Max Lucado Daily: THE NEW KINGDOM
Jesus sent a message to an imprisoned John the Baptist. “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, and the deaf hear” (Matthew 11:5). Jesus sent John a message about a unique, invisible kingdom, where the rejected are received: the blind, the lame, the lepers, and the deaf. They had no place, no name, no value.
In Revelation 21:2-5 John describes Heaven as a “bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” There will be no more death. God is making everything new! The master builder will pull out the original plan and restore the vigor, the energy, the hope, the soul. Jesus told John that a new kingdom was coming where people have value, not because of what they do, but because of whose they are. It was great news then, and it’s great news still!
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 25
Further Wise Sayings of Solomon
There are also these proverbs of Solomon,
collected by scribes of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
2 God delights in concealing things;
scientists delight in discovering things.
3 Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth,
the understanding of a good leader is broad and deep.
4-5 Remove impurities from the silver
and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice;
Remove the wicked from leadership
and authority will be credible and God-honoring.
6-7 Don’t work yourself into the spotlight;
don’t push your way into the place of prominence.
It’s better to be promoted to a place of honor
than face humiliation by being demoted.
8 Don’t jump to conclusions—there may be
a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.
9-10 In the heat of an argument,
don’t betray confidences;
Word is sure to get around,
and no one will trust you.
11-12 The right word at the right time
is like a custom-made piece of jewelry,
And a wise friend’s timely reprimand
is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.
13 Reliable friends who do what they say
are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!
14 Like billowing clouds that bring no rain
is the person who talks big but never produces.
15 Patient persistence pierces through indifference;
gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses.
16-17 When you’re given a box of candy, don’t gulp it all down;
eat too much chocolate and you’ll make yourself sick;
And when you find a friend, don’t outwear your welcome;
show up at all hours and he’ll soon get fed up.
18 Anyone who tells lies against the neighbors
in court or on the street is a loose cannon.
19 Trusting a double-crosser when you’re in trouble
is like biting down on an abscessed tooth.
20 Singing light songs to the heavyhearted
is like pouring salt in their wounds.
21-22 If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch;
if he’s thirsty, bring him a drink.
Your generosity will surprise him with goodness,
and God will look after you.
23 A north wind brings stormy weather,
and a gossipy tongue stormy looks.
24 Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack
than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.
25 Like a cool drink of water when you’re worn out and weary
is a letter from a long-lost friend.
26 A good person who gives in to a bad person
is a muddied spring, a polluted well.
27 It’s not smart to stuff yourself with sweets,
nor is glory piled on glory good for you.
28 A person without self-control
is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 28:16-20
Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
18-20 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
Insight
Matthew 28:19–20 (often called the “Great Commission”) is structured like an Old Testament prophetic call: first there’s an encounter with God followed by doubts (v. 17); then the doubts are overcome through reassurance and empowerment by God (vv. 18–20; Isaiah 6:1–8).
By following this structure, Matthew emphasizes that believers in Christ are called to be a witness to the joy of life in Christ’s kingdom. Although Jesus has already defeated evil and rules with “all authority” (28:18), He doesn’t immediately remove all evil. Instead, Jesus gently draws others “by slow means and quick, under the rule of his life-giving love” (N.T. Wright)—until one day when death itself is fully destroyed and the world follows Him. Christ’s victory reveals itself now through the obedience of those willing to learn a new way of life, through the power of His loving presence (v. 20).
The Empty Bed
Go and make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:19
I was eager to return to St. James Infirmary in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and reconnect with Rendell, who two years earlier had learned about Jesus’s love for him. Evie, a teenager in the high school choir I travel with each spring, had read Scripture with Rendell and explained the gospel, and he personally received Jesus as his Savior.
When I entered the men’s section of the home and looked toward Rendell’s bed, however, I found it was empty. I went to the nurse’s station, and was told what I didn’t want to hear. He had passed away—just five days before we arrived.
Through tears, I texted Evie the sad news. Her response was simple: “Rendell is celebrating with Jesus.” Later she said, “It’s a good thing we told him about Jesus when we did.”
Her words reminded me of the importance of being ready to lovingly share with others the hope we have in Christ. No, it’s not always easy to proclaim the gospel message about the One who will be with us always (Matthew 28:20), but when we think about the difference it made for us and for people like Rendell, perhaps we’ll be encouraged to be even more ready to “make disciples” wherever we go (v. 19).
I’ll never forget the sadness of seeing that empty bed—and also the joy of knowing what a difference one faithful teen made in Rendell’s forever life. By Dave Branon
Reflect & Pray
What are some things you can do to introduce people to Jesus today? As you share your faith, how does it encourage you to know Jesus is “with you always” (Matthew 28:20)?
