something that seemed strangely out of place. In front of this church, there's a 10' section of a brick wall with a sign in front of it that says, "Berlin Wall." I was thousands of miles from Berlin, but here was a chunk of what used to be the most famous, and maybe the most infamous wall in the world. Many of us remember how the Berlin Wall represented for decades the Cold War division of our world into Communist and free. The Communists built it on the border between East Berlin and free West Berlin. In spite of that wall, many people still risked everything to scale it and escape to freedom. A few made it. Many died trying.
Then came that amazing day – a day few of us could have ever imagined – when the revolution taking place against Communist rule allowed Berliners to start tearing down that wall. All night long, they went after that wall with everything from sledge hammers to their bare hands. And then there were 100,000 Berliners, celebrating in the square, and they were chanting four incredible words over and over again, "The wall is gone! The wall is gone!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Wall You Cannot Afford."
For many of us, there's a wall that's still standing that is costing us the most important things in life. It's a wall between us and the God who made us. In fact, you probably didn't need me to tell you there's a wall. We know there's something between us and God. What we may not know is what that wall is keeping us from; like the meaning and purpose of your life. The only person who can show you why you're here is the One who put you here, and He's on the other side of the wall. The only love that can ultimately satisfy the loneliness in your heart is God's love. If we die with that wall still there, it's there forever. The Bible calls that hell.
The Bible describes the wall this way: "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). The bricks in the wall between me and God are all the countless times that I've chosen to do things my way instead of His way – my sins. Every wrong thing I've ever done, every lie I've ever told, every person I've ever hurt, every mean thing I've ever said, every selfish thing I've ever done, every dirty thing I've ever thought or done, and everything and everyone I've ever let be more important than God in my life. I'm cut off from God because of that sin-wall. And there's no way you or I can tear it down no matter how decent, how religious, or how sincere we are.
The only One who can do that is the very God we've rebelled against, and that's what He did the day His Son, Jesus, paid for our sin on the cross. For centuries, God's people, the Jews, had worshipped in a temple or tabernacle which had at its core, the Holy of Holies – God's place. Between them and that place was a curtain through which no man could ever go, except once a year when the High Priest entered to offer a sin sacrifice on behalf of the people. Our word for today from the Word of God, Matthew 27:51, describes the astonishing thing that happened the moment Jesus died: "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."
The curtain separating man from God could never have been removed by man from the bottom to the top. Only God could let us into His presence. So He split the curtain from top to bottom. There's the picture of what can happen to the wall between you and God this very day. God will tear it down forever if you'll bring the sins of your life to Jesus to be forgiven; if you'll tell Him you're putting your total trust in Him and what He did on the cross for you.
If that's what you want, I want to be all the help I can at this decisive moment in your life. That's why our website is there – ANewStory.com. I urge you, please go there today so you can be sure the wall is gone between you and Him.
This could be the day you celebrate the greatest, most liberating miracle of your life; the day you can finally say, "The wall is gone!"
Let’s view people differently. Blemished, perhaps. Unfinished, for certain. Yet once rescued and restored, we may shed light, like the two stained-glass windows in my office. My brother found them on a junkyard heap. Some church had discarded them. A handy carpenter reclaimed them. He painted the chipped wood, repaired the worn frame, sealed the cracks in the colored glass. They’re not perfect. But if suspended where the sun passes through, they cascade multicolored light into the room.
The apostle Paul wrote, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. . .” (Colossians 1:13). You and I are going to come across some discarded people. Tossed out. Sometimes by a church. And we get to choose. Neglect or rescue? Label them or love them? We know Jesus’ choice. Just look at what he did with us!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 6
Solomon’s Dedication and Prayer
6 1-2 Then Solomon said,
God said he would dwell in a cloud,
But I’ve built a temple most splendid,
A place for you to live in forever.
3 The king then turned to face the congregation that had come together and blessed them:
4-6 “Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has done what he promised when he said, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel up from Egypt, I haven’t set apart one city among the tribes of Israel in which to build a temple to honor my Name, or chosen one person to be the leader. But now I have chosen both a city and a person: Jerusalem for honoring my Name and David to lead my people Israel.’
7-9 “My father David very much wanted to build a temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel, but God told him, ‘It was good that you wanted to build a temple in my honor—most commendable! But you are not the one to do it. Your son, who will carry on your dynasty, will build it for my Name.’
10-11 “And now you see the promise completed. God has done what he said he would do; I have succeeded David my father and now rule Israel; and I have built a temple to honor God, the God of Israel, and have secured a place for the Chest that holds the Covenant of God, the covenant he made with the people of Israel.”
12-16 Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took his position at the Altar of God and stretched out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze dais seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high and placed it inside the court; that’s where he now stood. Then he knelt in full view of the whole congregation, stretched his hands to heaven, and prayed:
God, O God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below, who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and unfailingly loves them while they sincerely live in obedience to your way. You kept your word to David my father, your promise. You did exactly what you promised—every detail. The proof is before us today!
Keep it up, God, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the one condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”
17 O God, God of Israel, let this all happen—
confirm and establish it!
18-21 Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built. Even so, I’m bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now. Keep your eyes open to this Temple day and night, this place you promised to dignify with your Name. And listen to the prayers that I pray in this place. And listen to your people Israel when they pray at this place.
Listen from your home in heaven
and when you hear, forgive.
22 When someone hurts a neighbor and promises to make things right, and then comes and repeats the promise before your Altar in this Temple,
23 Listen from heaven and act;
judge your servants, making the offender pay for the offense
And set the offended free,
dismissing all charges.
24-25 When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they’ve sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven;
forgive the sin of your people Israel,
return them to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.
26-27 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quit their sins because you have scourged them,
Listen from your home in heaven,
forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel.
Then start over with them;
train them to live right and well;
Send rain on the land
you gave as inheritance to your people.
28-31 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that’s prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, their hearts penetrated by disaster, hands and arms thrown out for help to this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven, forgive and reward us:
reward each life and circumstance,
For you know each life from the inside,
(you’re the only one with such inside knowledge!),
So they’ll live before you in lifelong reverence and believing
obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.
32 And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation—people are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonderworking power—and who come to pray to this Temple.
33 Listen from your home in heaven
and honor the prayers of the foreigner,
So that people all over the world
will know who you are and what you’re like,
And live in reverent obedience before you,
just as your own people Israel do,
So they’ll know that you personally
make this Temple that I’ve built what it is.
34-35 When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and The Temple I’ve built to honor your Name,
Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for
and do what is right for them.
36-39 When they sin against you—and they certainly will; there’s no one without sin!—and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy’s land, whether far or near, but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, “We’ve sinned; we’ve done wrong; we’ve been most wicked,” and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name,
Listen from your home in heaven
to their prayers desperate and devout;
Do what is best for them.
Forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40 And now, dear God, be alert and attentive to prayer, all prayer, offered in this place.
41-42 Up, God, enjoy your new place of quiet repose,
you and your mighty covenant Chest;
Dress your priests up in salvation clothes,
let your holy people celebrate goodness.
And don’t, God, back out on your anointed ones,
keep in mind the love promised to David your servant.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, July 08, 2016
Read: Matthew 7:12–23
“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Being and Doing
13-14 “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
15-20 “Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
21-23 “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading comes from what we call the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7). This was His first major teaching address and captured many of the values that are to be characteristic of a wisely lived life. Beginning with the Beatitudes (5:3–12), Christ expressed principles on witness (5:13–16), the law (5:17–20), relationships with people (5:21–48), relationship with God (6:1–18), attitudes toward possessions and needs (6:19–34), the need for self-examination (7:1–6), trust in God (7:7–14), and spiritual dangers (7:15–29). The Sermon on the Mount is a masterpiece of preaching, and its truths are timeless.
Our Chief Task
By Tim Gustafson
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
When a British scholar called on the world’s religions to work together for worldwide unity, people everywhere applauded. Pointing out that the major religions share a belief in the Golden Rule, she suggested, “The chief task of our time is to build a global society where people of all persuasions can live together in peace and harmony.”
Jesus cited the Golden Rule in His Sermon on the Mount: “Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matt. 7:12). In the same sermon, He said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (5:44). Putting those radical commands into practice would indeed go a long way toward peace and harmony. But immediately following the Golden Rule, Jesus called for discernment. “Watch out for false prophets,” He warned. “They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (7:15).
Our respect for others is vital to winning their respect.
Respect for others and discernment of the truth go hand in hand. If we have the truth, we have a message worth telling. But God extends to everyone the freedom to choose Him or reject Him. Our responsibility is to lovingly present the truth and respect the personal choice of others just as God does.
Our respect for others is vital to winning their respect. It’s an important step in gaining an opportunity to convey the message of Jesus, who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
Father in heaven, help us to see each individual as uniquely made in Your image and worthy of our love and respect. Show Your love through our lives in some small way today.
Love people; love the truth.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 08, 2016
Will To Be Faithful
…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… —Joshua 24:15
A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.
Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves…” (Joshua 24:22). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 08, 2016
The Wall You Cannot Afford - #7695
I was speaking for an Easter Sunrise Service in the Ozarks, and I saw something that seemed strangely out of place. In front of this church, there's a 10' section of a brick wall with a sign in front of it that says, "Berlin Wall." I was thousands of miles from Berlin, but here was a chunk of what used to be the most famous, and maybe the most infamous wall in the world. Many of us remember how the Berlin Wall represented for decades the Cold War division of our world into Communist and free. The Communists built it on the border between East Berlin and free West Berlin. In spite of that wall, many people still risked everything to scale it and escape to freedom. A few made it. Many died trying.
Then came that amazing day – a day few of us could have ever imagined – when the revolution taking place against Communist rule allowed Berliners to start tearing down that wall. All night long, they went after that wall with everything from sledge hammers to their bare hands. And then there were 100,000 Berliners, celebrating in the square, and they were chanting four incredible words over and over again, "The wall is gone! The wall is gone!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Wall You Cannot Afford."
For many of us, there's a wall that's still standing that is costing us the most important things in life. It's a wall between us and the God who made us. In fact, you probably didn't need me to tell you there's a wall. We know there's something between us and God. What we may not know is what that wall is keeping us from; like the meaning and purpose of your life. The only person who can show you why you're here is the One who put you here, and He's on the other side of the wall. The only love that can ultimately satisfy the loneliness in your heart is God's love. If we die with that wall still there, it's there forever. The Bible calls that hell.
The Bible describes the wall this way: "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). The bricks in the wall between me and God are all the countless times that I've chosen to do things my way instead of His way – my sins. Every wrong thing I've ever done, every lie I've ever told, every person I've ever hurt, every mean thing I've ever said, every selfish thing I've ever done, every dirty thing I've ever thought or done, and everything and everyone I've ever let be more important than God in my life. I'm cut off from God because of that sin-wall. And there's no way you or I can tear it down no matter how decent, how religious, or how sincere we are.
The only One who can do that is the very God we've rebelled against, and that's what He did the day His Son, Jesus, paid for our sin on the cross. For centuries, God's people, the Jews, had worshipped in a temple or tabernacle which had at its core, the Holy of Holies – God's place. Between them and that place was a curtain through which no man could ever go, except once a year when the High Priest entered to offer a sin sacrifice on behalf of the people. Our word for today from the Word of God, Matthew 27:51, describes the astonishing thing that happened the moment Jesus died: "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."
The curtain separating man from God could never have been removed by man from the bottom to the top. Only God could let us into His presence. So He split the curtain from top to bottom. There's the picture of what can happen to the wall between you and God this very day. God will tear it down forever if you'll bring the sins of your life to Jesus to be forgiven; if you'll tell Him you're putting your total trust in Him and what He did on the cross for you.
If that's what you want, I want to be all the help I can at this decisive moment in your life. That's why our website is there – ANewStory.com. I urge you, please go there today so you can be sure the wall is gone between you and Him.
This could be the day you celebrate the greatest, most liberating miracle of your life; the day you can finally say, "The wall is gone!"
Thursday, July 7, 2016
2 Chronicles 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WE NEVER TRAVEL ALONE
Jesus loved people. He paid no heed to class or nationality, past sins or present accomplishments. The neediest and loneliest found a friend in Jesus.
. . .a woman described as scarcely clothed because of last night’s affair. Jesus defended her. (John 8:3)
. . .an unscrupulous tax collector, friendless because of misdealings. Jesus became his mentor. (Luke 19:2)
. . .a divorced woman drawing from the well in the heat of the day to avoid the stares of villagers. Jesus gave her his attention. (John 4:5)
Could a lying sham love this way? If Jesus’ intent was to trick people out of their money or worship, he did a pitifully poor job. He died utterly broke and virtually abandoned. What if Jesus really was, and is, the Son of God? If so, we can relish the wonderful truth that we never travel alone!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 5
That completed the work King Solomon did on The Temple of God. He then brought in the holy offerings of his father David, the silver and the gold and the artifacts. He placed them all in the treasury of God’s Temple.
Installing the Chest
2-3 Bringing all this to a climax, Solomon got all the leaders together in Jerusalem—all the chiefs of tribes and the family patriarchs—to move the Chest of the Covenant of God from Zion and install it in The Temple. All the men of Israel assembled before the king on the feast day of the seventh month, the Feast of Booths.
4-6 When all the leaders of Israel were ready, the Levites took up the Chest. They carried the Chest, the Tent of Meeting, and all the sacred things in the Tent used in worship. The priests, all Levites, carried them. King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel were there before the Chest, worshiping and sacrificing huge numbers of sheep and cattle—so many that no one could keep track.
7-10 The priests brought the Chest of the Covenant of God to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. The outspread wings of the cherubim formed a canopy over the Chest and its poles. The ends of the poles were so long that they stuck out from the entrance of the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable further out—they’re still there today. There was nothing in the Chest itself but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where God made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt.
11-13 The priests then left the Holy Place. All the priests there were consecrated, regardless of rank or assignment; and all the Levites who were musicians were there—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their families, dressed in their worship robes; the choir and orchestra assembled on the east side of the Altar and were joined by 120 priests blowing trumpets. The choir and trumpets made one voice of praise and thanks to God—orchestra and choir in perfect harmony singing and playing praise to God:
Yes! God is good!
His loyal love goes on forever!
13-14 Then a billowing cloud filled The Temple of God. The priests couldn’t even carry out their duties because of the cloud—the glory of God!—that filled The Temple of God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, July 07, 2016
Read: Deuteronomy 6:1–12
This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you’re about to cross into to possess. This is so that you’ll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I’m commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.
3 Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.
4 Attention, Israel!
God, our God! God the one and only!
5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!
6-9 Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
10-12 When God, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you’re going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn’t build, well-furnished houses you didn’t buy, come upon wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn’t plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don’t forget how you got there—God brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading contains the centerpiece of Israel’s doctrinal beliefs. It is called the Shema, based upon the Hebrew word for hear: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4–5).
Important Reminders
By David McCasland
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Deuteronomy 6:6
Anthropologist Anthony Graesch says that the outside of a refrigerator reveals what’s important to people. During a research study of families in Los Angeles, Graesch and his colleagues noted an average of 52 items posted on the fridge—including school schedules, family photos, children’s drawings, and magnets. Graesch calls the refrigerator “a repository of family memory.”
The Lord may use a tangible item like a photo, keepsake, or Scripture verse to remind us of His faithfulness and the call to obey His Word. When Moses addressed the Israelites just before they entered the land of Canaan, he urged them to keep all the commands God had given them. “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road . . . . Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deut. 6:7, 9).
Daily blessings are reminders of God's faithfulness.
Giving God’s Word a visible place of honor in their homes and lives was a powerful daily reminder to “be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you . . . out of the land of slavery” (v. 12).
Today the Lord encourages us to remember that as we obey His Word, we can depend on His faithful care for all that lies ahead.
Father, we are grateful for every reminder of Your faithfulness and loving care. May we honor You by obeying Your Word.
How do you nurture your relationship with the Lord? Share with us at Facebook.com/ourdailybread
Daily blessings are reminders of God's faithfulness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 07, 2016
All Efforts of Worth and Excellence Are Difficult
Enter by the narrow gate….Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life…. —Matthew 7:13-14
If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in— it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory?
God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.
Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10), and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly. Disciples Indeed, 393 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 07, 2016
God's Big 'Do Not Touch' Sign - #7694
For several years, our offices were located on the third floor of an old factory building. An alley ran behind our building, and there was an antique elevator that was useful if you had to transport things to that third floor. If you parked back there, you had to walk by this big old electrical thing that was surrounded by a chain link fence – with a sign that had these words in big print: "High voltage. Do not touch." I personally never knew anybody who disregarded those instructions. I certainly was never tempted to.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Big 'Do Not Touch' Sign."
When there's something really hazardous, there's often a "do not touch" sign on it, put there by people who know how much harm it can do. God has put a sign like that on some things that might not appear harmful on the outside, but which carry deadly spiritual voltage.
One of His "do not touch" signs is in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 18, beginning with verse 10. God says, "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son in the fire, who practices divination (By the way, the dictionary says divination is "attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by supernatural means"). Then God says, there should be "no one who practices sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead." Then, just in case you think God takes any of this lightly, the Bible has this sobering conclusion: "Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." That is strong language!
It's obvious that God hates this stuff, because all the non-God approaches to the supernatural are controlled by the devil. Now as you heard that list, you may have thought about how much those "do not touch" things are all throughout our culture, with a sign on them that says, "Touch me. I'm harmless. I'm exciting. I'm just something to do for fun, to explore."
It can be a slumber party séance, a Ouija board, consulting a horoscope, or crystals. You can find sorcery and witchcraft in compelling fantasy games, in best-selling books, in popular TV shows, and in blockbuster movies that we're told are a "must" for every child to see and every parent to take their child to. We're told it's good for their imagination and it's harmless fantasy.
Read those verses again and see if God agrees. He calls all the supernatural stuff that isn't from Him "detestable". And having dealt with a lot of young people who have ended up unwittingly trapped in occult darkness, I know some of why God hates it. He knows how Satan works. The enemy never tells you about what's in his deadly package. He just gets you interested in that bright and seemingly irresistible wrapping paper. The devil is simply looking for a foot in the door. And for many, that opening has been just an "innocent" curiosity about the other side, a little fantasy experience or simple experimentation that opened a door that should have always remained locked. That's why God says in Ephesians 5:11, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
The occult, the dark side, the "supernatural without God" – they're just not anything to flirt with or to mess with. We have nothing to lose from avoiding them and so much to lose potentially by exposing ourselves or our children to them. It is spiritual high voltage, no matter how interesting, no matter how inviting, no matter how popular it looks. And when God says, "Do not touch", He means it!
Jesus loved people. He paid no heed to class or nationality, past sins or present accomplishments. The neediest and loneliest found a friend in Jesus.
. . .a woman described as scarcely clothed because of last night’s affair. Jesus defended her. (John 8:3)
. . .an unscrupulous tax collector, friendless because of misdealings. Jesus became his mentor. (Luke 19:2)
. . .a divorced woman drawing from the well in the heat of the day to avoid the stares of villagers. Jesus gave her his attention. (John 4:5)
Could a lying sham love this way? If Jesus’ intent was to trick people out of their money or worship, he did a pitifully poor job. He died utterly broke and virtually abandoned. What if Jesus really was, and is, the Son of God? If so, we can relish the wonderful truth that we never travel alone!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 5
That completed the work King Solomon did on The Temple of God. He then brought in the holy offerings of his father David, the silver and the gold and the artifacts. He placed them all in the treasury of God’s Temple.