God, we know that people need You. Help us to overcome our fear of telling others about You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name…for the Father Himself loves you… —John 16:26-27
“In that day you will ask in My name…,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but— “You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “…for the Father Himself loves you…”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“…whatever you ask the Father in My name…” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
“…He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation— to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name— in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “…whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. Approved Unto God, 10 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
The Big Man Behind You - #8448
Roger was assistant manager of a buffet restaurant. He used to serve on our ministry team, and at one point he was telling me about a special memory from that job early in his working career. It seems there was a male customer who had been really abusive to the waitress. So Roger, being the ranking officer in the restaurant at the time, had the joy of trying to confront this gentleman - well, this man anyway. Unfortunately, this abusive customer was young, strong, all muscular and bulked up. And Roger, like me, well...not exactly Goliath. But he walked into the lion's jaws and he bravely asked that man to leave. Initially, the customer was ready for a fight. Then suddenly, unexplainably, this guy raised the white flag and he just left, leaving Roger a little baffled as to why this man had suddenly given up. That's when my friend turned around and saw one of the chefs who had been - unbeknownst to Roger - standing behind him all that time. And the chef, now he was a Goliath! Roger said, "Suddenly I understood that it was the big guy behind me that made the difference!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Big Man Behind You."
Right now you may be facing a challenge that's a whole lot bigger than you are, than your resources to meet it. Frankly, it's a mismatch, except for the big Man behind you which changes everything.
In our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord is preparing Joshua to lead His people into the Promised Land, a land brimming with challenges and challengers that looked pretty unbeatable. The huge walls of Jericho, a fierce barbarian people who had no intention of moving out so the Jews could move in, intimidating giants in the land, and a flooded river they had to somehow get across before they could even tackle the other challenges! It was enough to frighten and discourage anyone; maybe like what's in front of you right now.
In Joshua 1:9, God gives this directive to Joshua, and maybe to you: "...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged..." Fear and discouragement, that's exactly what we feel when the obstacle, or the problem, or the task is overwhelming. "God, why shouldn't I be terrified? Why shouldn't I be discouraged?" His answer: "...For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." God says, don't look at the problems that are bigger than you are; concentrate on the God who is bigger than the problems and march boldly in the confidence that your awesome God will not send you anywhere that He will not go with you.
Eleven times in the Old Testament story of His plans for His people God gives this same directive, "Don't be afraid or discouraged because your Lord is with you." I'm telling you, that's all you need to know to turn fear into faith and discouragement into courage. Listen to this incredible promise from Isaiah 43:2 - "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned..." Again, the difference is the "big Man behind you." The big man has a name and His name is Jesus.
When Jesus was sending out eleven frightened men to tell the whole world about Him, He made this Mission Impossible into Mission Possible with this simple promise, "I will be with you always" (Matthew 28:20). That's what He's trying to say to you today. Because of this all-powerful person who's with you, you can go on, you can tackle what's bigger than you are, you can challenge Satan's dominion, and you can beat what has always beaten you.
If it was up to how big and strong you are, you'd better run out the back door. But you have the biggest person in the universe behind you, and He will make the difference!
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Acts 4:1-22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE DUNGEON OF DOUBT
“Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:3). John the Baptist asked this question of Christ. John was in deep trouble; he was in jail and Jesus was silent. Anytime the faithful suffer the consequences of the faithless….anytime a person does a good deed but suffers evil results…they spend time in the dungeon of doubt.
Clouds of doubt are created when the warm, moist air of our expectations meet the cold air of God’s silence. You may learn what John the Baptist did: that the problem is not so much in God’s silence as it is in our ability to hear God’s solution.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Acts 4:1-22
While Peter and John were addressing the people, the priests, the chief of the Temple police, and some Sadducees came up, indignant that these upstart apostles were instructing the people and proclaiming that the resurrection from the dead had taken place in Jesus. They arrested them and threw them in jail until morning, for by now it was late in the evening. But many of those who listened had already believed the Message—in round numbers about five thousand!
5-7 The next day a meeting was called in Jerusalem. The rulers, religious leaders, religion scholars, Annas the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander—everybody who was anybody was there. They stood Peter and John in the middle of the room and grilled them: “Who put you in charge here? What business do you have doing this?”
8-12 With that, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, let loose: “Rulers and leaders of the people, if we have been brought to trial today for helping a sick man, put under investigation regarding this healing, I’ll be completely frank with you—we have nothing to hide. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is ‘the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.’ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”
13-14 They couldn’t take their eyes off them—Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realized these two were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education. They recognized them as companions of Jesus, but with the man right before them, seeing him standing there so upright—so healed!—what could they say against that?
15-17 They sent them out of the room so they could work out a plan. They talked it over: “What can we do with these men? By now it’s known all over town that a miracle has occurred, and that they are behind it. There is no way we can refute that. But so that it doesn’t go any further, let’s silence them with threats so they won’t dare to use Jesus’ name ever again with anyone.”
18-20 They called them back and warned them that they were on no account ever again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John spoke right back, “Whether it’s right in God’s eyes to listen to you rather than to God, you decide. As for us, there’s no question—we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard.”
21-22 The religious leaders renewed their threats, but then released them. They couldn’t come up with a charge that would stick, that would keep them in jail. The people wouldn’t have stood for it—they were all praising God over what had happened. The man who had been miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 14:15-18
“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!