Installing the Chest
2-3 Bringing all this to a climax, Solomon got all the leaders together in Jerusalem—all the chiefs of tribes and the family patriarchs—to move the Chest of the Covenant of God from Zion and install it in The Temple. All the men of Israel assembled before the king on the feast day of the seventh month, the Feast of Booths.
4-6 When all the leaders of Israel were ready, the Levites took up the Chest. They carried the Chest, the Tent of Meeting, and all the sacred things in the Tent used in worship. The priests, all Levites, carried them. King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel were there before the Chest, worshiping and sacrificing huge numbers of sheep and cattle—so many that no one could keep track.
7-10 The priests brought the Chest of the Covenant of God to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. The outspread wings of the cherubim formed a canopy over the Chest and its poles. The ends of the poles were so long that they stuck out from the entrance of the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable further out—they’re still there today. There was nothing in the Chest itself but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where God made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt.
11-13 The priests then left the Holy Place. All the priests there were consecrated, regardless of rank or assignment; and all the Levites who were musicians were there—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their families, dressed in their worship robes; the choir and orchestra assembled on the east side of the Altar and were joined by 120 priests blowing trumpets. The choir and trumpets made one voice of praise and thanks to God—orchestra and choir in perfect harmony singing and playing praise to God:
Yes! God is good!
His loyal love goes on forever!
13-14 Then a billowing cloud filled The Temple of God. The priests couldn’t even carry out their duties because of the cloud—the glory of God!—that filled The Temple of God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, July 07, 2016
Read: Deuteronomy 6:1–12
This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you’re about to cross into to possess. This is so that you’ll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I’m commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.
3 Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.
4 Attention, Israel!
God, our God! God the one and only!
5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!
6-9 Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
10-12 When God, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you’re going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn’t build, well-furnished houses you didn’t buy, come upon wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn’t plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don’t forget how you got there—God brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading contains the centerpiece of Israel’s doctrinal beliefs. It is called the Shema, based upon the Hebrew word for hear: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4–5).
Important Reminders
By David McCasland
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Deuteronomy 6:6
Anthropologist Anthony Graesch says that the outside of a refrigerator reveals what’s important to people. During a research study of families in Los Angeles, Graesch and his colleagues noted an average of 52 items posted on the fridge—including school schedules, family photos, children’s drawings, and magnets. Graesch calls the refrigerator “a repository of family memory.”
The Lord may use a tangible item like a photo, keepsake, or Scripture verse to remind us of His faithfulness and the call to obey His Word. When Moses addressed the Israelites just before they entered the land of Canaan, he urged them to keep all the commands God had given them. “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road . . . . Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deut. 6:7, 9).
Daily blessings are reminders of God's faithfulness.
Giving God’s Word a visible place of honor in their homes and lives was a powerful daily reminder to “be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you . . . out of the land of slavery” (v. 12).
Today the Lord encourages us to remember that as we obey His Word, we can depend on His faithful care for all that lies ahead.
Father, we are grateful for every reminder of Your faithfulness and loving care. May we honor You by obeying Your Word.
How do you nurture your relationship with the Lord? Share with us at Facebook.com/ourdailybread
Daily blessings are reminders of God's faithfulness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 07, 2016
All Efforts of Worth and Excellence Are Difficult
Enter by the narrow gate….Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life…. —Matthew 7:13-14
If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in— it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory?
God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.
Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10), and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly. Disciples Indeed, 393 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 07, 2016
God's Big 'Do Not Touch' Sign - #7694
For several years, our offices were located on the third floor of an old factory building. An alley ran behind our building, and there was an antique elevator that was useful if you had to transport things to that third floor. If you parked back there, you had to walk by this big old electrical thing that was surrounded by a chain link fence – with a sign that had these words in big print: "High voltage. Do not touch." I personally never knew anybody who disregarded those instructions. I certainly was never tempted to.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Big 'Do Not Touch' Sign."
When there's something really hazardous, there's often a "do not touch" sign on it, put there by people who know how much harm it can do. God has put a sign like that on some things that might not appear harmful on the outside, but which carry deadly spiritual voltage.
One of His "do not touch" signs is in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 18, beginning with verse 10. God says, "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son in the fire, who practices divination (By the way, the dictionary says divination is "attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by supernatural means"). Then God says, there should be "no one who practices sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead." Then, just in case you think God takes any of this lightly, the Bible has this sobering conclusion: "Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." That is strong language!
It's obvious that God hates this stuff, because all the non-God approaches to the supernatural are controlled by the devil. Now as you heard that list, you may have thought about how much those "do not touch" things are all throughout our culture, with a sign on them that says, "Touch me. I'm harmless. I'm exciting. I'm just something to do for fun, to explore."
It can be a slumber party séance, a Ouija board, consulting a horoscope, or crystals. You can find sorcery and witchcraft in compelling fantasy games, in best-selling books, in popular TV shows, and in blockbuster movies that we're told are a "must" for every child to see and every parent to take their child to. We're told it's good for their imagination and it's harmless fantasy.
Read those verses again and see if God agrees. He calls all the supernatural stuff that isn't from Him "detestable". And having dealt with a lot of young people who have ended up unwittingly trapped in occult darkness, I know some of why God hates it. He knows how Satan works. The enemy never tells you about what's in his deadly package. He just gets you interested in that bright and seemingly irresistible wrapping paper. The devil is simply looking for a foot in the door. And for many, that opening has been just an "innocent" curiosity about the other side, a little fantasy experience or simple experimentation that opened a door that should have always remained locked. That's why God says in Ephesians 5:11, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
The occult, the dark side, the "supernatural without God" – they're just not anything to flirt with or to mess with. We have nothing to lose from avoiding them and so much to lose potentially by exposing ourselves or our children to them. It is spiritual high voltage, no matter how interesting, no matter how inviting, no matter how popular it looks. And when God says, "Do not touch", He means it!
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
2 Chronicles 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: EVERYTHING YOU NEED
The psalmist says, “I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me” (Psalm 16:8).
Need more energy? You have it. More kindness? It’s yours. Could you use more self-control? Or self-confidence? Just press the gas pedal. Scripture reminds us, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3). And that life begins with a paradigm shift.
Like Joshua and the Israelites marching into Canaan, you do not fight FOR victory. You fight FROM victory. In the wilderness you strive, but in Canaan you trust. In the wilderness you seek God’s attention, but in the promised land, you already have God’s favor. In the wilderness you doubt your salvation, but in Canaan you know you are saved. You move from wanting to have—to believing you already do!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 4
Temple Furnishings
4 He made the Bronze Altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and ten feet high.
2-5 He made a Sea—an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. Just under the rim, there were two parallel bands of something like bulls, ten to each foot and a half. The figures were cast in one piece with the Sea. The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. All the bulls faced outward and supported the Sea on their hindquarters. The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or a lily. It held about 18,000 gallons.
6 He made ten Washbasins, five set on the right and five on the left, for rinsing the things used for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The priests washed themselves in the Sea.
7 He made ten gold Lampstands, following the specified pattern, and placed five on the right and five on the left.
8 He made ten tables and set five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 He built a Courtyard especially for the priests and then the great court and doors for the court. The doors were covered with bronze.
10 He placed the Sea on the right side of The Temple at the southeast corner.
11-16 He also made ash buckets, shovels, and bowls.
And that about wrapped it up: Huram completed the work he had contracted to do for King Solomon:
two pillars;
two bowl-shaped capitals for the tops of the pillars;
two decorative filigrees for the capitals;
four hundred pomegranates for the filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree);
ten washstands with their basins;
one Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
miscellaneous buckets, forks, shovels, and bowls.
16-18 All these artifacts that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used.
19-22 Solomon was also responsible for the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God:
the gold Altar;
the tables that held the Bread of the Presence;
the Lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to be lighted
before the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies;
the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs (all solid gold);
the gold wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers;
the gold doors of The Temple, doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors to the main sanctuary.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Read: 1 Timothy 4:6–11
1 Timothy 4:6-14The Message (MSG)
6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.
11-14 Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.
INSIGHT:
The Greek word translated godliness in verse 8 is eusebeia. It is a noun that means both right action and right belief. In today’s passage Paul is telling Timothy that both believing and doing right (godliness) have value for all aspects of our lives.
Strengthening the Heart
By David Roper
It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace. Hebrews 13:9
The neighborhood fitness center where I have worked out for years closed down last month, and I had to join a new gym. The former place was a warm, friendly facility, patronized by those who liked to socialize while they worked out. We hardly ever broke a sweat. The new gym is a hard-core facility filled with serious men and women, earnestly invested in building better bodies. I watch these people strain and toil. Their bodies look strong, but I wonder if their hearts are being strengthened with grace.
The heart is a muscle—the muscle that keeps the other muscles going. It’s good to build and tone our other muscles, but the essential thing is doing whatever keeps the heart strong.
God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.
So it is with our spiritual heart. We strengthen and tone the heart through the Word of truth by receiving its message of God’s goodness and grace. Keeping our spiritual heart strong and fit must be our first priority, the one thing we do above all others.
Paul would agree: "Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:7–8 esv).
May I feed on Your goodness every day, Lord, so my heart will grow stronger through the Spirit.
God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Visions Becoming Reality
The parched ground shall become a pool… —Isaiah 35:7
We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.
Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.
God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.
The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
The Cost of Not Changing - #7693
Once you've tasted Vermont maple syrup, all the store brands taste like goo! So my ears perked up one night when NBC Nightly News started talking about the troubles that Vermont maple farmers were having that year. They focused on one farmer who lived on a farm where they've been mapling for eight generations! This farmer had known that the maple trees were ready to be tapped for their valuable sap during the first week of March. But recent weather changes had suddenly thrown that predictable harvest schedule into total confusion.
The previous year, he and his son nearly lost a third of their normal maple sap because it was either too soon or too late to capture it. For all those eight generations, this family had used one time-honored method of tapping their maple trees; a spout on the tree and a bucket underneath. But there's this new technology, I guess, that enables a farmer to know when the sap is ready and to capture it in that brief window. But tubes and vacuums seemed pretty foreign to a man who'd known one way that worked all his life and for generations. But after all they lost last year, his son finally convinced him. His son's comment was, "It takes some coercion to get him to go along with new ideas, for sure." But the veteran farmer did it. The NBC News reporter identified why. He would do anything to keep the farm for his son. In the reporter's words, "Even if it means doing what he hates the most—changing his old ways."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cost of Not Changing."
When the method you know, and the method you're comfortable with is costing you the harvest, you change or you lose the harvest. How can that lesson be lost on those of us who have joined Jesus in what He came to earth to do—seeking and saving the lost? Jesus actually called the work of bringing people to Him harvest. And honestly, there's a harvest many Christians and many ministries may be losing because we hate to change.
While North American Christians have built this massive Christian subculture, we've been losing our culture. And the lost people around us have changed dramatically. They don't know God's rules; they don't know God's Book; they don't know the religious words we use; they don't ever plan to go to any of our religious meetings. But in many cases, we're deciding what we'll do to reach them based on what we're comfortable doing; what we're used to. But since when does a rescuer decide what he's going to do based on what's comfortable for him? He does whatever he has to do to save that dying person, and it's seldom comfortable!
Listen to God's greatest harvester, the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:22, our word for today from the Word of God. "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." Just before this, he's told us that when he's with the Jews, he comes in a Jewish package; when he's with the Gentiles, he's as Gentile as God will allow him to be; when he's with those who need an uncomplicated presentation of Christ, he becomes what they need. All the time making sure he is never "ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" (Romans 1:16) as he said.
And Paul followed a Savior who constantly changed the package and the presentation to break through to changing audiences. But they never changed the product! They never compromised the message! Like that Vermont farmer, we're harvesting the same product, but we've got to be willing to change the way we get it as much as the harvest requires.
So are you willing to change so we can bring in the harvest of lost lives? Will you, for example, learn to tell them about Jesus in their words like a missionary does in a foreign culture, and not just speak our Christianese? Are you willing to use the kind of program, the kind of music, the kind of package that speaks the language of the person you're trying to reach? Are you willing to reach them in locations where they're comfortable and maybe you're not? Are you willing to introduce the Gospel by starting with needs they care about?
We might be talking change here; it's what we hate to do the most. But the cost of not changing is much higher than the cost of changing-souls lost forever maybe because we wouldn't change.
The psalmist says, “I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me” (Psalm 16:8).
Need more energy? You have it. More kindness? It’s yours. Could you use more self-control? Or self-confidence? Just press the gas pedal. Scripture reminds us, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3). And that life begins with a paradigm shift.
Like Joshua and the Israelites marching into Canaan, you do not fight FOR victory. You fight FROM victory. In the wilderness you strive, but in Canaan you trust. In the wilderness you seek God’s attention, but in the promised land, you already have God’s favor. In the wilderness you doubt your salvation, but in Canaan you know you are saved. You move from wanting to have—to believing you already do!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 4
Temple Furnishings
4 He made the Bronze Altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and ten feet high.
2-5 He made a Sea—an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. Just under the rim, there were two parallel bands of something like bulls, ten to each foot and a half. The figures were cast in one piece with the Sea. The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. All the bulls faced outward and supported the Sea on their hindquarters. The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or a lily. It held about 18,000 gallons.
6 He made ten Washbasins, five set on the right and five on the left, for rinsing the things used for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The priests washed themselves in the Sea.
7 He made ten gold Lampstands, following the specified pattern, and placed five on the right and five on the left.
8 He made ten tables and set five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 He built a Courtyard especially for the priests and then the great court and doors for the court. The doors were covered with bronze.
10 He placed the Sea on the right side of The Temple at the southeast corner.
11-16 He also made ash buckets, shovels, and bowls.
And that about wrapped it up: Huram completed the work he had contracted to do for King Solomon:
two pillars;
two bowl-shaped capitals for the tops of the pillars;
two decorative filigrees for the capitals;
four hundred pomegranates for the filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree);
ten washstands with their basins;
one Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
miscellaneous buckets, forks, shovels, and bowls.
16-18 All these artifacts that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used.
19-22 Solomon was also responsible for the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God:
the gold Altar;
the tables that held the Bread of the Presence;
the Lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to be lighted
before the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies;
the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs (all solid gold);
the gold wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers;
the gold doors of The Temple, doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors to the main sanctuary.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Read: 1 Timothy 4:6–11
1 Timothy 4:6-14The Message (MSG)
6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.
11-14 Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.
INSIGHT:
The Greek word translated godliness in verse 8 is eusebeia. It is a noun that means both right action and right belief. In today’s passage Paul is telling Timothy that both believing and doing right (godliness) have value for all aspects of our lives.
Strengthening the Heart
By David Roper
It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace. Hebrews 13:9
The neighborhood fitness center where I have worked out for years closed down last month, and I had to join a new gym. The former place was a warm, friendly facility, patronized by those who liked to socialize while they worked out. We hardly ever broke a sweat. The new gym is a hard-core facility filled with serious men and women, earnestly invested in building better bodies. I watch these people strain and toil. Their bodies look strong, but I wonder if their hearts are being strengthened with grace.
The heart is a muscle—the muscle that keeps the other muscles going. It’s good to build and tone our other muscles, but the essential thing is doing whatever keeps the heart strong.
God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.
So it is with our spiritual heart. We strengthen and tone the heart through the Word of truth by receiving its message of God’s goodness and grace. Keeping our spiritual heart strong and fit must be our first priority, the one thing we do above all others.
Paul would agree: "Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:7–8 esv).
May I feed on Your goodness every day, Lord, so my heart will grow stronger through the Spirit.
God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Visions Becoming Reality
The parched ground shall become a pool… —Isaiah 35:7
We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.
Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.
God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.
The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
The Cost of Not Changing - #7693
Once you've tasted Vermont maple syrup, all the store brands taste like goo! So my ears perked up one night when NBC Nightly News started talking about the troubles that Vermont maple farmers were having that year. They focused on one farmer who lived on a farm where they've been mapling for eight generations! This farmer had known that the maple trees were ready to be tapped for their valuable sap during the first week of March. But recent weather changes had suddenly thrown that predictable harvest schedule into total confusion.
The previous year, he and his son nearly lost a third of their normal maple sap because it was either too soon or too late to capture it. For all those eight generations, this family had used one time-honored method of tapping their maple trees; a spout on the tree and a bucket underneath. But there's this new technology, I guess, that enables a farmer to know when the sap is ready and to capture it in that brief window. But tubes and vacuums seemed pretty foreign to a man who'd known one way that worked all his life and for generations. But after all they lost last year, his son finally convinced him. His son's comment was, "It takes some coercion to get him to go along with new ideas, for sure." But the veteran farmer did it. The NBC News reporter identified why. He would do anything to keep the farm for his son. In the reporter's words, "Even if it means doing what he hates the most—changing his old ways."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cost of Not Changing."
When the method you know, and the method you're comfortable with is costing you the harvest, you change or you lose the harvest. How can that lesson be lost on those of us who have joined Jesus in what He came to earth to do—seeking and saving the lost? Jesus actually called the work of bringing people to Him harvest. And honestly, there's a harvest many Christians and many ministries may be losing because we hate to change.
While North American Christians have built this massive Christian subculture, we've been losing our culture. And the lost people around us have changed dramatically. They don't know God's rules; they don't know God's Book; they don't know the religious words we use; they don't ever plan to go to any of our religious meetings. But in many cases, we're deciding what we'll do to reach them based on what we're comfortable doing; what we're used to. But since when does a rescuer decide what he's going to do based on what's comfortable for him? He does whatever he has to do to save that dying person, and it's seldom comfortable!
Listen to God's greatest harvester, the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:22, our word for today from the Word of God. "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." Just before this, he's told us that when he's with the Jews, he comes in a Jewish package; when he's with the Gentiles, he's as Gentile as God will allow him to be; when he's with those who need an uncomplicated presentation of Christ, he becomes what they need. All the time making sure he is never "ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" (Romans 1:16) as he said.
And Paul followed a Savior who constantly changed the package and the presentation to break through to changing audiences. But they never changed the product! They never compromised the message! Like that Vermont farmer, we're harvesting the same product, but we've got to be willing to change the way we get it as much as the harvest requires.
So are you willing to change so we can bring in the harvest of lost lives? Will you, for example, learn to tell them about Jesus in their words like a missionary does in a foreign culture, and not just speak our Christianese? Are you willing to use the kind of program, the kind of music, the kind of package that speaks the language of the person you're trying to reach? Are you willing to reach them in locations where they're comfortable and maybe you're not? Are you willing to introduce the Gospel by starting with needs they care about?
We might be talking change here; it's what we hate to do the most. But the cost of not changing is much higher than the cost of changing-souls lost forever maybe because we wouldn't change.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
2 Chronicles 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: CHANGING HEARTS
Some years ago I underwent a heart procedure. My heartbeat had the regularity of a telegraph operator sending Morse code. The cardiologist inserted two cables in my heart, one was a camera, the other was an ablation tool. To “ablate” is to burn. Yes, burn, cauterize, singe, brand. And to use my doctor’s coinage, it would destroy the “misbehaving” parts of my heart. I tried to be witty. “As long as you’re in there, could you take your little blowtorch to some of my greed, selfishness, and guilt?” He smiled, “Sorry, that’s out of my pay grade.”
Indeed it was, but it’s not out of God’s. He is in the business of changing hearts. We’d be wrong to think it happens overnight. But we’d be equally wrong to assume change never happens at all. “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared,” the apostle Paul wrote. (Titus 2:11). And it has appeared to change our lives.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 3
1-4 So Solomon broke ground, launched construction of the house of God in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where God had appeared to his father David. The precise site, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, had been designated by David. He broke ground on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high.
4-7 The interior was gold-plated. He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.
8-9 He made the Holy of Holies a cube, thirty feet wide, long, and high. It was veneered with six hundred talents (something over twenty-two tons) of gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels (a little over a pound). The upper rooms were also veneered in gold.
10-13 He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall.
14 He fashioned the curtain of violet, purple, and crimson fabric and worked a cherub design into it.
15-17 He made two huge free-standing pillars, each fifty-two feet tall, their capitals extending another seven and a half feet. The top of each pillar was set off with an elaborate filigree of chains, like necklaces, from which hung a hundred pomegranates. He placed the pillars in front of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability).
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Read: Exodus 17:8–16
Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: “Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding God’s staff.”
10-13 Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.
14 God said to Moses, “Write this up as a reminder to Joshua, to keep it before him, because I will most certainly wipe the very memory of Amalek off the face of the Earth.”
15-16 Moses built an altar and named it “God My Banner.” He said,
Salute God’s rule!
God at war with Amalek
Always and forever!
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading starts with what may seem to be two insignificant details: “The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.” The Amalekites were distant cousins—the descendants of Abraham and Isaac through Esau (Gen. 25:23; 36:12, 16). And Rephidim was the place where the Israelites grumbled against Moses and regretted their decision to leave Egypt (Ex. 17:1–7). This circumstance—between slavery and inheritance—forced the Israelites to face their doubts and questions. Is God with us? Can God deliver us? As the battle raged, it became apparent that they were victorious when Moses held high the staff of God—the object representing God’s power and presence. God had not abandoned them and He was able to give them victory.
Coming Alongside
By Anne Cetas
Aaron and Hur held [Moses’s] hands up—one on one side, one on the other. Exodus 17:12
Her thirty classmates and their parents watched as Mi’Asya nervously walked to the podium to speak at her fifth grade graduation ceremony. When the principal adjusted the microphone to Mi’Asya’s height, she turned her back to the microphone and the audience. The crowd whispered words of encouragement: “Come on, honey, you can do it.” But she didn’t budge. Then a classmate walked to the front and stood by her side. With the principal on one side of Mi’Asya and her friend on the other, the three read her speech together. What a beautiful example of support!
Moses needed help and support in the middle of a battle with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:10–16). “As long as Moses held up his hands [with the staff of God in his hands], the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning” (v. 11). When Aaron and Hur saw what was happening, they stood beside Moses, “one on one side, one on the other,” and supported his arms when he grew tired. With their support, victory came by sunset.
We all need the support of one another on our shared journey of faith.
We all need the support of one another. As brothers and sisters in the family of God, we have so many opportunities to encourage one another on our shared journey of faith. And God is right here in our midst giving us His grace to do that.
Who could you help today? Or do you need support yourself? Who could you ask?
Share with us at odb.org
Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Don’t Plan Without God
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5
Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.
In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.
Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love…thinks no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.
Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not….” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Ending Well - #7692
Kobe Bryant decided to set off some fireworks for his final game in the NBA. Sixty points carried his team to an unlikely and dramatic victory! That's a pretty good way to wrap up 20 seasons and five championship rings! Kobe Bryant finished well, and he went out in a blaze of glory.
But so is my friend Kenny. Not on a basketball court. It was in his hospice room. The doctors said he didn't have much more time; walking as Psalm 23:4, our word for today from the Word of God says, "through the valley of the shadow of death." It actually begins that Psalm by saying, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Yes, though I walk through the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me."
His wife, Mary Ann, spoke to me about his painful journey with a strength that could only be described as supernatural. She told me, "Ron, for a long time, one of my greatest fears has been living life without Kenny." I mean, anybody who knows them knows they have had a very true and very obvious lifetime love.
But her report was amazing. She said, "Ron, we're doing so well. God has moved in amazing ways. Kenny is calm and comfortable. I feel so much peace and calm. He's ready to go with Jesus and I'm ready to let him go." Then she summed it all up in one word – miracles. As the thing she had feared so long was now looming as a reality, a peace that was not of this earth flooded into her soul. And suddenly, she had grace to say, "He's Yours, Lord. I release him to You." Miracle!
But what she told me about Kenny was what really wiped me out. She described the scene in his room: grandchildren, children singing and talking and laughing. And the hospice staff said they had seldom, if ever, seen anyone facing death with this kind of peace, confidence and even joy. Then describing what his grandchildren were experiencing, she made this very moving observation: "He's teaching them how to die." That's legacy.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Ending Well."
I had a friend who said, "Ron, if people who don't know Jesus want to know the difference He makes, let them come to our funerals." Yes, or our hospice room. Kenny and Mary Ann would tell you in a word why death had lost its dread – Jesus. Years ago, they heard how the Son of God bled out His life so we could live forever, because there was no other way we could. The Bible sure makes that clear. It says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have cut you off from God." Sinless God. Perfect heaven. Sinful us.
Kenny and Mary Ann told me that they had been religious folks. And they thought that would get them to heaven like most folks do. Until they realized that no amount of goodness could pay the death penalty that sin requires. Somebody had to die. Somebody did. In the Bible's words, "Christ died for us sinners; taking our hell so we could go to His heaven." (Romans 5:6).
So when Jesus walked out of His grave that Easter morning, He guaranteed eternal life to everybody who belongs to Him. And my friend, Kenny? Yep, someone who belongs to Jesus forever. And he did in the face of death what he did with his whole life – radiating a living Christ.
Today if you'd like to have that assurance that when you die you are ready for eternity whenever it comes, however it comes, your sins are forgiven, they've been erased from God's Book, nothing would keep you out of heaven, you need today to say, "Jesus, you are the Savior of the world. But beginning today, you are my Savior from my sin. I'm putting all my trust in You."
I would love to help you get there and make sure you got it done. That's what our website is for. I invite you to go there and meet me there – ANewStory.com.
My friend was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But as it says in the Psalm, he "feared no evil" because, "You are with me" (Psalm 23:4). Doing life with Jesus. Doing eternity with Jesus. That's what I call going out in a blaze of glory.
Some years ago I underwent a heart procedure. My heartbeat had the regularity of a telegraph operator sending Morse code. The cardiologist inserted two cables in my heart, one was a camera, the other was an ablation tool. To “ablate” is to burn. Yes, burn, cauterize, singe, brand. And to use my doctor’s coinage, it would destroy the “misbehaving” parts of my heart. I tried to be witty. “As long as you’re in there, could you take your little blowtorch to some of my greed, selfishness, and guilt?” He smiled, “Sorry, that’s out of my pay grade.”
Indeed it was, but it’s not out of God’s. He is in the business of changing hearts. We’d be wrong to think it happens overnight. But we’d be equally wrong to assume change never happens at all. “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared,” the apostle Paul wrote. (Titus 2:11). And it has appeared to change our lives.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 3
1-4 So Solomon broke ground, launched construction of the house of God in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where God had appeared to his father David. The precise site, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, had been designated by David. He broke ground on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high.
4-7 The interior was gold-plated. He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.
8-9 He made the Holy of Holies a cube, thirty feet wide, long, and high. It was veneered with six hundred talents (something over twenty-two tons) of gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels (a little over a pound). The upper rooms were also veneered in gold.
10-13 He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall.
14 He fashioned the curtain of violet, purple, and crimson fabric and worked a cherub design into it.
15-17 He made two huge free-standing pillars, each fifty-two feet tall, their capitals extending another seven and a half feet. The top of each pillar was set off with an elaborate filigree of chains, like necklaces, from which hung a hundred pomegranates. He placed the pillars in front of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability).
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Read: Exodus 17:8–16
Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: “Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding God’s staff.”
10-13 Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.
14 God said to Moses, “Write this up as a reminder to Joshua, to keep it before him, because I will most certainly wipe the very memory of Amalek off the face of the Earth.”
15-16 Moses built an altar and named it “God My Banner.” He said,
Salute God’s rule!
God at war with Amalek
Always and forever!
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading starts with what may seem to be two insignificant details: “The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.” The Amalekites were distant cousins—the descendants of Abraham and Isaac through Esau (Gen. 25:23; 36:12, 16). And Rephidim was the place where the Israelites grumbled against Moses and regretted their decision to leave Egypt (Ex. 17:1–7). This circumstance—between slavery and inheritance—forced the Israelites to face their doubts and questions. Is God with us? Can God deliver us? As the battle raged, it became apparent that they were victorious when Moses held high the staff of God—the object representing God’s power and presence. God had not abandoned them and He was able to give them victory.
Coming Alongside
By Anne Cetas
Aaron and Hur held [Moses’s] hands up—one on one side, one on the other. Exodus 17:12
Her thirty classmates and their parents watched as Mi’Asya nervously walked to the podium to speak at her fifth grade graduation ceremony. When the principal adjusted the microphone to Mi’Asya’s height, she turned her back to the microphone and the audience. The crowd whispered words of encouragement: “Come on, honey, you can do it.” But she didn’t budge. Then a classmate walked to the front and stood by her side. With the principal on one side of Mi’Asya and her friend on the other, the three read her speech together. What a beautiful example of support!
Moses needed help and support in the middle of a battle with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:10–16). “As long as Moses held up his hands [with the staff of God in his hands], the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning” (v. 11). When Aaron and Hur saw what was happening, they stood beside Moses, “one on one side, one on the other,” and supported his arms when he grew tired. With their support, victory came by sunset.
We all need the support of one another on our shared journey of faith.
We all need the support of one another. As brothers and sisters in the family of God, we have so many opportunities to encourage one another on our shared journey of faith. And God is right here in our midst giving us His grace to do that.
Who could you help today? Or do you need support yourself? Who could you ask?
Share with us at odb.org
Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Don’t Plan Without God
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5
Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.
In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.
Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love…thinks no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.
Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not….” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Ending Well - #7692
Kobe Bryant decided to set off some fireworks for his final game in the NBA. Sixty points carried his team to an unlikely and dramatic victory! That's a pretty good way to wrap up 20 seasons and five championship rings! Kobe Bryant finished well, and he went out in a blaze of glory.
But so is my friend Kenny. Not on a basketball court. It was in his hospice room. The doctors said he didn't have much more time; walking as Psalm 23:4, our word for today from the Word of God says, "through the valley of the shadow of death." It actually begins that Psalm by saying, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Yes, though I walk through the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me."
His wife, Mary Ann, spoke to me about his painful journey with a strength that could only be described as supernatural. She told me, "Ron, for a long time, one of my greatest fears has been living life without Kenny." I mean, anybody who knows them knows they have had a very true and very obvious lifetime love.
But her report was amazing. She said, "Ron, we're doing so well. God has moved in amazing ways. Kenny is calm and comfortable. I feel so much peace and calm. He's ready to go with Jesus and I'm ready to let him go." Then she summed it all up in one word – miracles. As the thing she had feared so long was now looming as a reality, a peace that was not of this earth flooded into her soul. And suddenly, she had grace to say, "He's Yours, Lord. I release him to You." Miracle!
But what she told me about Kenny was what really wiped me out. She described the scene in his room: grandchildren, children singing and talking and laughing. And the hospice staff said they had seldom, if ever, seen anyone facing death with this kind of peace, confidence and even joy. Then describing what his grandchildren were experiencing, she made this very moving observation: "He's teaching them how to die." That's legacy.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Ending Well."
I had a friend who said, "Ron, if people who don't know Jesus want to know the difference He makes, let them come to our funerals." Yes, or our hospice room. Kenny and Mary Ann would tell you in a word why death had lost its dread – Jesus. Years ago, they heard how the Son of God bled out His life so we could live forever, because there was no other way we could. The Bible sure makes that clear. It says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have cut you off from God." Sinless God. Perfect heaven. Sinful us.
Kenny and Mary Ann told me that they had been religious folks. And they thought that would get them to heaven like most folks do. Until they realized that no amount of goodness could pay the death penalty that sin requires. Somebody had to die. Somebody did. In the Bible's words, "Christ died for us sinners; taking our hell so we could go to His heaven." (Romans 5:6).
So when Jesus walked out of His grave that Easter morning, He guaranteed eternal life to everybody who belongs to Him. And my friend, Kenny? Yep, someone who belongs to Jesus forever. And he did in the face of death what he did with his whole life – radiating a living Christ.
Today if you'd like to have that assurance that when you die you are ready for eternity whenever it comes, however it comes, your sins are forgiven, they've been erased from God's Book, nothing would keep you out of heaven, you need today to say, "Jesus, you are the Savior of the world. But beginning today, you are my Savior from my sin. I'm putting all my trust in You."
I would love to help you get there and make sure you got it done. That's what our website is for. I invite you to go there and meet me there – ANewStory.com.
My friend was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But as it says in the Psalm, he "feared no evil" because, "You are with me" (Psalm 23:4). Doing life with Jesus. Doing eternity with Jesus. That's what I call going out in a blaze of glory.
Monday, July 4, 2016
2 Chronicles 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: TAKING TIME TO SEE
There is something fundamentally good about taking time to see a person. Simon the Pharisee once disdained Jesus’ kindness toward a woman of questionable character. So Jesus tested him: “Do you see this woman?” he asked (Luke 7:44). Simon didn’t see a woman– he saw a streetwalker, a scamp.
What do we see when we see. . . the figures beneath the overpass, encircling the fire? Or the news clips of children in refugee camps? What about reports of grueling poverty at home and abroad?
Scripture says when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them. Compassion—a movement from deep within—a kick in the gut! Perhaps that’s why we turn away. Why look suffering in the face if we can’t make a difference? Yet what if by seeing, we were moved to compassion? Moved not just to see, but to do.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 2
Preparations for Building the Temple
Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. 2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram[f] king of Tyre:
“Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. 4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
7 “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.
8 “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum[g] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours 9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors[h] of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors[i] of barley, twenty thousand baths[j] of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:
“Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.”
12 And Hiram added:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.
13 “I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, 14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.
15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised, 16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17.
2 Chronicles 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verses 11 and 12
2 Chronicles 2:8 Probably a variant of almug
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, July 04, 2016
Read: Psalm 122:6–9 |
Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
May all who love this city prosper.
7 O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
and prosperity in your palaces.
8 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
“May you have peace.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.
INSIGHT:
Jewish pilgrims sang Psalms 120–134, known collectively as the Pilgrim Psalms, as they made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual festivals of Unleavened Bread (including Passover), Harvest (Weeks or Pentecost), and Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) (Ex. 23:14–16). Since Jerusalem sits on a mountainous area (Mount Zion is used synonymously with Jerusalem in the Bible), pilgrims are said to “ascend” to Jerusalem. Therefore, scholars designate each of these fifteen songs as “A song of ascents.” In Psalm 122, David celebrates Jerusalem as the “house of the Lord” (vv. 1, 9). He is elated (v. 1) that he is in the place of safety, security, and peace (vv. 6–9).
Join the Cry
By Lawrence Darmani
I urge . . . that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1
A women’s prayer group in my country holds regular monthly prayer sessions for Ghana and other African countries. When asked why they pray so incessantly for the nations, their leader, Gifty Dadzie, remarked, “Look around, listen to and watch the news. Our nations are hurting: war, disaster, diseases, and violence threaten to overshadow God’s love for humanity and His blessing upon us. We believe God intervenes in the affairs of nations, so we praise Him for His blessings and cry for His intervention.”
The Bible reveals that God indeed intervenes in the affairs of nations (2 Chron. 7:14). And when God intervenes, He uses ordinary people. We may not be assigned huge tasks, but we can play our part to help bring about peace and the righteousness that exalts a nation (Prov. 14:34). We can do that through prayer. The apostle Paul wrote, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:1–2).
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations.
As the psalmist exhorted the ancient Israelites to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:6), so may we pray for the peace and healing of our nations. When we pray in humility, turn from wickedness, and seek God, He hears us.
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations. We ask for Your intervention as we turn to You in confession and repentance. We praise You for Your blessing and Your provision.
Prayer for those in authority is both a privilege and a duty.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 04, 2016
One of God’s Great “Don’ts”
Do not fret— it only causes harm. —Psalm 37:8
Fretting means getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not fret,” but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord” then? If this “Do not” doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This “Do not” must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.
Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.
Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.
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
Monday, July 04, 2016
Learning The Hardest Word In the World - #7691
Oh, grandkids! They just keep lighting up your life, right? When our oldest was just past the one-year mark, it was exciting to see him investigating all the things around him and learning the words of what things are called – Daddy, car, moon, dog, ball. And he even learned one of the hardest words of all. It's not hard to pronounce – just to accept. You know that simple little word – "no". Now, I didn't say he liked the word. I said he was learning the word. In fact, I'm not sure any of us really loves the word.
I remember he would just repeat it after one of us, and then we would say "no" to something he was reaching for; usually something we thought would hurt him, and he would shake his head, pull back his hand, and go, "Na, na, na!" Well, that's close to what he said anyway. Well, then there was a new development. He would imitate the word "no". That's what that was all about. He was reaching for something that was on the forbidden list. He would suddenly stop and he himself would start shaking his head and saying to himself, ''Na, na, na."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Learning The Hardest Word In The World."
"No" is not just a hard word for children to learn. It's hard for us grown-up children! And learning to say no to the things God hates is basic to being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Listen to Jesus' own words in our word for today from the Word of God from Luke 9:23. -"If anyone would come after Me (and I'm just going to assume you want to do that; you want to follow Jesus), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Okay, what's that first step? Deny yourself? Deny – well that means "say no". Jesus says you can't really follow Him unless you learn to deny yourself; to say no to yourself, because you're reaching for something you'd like to do or say and Jesus knows it's going to hurt you or someone else, something that He has maybe called "out of bounds" for you because He knows that it is sin and it will hurt your relationship with God, with other people. It is wrong. He says, "No". Now, the question is, will you stop yourself, in spite of your desires, shake your head, and say, "No, I can't do this. I'm trying to be like Jesus. I can't do this."
Obedience is stopping where God says to stop no matter how tempting it looks, no matter how desirable, no matter how much advantage it may look to us to have. And like a parent's no to a toddler, God's no is based on keeping you from getting hurt, from injury, from scars. So, Jesus' question to you today might be this, "What have you been saying "yes" to lately that you know I have said "no" to?"
Is it that poison on the Internet, in those magazines, on TV, or those videos you rent? Is it that trash talk that keeps wounding somebody you love? Maybe you've been saying yes to compromising the truth, compromises in your integrity, or the purity of your body, which is not really yours. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. Or is it those lustful looks you just continue to let pollute your heart, those angry outbursts maybe, or just your selfish insistence that you've got to have your way?
Until you make up your mind that you're going to stop it, until you say a firm "no" at your first opportunity to do the wrong thing, you're going to be crippled in your relationship with Jesus. You'll miss so much of His power, so much of the spiritual freedom that goes with saying "no" to the things that He says are out-of-bounds.
It's the hardest word to say, but it is fundamental to following Jesus and enjoying the ride. What He says "no" to, I say "no" to.
There is something fundamentally good about taking time to see a person. Simon the Pharisee once disdained Jesus’ kindness toward a woman of questionable character. So Jesus tested him: “Do you see this woman?” he asked (Luke 7:44). Simon didn’t see a woman– he saw a streetwalker, a scamp.
What do we see when we see. . . the figures beneath the overpass, encircling the fire? Or the news clips of children in refugee camps? What about reports of grueling poverty at home and abroad?
Scripture says when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them. Compassion—a movement from deep within—a kick in the gut! Perhaps that’s why we turn away. Why look suffering in the face if we can’t make a difference? Yet what if by seeing, we were moved to compassion? Moved not just to see, but to do.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 2
Preparations for Building the Temple
Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. 2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram[f] king of Tyre:
“Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. 4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
7 “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.
8 “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum[g] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours 9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors[h] of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors[i] of barley, twenty thousand baths[j] of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:
“Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.”
12 And Hiram added:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.
13 “I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, 14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.
15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised, 16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17.
2 Chronicles 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verses 11 and 12
2 Chronicles 2:8 Probably a variant of almug
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, July 04, 2016
Read: Psalm 122:6–9 |
Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
May all who love this city prosper.
7 O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
and prosperity in your palaces.
8 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
“May you have peace.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.
INSIGHT:
Jewish pilgrims sang Psalms 120–134, known collectively as the Pilgrim Psalms, as they made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual festivals of Unleavened Bread (including Passover), Harvest (Weeks or Pentecost), and Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) (Ex. 23:14–16). Since Jerusalem sits on a mountainous area (Mount Zion is used synonymously with Jerusalem in the Bible), pilgrims are said to “ascend” to Jerusalem. Therefore, scholars designate each of these fifteen songs as “A song of ascents.” In Psalm 122, David celebrates Jerusalem as the “house of the Lord” (vv. 1, 9). He is elated (v. 1) that he is in the place of safety, security, and peace (vv. 6–9).
Join the Cry
By Lawrence Darmani
I urge . . . that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1
A women’s prayer group in my country holds regular monthly prayer sessions for Ghana and other African countries. When asked why they pray so incessantly for the nations, their leader, Gifty Dadzie, remarked, “Look around, listen to and watch the news. Our nations are hurting: war, disaster, diseases, and violence threaten to overshadow God’s love for humanity and His blessing upon us. We believe God intervenes in the affairs of nations, so we praise Him for His blessings and cry for His intervention.”
The Bible reveals that God indeed intervenes in the affairs of nations (2 Chron. 7:14). And when God intervenes, He uses ordinary people. We may not be assigned huge tasks, but we can play our part to help bring about peace and the righteousness that exalts a nation (Prov. 14:34). We can do that through prayer. The apostle Paul wrote, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:1–2).
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations.
As the psalmist exhorted the ancient Israelites to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:6), so may we pray for the peace and healing of our nations. When we pray in humility, turn from wickedness, and seek God, He hears us.
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations. We ask for Your intervention as we turn to You in confession and repentance. We praise You for Your blessing and Your provision.
Prayer for those in authority is both a privilege and a duty.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 04, 2016
One of God’s Great “Don’ts”
Do not fret— it only causes harm. —Psalm 37:8
Fretting means getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not fret,” but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord” then? If this “Do not” doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This “Do not” must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.
Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.
Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.
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
Monday, July 04, 2016
Learning The Hardest Word In the World - #7691
Oh, grandkids! They just keep lighting up your life, right? When our oldest was just past the one-year mark, it was exciting to see him investigating all the things around him and learning the words of what things are called – Daddy, car, moon, dog, ball. And he even learned one of the hardest words of all. It's not hard to pronounce – just to accept. You know that simple little word – "no". Now, I didn't say he liked the word. I said he was learning the word. In fact, I'm not sure any of us really loves the word.
I remember he would just repeat it after one of us, and then we would say "no" to something he was reaching for; usually something we thought would hurt him, and he would shake his head, pull back his hand, and go, "Na, na, na!" Well, that's close to what he said anyway. Well, then there was a new development. He would imitate the word "no". That's what that was all about. He was reaching for something that was on the forbidden list. He would suddenly stop and he himself would start shaking his head and saying to himself, ''Na, na, na."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Learning The Hardest Word In The World."
"No" is not just a hard word for children to learn. It's hard for us grown-up children! And learning to say no to the things God hates is basic to being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Listen to Jesus' own words in our word for today from the Word of God from Luke 9:23. -"If anyone would come after Me (and I'm just going to assume you want to do that; you want to follow Jesus), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Okay, what's that first step? Deny yourself? Deny – well that means "say no". Jesus says you can't really follow Him unless you learn to deny yourself; to say no to yourself, because you're reaching for something you'd like to do or say and Jesus knows it's going to hurt you or someone else, something that He has maybe called "out of bounds" for you because He knows that it is sin and it will hurt your relationship with God, with other people. It is wrong. He says, "No". Now, the question is, will you stop yourself, in spite of your desires, shake your head, and say, "No, I can't do this. I'm trying to be like Jesus. I can't do this."
Obedience is stopping where God says to stop no matter how tempting it looks, no matter how desirable, no matter how much advantage it may look to us to have. And like a parent's no to a toddler, God's no is based on keeping you from getting hurt, from injury, from scars. So, Jesus' question to you today might be this, "What have you been saying "yes" to lately that you know I have said "no" to?"
Is it that poison on the Internet, in those magazines, on TV, or those videos you rent? Is it that trash talk that keeps wounding somebody you love? Maybe you've been saying yes to compromising the truth, compromises in your integrity, or the purity of your body, which is not really yours. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. Or is it those lustful looks you just continue to let pollute your heart, those angry outbursts maybe, or just your selfish insistence that you've got to have your way?
Until you make up your mind that you're going to stop it, until you say a firm "no" at your first opportunity to do the wrong thing, you're going to be crippled in your relationship with Jesus. You'll miss so much of His power, so much of the spiritual freedom that goes with saying "no" to the things that He says are out-of-bounds.
It's the hardest word to say, but it is fundamental to following Jesus and enjoying the ride. What He says "no" to, I say "no" to.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
2 Chronicles 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Spite House ·
In 1882 in New York City, Joseph Richardson owned a narrow strip of land 5 feet wide and 104 feet long. Next door was a normal-sized lot owned by a man who wanted to erect an apartment building. He offered Richardson $1,000 for his plot. Deeply offended, Richardson demanded $5,000 which the builder refused to pay. The builder built the apartment building, assuming the slender lot would remain vacant and the view exposed. But Richardson built a house instead—blocking the view! Dubbed the “Spite House”, Richardson spent the last fourteen years of his life in the narrow residence that seemed to fit his narrow state of mind.
Revenge builds a lonely, narrow house. Space enough for one person. No wonder God insists we “keep a sharp eye out for the weeds of bitter discontent!” (Heb. 12:14-17).
From You’ll Get Through This
2 Chronicles 1
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
Solomon son of David took firm control of his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him very powerful.
2 Solomon called together all the leaders of Israel—the generals and captains of the army,[a] the judges, and all the political and clan leaders. 3 Then he led the entire assembly to the place of worship in Gibeon, for God’s Tabernacle[b] was located there. (This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had made in the wilderness.)
4 David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was there[c] at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the Lord. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the Lord.[d] 6 There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
8 Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. 9 O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! 10 Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly,[e] for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people— 12 I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”
13 Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the place of worship in Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel.
14 Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses.[f] He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.[g] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[h] and from Cilicia[i]; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price. 17 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,[j] and horses for 150 pieces of silver.[k] They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Footnotes:
1:2 Hebrew the commanders of thousands and of hundreds.
1:3 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 1:6, 13.
1:5a As in Greek version and Latin Vulgate, and some Hebrew manuscripts; Masoretic Text reads he placed.
1:5b Hebrew to consult him.
1:10 Hebrew to go out and come in before this people.
1:14 Or charioteers; also in 1:14b.
1:15 Hebrew the Shephelah.
1:16a Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia; also in 1:17.
1:16b Hebrew Kue, probably another name for Cilicia.
1:17a Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or 6.8 kilograms in weight.
1:17b Hebrew 150 [shekels], about 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, July 03, 2016
Read: 2 Peter 3:8–15
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—
Footnotes:
3:10 Other manuscripts read will be burned up; one early manuscript reads will be found destroyed.
INSIGHT:
The New Testament manuscripts, which were written in Greek, use two different words for patience. One word describes patience regarding circumstances; the other relates to patience with people. When the Greek text speaks of God’s patience, the word used is almost always the one that refers to people. God’s patience with us is not because He can’t compel us to do what He wants, but because He loves us, respects our will, and has given each of us the ability to make our own choices. Adapted from What Does the Bible Say About Patience? Read it at discoveryseries.org/q0722
Waiting on God
By Randy Kilgore
[The Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
I was sitting with a group of passengers on an airport shuttle heading to our connecting flight when the bus driver was told to “hold in place.” It looked like we would miss our flight, and this was more than one passenger could handle. He exploded at the driver, insisting he ignore his orders or “risk the wrath of a lawsuit.” Just then an airline employee came dashing up carrying a briefcase. Looking at the angry man, the airline employee triumphantly held up the briefcase. When he had caught his breath, he said, “You left your briefcase. I heard you mention how important your meeting was, and I figured you would need this.”
Sometimes I find myself impatient with God, especially about His return. I wonder, What can He be waiting on? The tragedies around us, the suffering of people we love, and even the stresses of daily life all seem bigger than the fixes on the horizon.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
Then someone tells their story of having just met Jesus, or I discover God is still at work in the messes. It reminds me of what I learned that day on the shuttle. There are stories and details God knows that I don’t. It reminds me to trust Him and to remember that the story isn’t about me. It’s about God’s plan to give time to others who don’t yet know His Son (2 Peter 3:9).
I’m thankful You are patiently waiting for more people to trust in You before You return. Help me to be patient too.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 03, 2016
The Concentration of Personal Sin
Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips… —Isaiah 6:5
When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.
This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
In 1882 in New York City, Joseph Richardson owned a narrow strip of land 5 feet wide and 104 feet long. Next door was a normal-sized lot owned by a man who wanted to erect an apartment building. He offered Richardson $1,000 for his plot. Deeply offended, Richardson demanded $5,000 which the builder refused to pay. The builder built the apartment building, assuming the slender lot would remain vacant and the view exposed. But Richardson built a house instead—blocking the view! Dubbed the “Spite House”, Richardson spent the last fourteen years of his life in the narrow residence that seemed to fit his narrow state of mind.
Revenge builds a lonely, narrow house. Space enough for one person. No wonder God insists we “keep a sharp eye out for the weeds of bitter discontent!” (Heb. 12:14-17).
From You’ll Get Through This
2 Chronicles 1
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
Solomon son of David took firm control of his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him very powerful.
2 Solomon called together all the leaders of Israel—the generals and captains of the army,[a] the judges, and all the political and clan leaders. 3 Then he led the entire assembly to the place of worship in Gibeon, for God’s Tabernacle[b] was located there. (This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had made in the wilderness.)
4 David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was there[c] at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the Lord. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the Lord.[d] 6 There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
8 Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. 9 O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! 10 Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly,[e] for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people— 12 I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”
13 Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the place of worship in Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel.
14 Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses.[f] He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.[g] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[h] and from Cilicia[i]; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price. 17 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,[j] and horses for 150 pieces of silver.[k] They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Footnotes:
1:2 Hebrew the commanders of thousands and of hundreds.
1:3 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 1:6, 13.
1:5a As in Greek version and Latin Vulgate, and some Hebrew manuscripts; Masoretic Text reads he placed.
1:5b Hebrew to consult him.
1:10 Hebrew to go out and come in before this people.
1:14 Or charioteers; also in 1:14b.
1:15 Hebrew the Shephelah.
1:16a Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia; also in 1:17.
1:16b Hebrew Kue, probably another name for Cilicia.
1:17a Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or 6.8 kilograms in weight.
1:17b Hebrew 150 [shekels], about 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, July 03, 2016
Read: 2 Peter 3:8–15
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—
Footnotes:
3:10 Other manuscripts read will be burned up; one early manuscript reads will be found destroyed.
INSIGHT:
The New Testament manuscripts, which were written in Greek, use two different words for patience. One word describes patience regarding circumstances; the other relates to patience with people. When the Greek text speaks of God’s patience, the word used is almost always the one that refers to people. God’s patience with us is not because He can’t compel us to do what He wants, but because He loves us, respects our will, and has given each of us the ability to make our own choices. Adapted from What Does the Bible Say About Patience? Read it at discoveryseries.org/q0722
Waiting on God
By Randy Kilgore
[The Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
I was sitting with a group of passengers on an airport shuttle heading to our connecting flight when the bus driver was told to “hold in place.” It looked like we would miss our flight, and this was more than one passenger could handle. He exploded at the driver, insisting he ignore his orders or “risk the wrath of a lawsuit.” Just then an airline employee came dashing up carrying a briefcase. Looking at the angry man, the airline employee triumphantly held up the briefcase. When he had caught his breath, he said, “You left your briefcase. I heard you mention how important your meeting was, and I figured you would need this.”
Sometimes I find myself impatient with God, especially about His return. I wonder, What can He be waiting on? The tragedies around us, the suffering of people we love, and even the stresses of daily life all seem bigger than the fixes on the horizon.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
Then someone tells their story of having just met Jesus, or I discover God is still at work in the messes. It reminds me of what I learned that day on the shuttle. There are stories and details God knows that I don’t. It reminds me to trust Him and to remember that the story isn’t about me. It’s about God’s plan to give time to others who don’t yet know His Son (2 Peter 3:9).
I’m thankful You are patiently waiting for more people to trust in You before You return. Help me to be patient too.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 03, 2016
The Concentration of Personal Sin
Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips… —Isaiah 6:5
When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.
This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
Saturday, July 2, 2016
1 Corinthians 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God's Transforming Power
Family pain is often the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early, and because it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn't know how to defend yourself. Besides the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother-they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them. All this time you've been operating on faulty data. "You're stupid. . .slow. . .dumb, like your daddy.
Decades later these voices of defeat still echo in your subconscious. But they don't have to! Romans 12:2 says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." And 1st Corinthians 13:11 adds, "Let Him replace childish thinking with mature truth!" You are not who they said you were. You are God's child!
From You'll Get Through This
1 Corinthians 16
The Collection for Jerusalem
16 Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. 2 On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. 3 When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem. 4 And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.
Paul’s Final Instructions
5 I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia,[a] for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. 7 This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. 8 In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. 9 There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.
10 When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.[b]
12 Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.
13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.[c] Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.
15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece,[d] and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,[e] 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion. 17 I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me. 18 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.
Paul’s Final Greetings
19 The churches here in the province of Asia[f] send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla[g] and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings. 20 All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.
21 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come![h]
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.[i]
Footnotes:
16:5 Macedonia was in the northern region of Greece.
16:11 Greek with the brothers; also in 16:12.
16:13 Greek Be men.
16:15a Greek in Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula.
16:15b Greek brothers; also in 16:20.
16:19a Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
16:19b Greek Prisca.
16:22 From Aramaic, Marana tha. Some manuscripts read Maran atha, “Our Lord has come.”
16:24 Some manuscripts add Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, July 02, 2016
Read: Luke 19:1–9
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
INSIGHT:
For generations, the government of ancient Rome commissioned generals to conquer and colonize people of various cultures and locations. In governing these conquered people, Rome enlisted the service of the publicani, who are called publicans or tax collectors in Scripture. These publicans were often considered both traitors to their own people and collaborators with the occupying forces, and they would often tax more revenue than required in order to line their own pockets. Today’s reading bears significant meaning because it shows how even a hated publican like Zacchaeus received forgiveness and redemption through Christ. As a result of his repentance, Zacchaeus reimbursed those he had cheated four times the amount he had taken. Dennis Fisher
Come Sit a Spell
By Dave Branon
Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Luke 19:5
When I was a kid, our family made a monthly excursion from Ohio to West Virginia to visit my maternal grandparents. Every time we arrived at the door of their farmhouse, Grandma Lester would greet us with the words, “Come on in and sit a spell.” It was her way of telling us to make ourselves comfortable, stay a while, and share in some “catching-up” conversation.
Life can get pretty busy. In our action-oriented world, it’s hard to get to know people. It’s tough to find time to ask someone to “sit a spell” with us. We can get more done if we text each other and get right to the point.
Get to know someone to make a difference in their life.
But look at what Jesus did when He wanted to make a difference in the life of a tax collector. He went to Zacchaeus’s house to “sit a spell.” His words, “I must stay at your house” indicate that this was no quick stopover (Luke 19:5). Jesus spent time with him, and Zacchaeus’s life was turned around because of this time with Jesus.
On the front porch of my grandmother’s house were several chairs—a warm invitation to all visitors to relax and talk. If we’re going to get to know someone and to make a difference in their life—as Jesus did for Zacchaeus—we need to invite them to “come sit a spell.”
Dear Lord, as I look around at those who share this life with me, help me to make time to spend with them—for encouragement, challenge, and perhaps just plain conversation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 02, 2016
The Conditions of Discipleship
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26-27, 33
If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
Family pain is often the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early, and because it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn't know how to defend yourself. Besides the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother-they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them. All this time you've been operating on faulty data. "You're stupid. . .slow. . .dumb, like your daddy.
Decades later these voices of defeat still echo in your subconscious. But they don't have to! Romans 12:2 says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." And 1st Corinthians 13:11 adds, "Let Him replace childish thinking with mature truth!" You are not who they said you were. You are God's child!
From You'll Get Through This
1 Corinthians 16
The Collection for Jerusalem
16 Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. 2 On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. 3 When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem. 4 And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.
Paul’s Final Instructions
5 I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia,[a] for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. 7 This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. 8 In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. 9 There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.
10 When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.[b]
12 Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.
13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.[c] Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.
15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece,[d] and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,[e] 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion. 17 I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me. 18 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.
Paul’s Final Greetings
19 The churches here in the province of Asia[f] send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla[g] and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings. 20 All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.
21 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come![h]
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.[i]
Footnotes:
16:5 Macedonia was in the northern region of Greece.
16:11 Greek with the brothers; also in 16:12.
16:13 Greek Be men.
16:15a Greek in Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula.
16:15b Greek brothers; also in 16:20.
16:19a Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
16:19b Greek Prisca.
16:22 From Aramaic, Marana tha. Some manuscripts read Maran atha, “Our Lord has come.”
16:24 Some manuscripts add Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, July 02, 2016
Read: Luke 19:1–9
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
INSIGHT:
For generations, the government of ancient Rome commissioned generals to conquer and colonize people of various cultures and locations. In governing these conquered people, Rome enlisted the service of the publicani, who are called publicans or tax collectors in Scripture. These publicans were often considered both traitors to their own people and collaborators with the occupying forces, and they would often tax more revenue than required in order to line their own pockets. Today’s reading bears significant meaning because it shows how even a hated publican like Zacchaeus received forgiveness and redemption through Christ. As a result of his repentance, Zacchaeus reimbursed those he had cheated four times the amount he had taken. Dennis Fisher
Come Sit a Spell
By Dave Branon
Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Luke 19:5
When I was a kid, our family made a monthly excursion from Ohio to West Virginia to visit my maternal grandparents. Every time we arrived at the door of their farmhouse, Grandma Lester would greet us with the words, “Come on in and sit a spell.” It was her way of telling us to make ourselves comfortable, stay a while, and share in some “catching-up” conversation.
Life can get pretty busy. In our action-oriented world, it’s hard to get to know people. It’s tough to find time to ask someone to “sit a spell” with us. We can get more done if we text each other and get right to the point.
Get to know someone to make a difference in their life.
But look at what Jesus did when He wanted to make a difference in the life of a tax collector. He went to Zacchaeus’s house to “sit a spell.” His words, “I must stay at your house” indicate that this was no quick stopover (Luke 19:5). Jesus spent time with him, and Zacchaeus’s life was turned around because of this time with Jesus.
On the front porch of my grandmother’s house were several chairs—a warm invitation to all visitors to relax and talk. If we’re going to get to know someone and to make a difference in their life—as Jesus did for Zacchaeus—we need to invite them to “come sit a spell.”
Dear Lord, as I look around at those who share this life with me, help me to make time to spend with them—for encouragement, challenge, and perhaps just plain conversation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 02, 2016
The Conditions of Discipleship
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26-27, 33
If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
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