18-20 “I will not leave you orphaned. I’m coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I’m in my Father, and you’re in me, and I’m in you.
Insight
When Jesus was about to return to the Father, He promised His disciples He wouldn’t abandon them but would ask the Father to give them “another advocate,” the Holy Spirit (John 14:16–17). Advocate is from the Greek word parakletos, which means “one who helps or enables another person” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7–8). Various translations render this word “Helper” (nkjv), “Counselor” (niv), “Comforter” (kjv), and “Friend” (the message).
There are two different Greek words for “another”: heteros, which connotes another of a different kind; and allos, which means another of the same kind. Allos is the word used in John 14:16. When the Father sent the Spirit, He sent an equal—a personal representative (v. 26), not an inferior or subordinate substitute. The Spirit continues what Jesus did: He comforts, encourages, guides, and strengthens. He reminds us of all that Jesus taught (v. 26; 16:12–15).
Never Alone
He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. John 14:16–17
While writing a Bible guide for pastors in Indonesia, a writer friend grew fascinated with that nation’s culture of togetherness. Called gotong royong—meaning “mutual assistance”—the concept is practiced in villages, where neighbors may work together to repair someone’s roof or rebuild a bridge or path. In cities too my friend said, “People always go places with someone else—to a doctor’s appointment, for example. It’s the cultural norm. So you’re never alone.”
Worldwide, believers in Jesus rejoice in knowing we also are never alone. Our constant and forever companion is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Far more than a loyal friend, the Spirit of God is given to every follower of Christ by our heavenly Father to “help you and be with you forever” (John 14:16).
Jesus promised God’s Spirit would come after His own time on Earth ended. “I will not leave you as orphans,” Jesus said (v. 18). Instead, the Holy Spirit—“the Spirit of Truth” who “lives with you and will be in you”—indwells each of us who receives Christ as Savior (v. 17).
The Holy Spirit is our Helper, Comforter, Encourager, and Counselor—a constant companion in a world where loneliness can afflict even connected people. May we forever abide in His comforting love and help. By Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
As a believer in Christ, how does it encourage you to know that the Holy Spirit lives inside of you? How have you neglected God’s comfort?
Jesus promised we will always have companionship with the Holy Spirit, who never leaves us.
To learn more about basic Christian beliefs visit christianuniversity.org/ST101.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Unquestioned Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing. —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If a man cannot prove his religion in the valley, it is not worth anything. Shade of His Hand, 1200 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Beautiful Things That Fall Apart - #8447
Occasionally my wife would flip the TV on to one of those home shopping channels. And there actually were some good deals that showed up there, and sometimes I couldn't get to the remote fast enough. One day she saw this 14-karat gold bracelet and she decided to order it. When it arrived, it looked just as beautiful as it had on television, until our then two-year-old grandson got interested in it. He saw it on a dresser. Fascinated with this bracelet, he picked it up, played with it for a moment, at which point the bracelet totally fell apart. My wife said there was one drawback to ordering from television or catalogs; she just couldn't hold the jewelry in her hand and feel the weight of it. The bracelet turned out to be very attractive on the outside but hollow on the inside.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful Things That Fall Apart."
Maybe you've experienced that kind of disappointment in your life, not with jewelry but with relationships, your job, your dream, your accomplishments, or even your marriage. It was beautiful for a while, but then it just fell apart. It's almost like many of the things we depend on for happiness and meaning turn out to be hollow inside.
Those disappointments actually can start us searching for something that is both beautiful and solid gold inside and out. Something that won't fall apart on us, something that won't let us down or leave us alone, something unbreakable - "unloseable." That search has led millions of people ultimately to Jesus Christ. It could be that He's where your search can end, too.
Jesus met a searcher at a well one day; a well where both he and this woman had stopped for a drink on a hot day. Their conversation later revealed that this woman had been looking for love and fulfillment in relationships with one guy after another. Now, we all look different places, but we're all looking. Her hopes, her search just happened to be in the series of relationships.
In John 4:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus identifies the problem with so many of the "beautiful things" we look to, and then offers something very exciting. Speaking symbolically, Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again." Translation: things just keep leaving us unsatisfied, still searching. "But whoever drinks the water I give him," Jesus says, "will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." That's "eternal" as in unloseable.
What Jesus offers is not a religion, it's the one relationship - the one love that will totally fill the hole in your heart. It's the relationship with Him that the Bible says you were literally created for. That's why all those other beautiful things ultimately seem so hollow. But that relationship with Jesus is impossible as long as your sin stands between you and Him. No religion can take our sin away. Only He can because only He died to pay for it. If there was any other way, believe me, He would not have paid that awful price.
So your search for your life-anchor finally ends when you open up your life to the One who paid for your life on the cross. If you've never done that, you could do it right now where you are and say, "Jesus, I believe that some of those things you died for were mine. You were supposed to run my life and I did instead. Thank you for paying the death penalty that I deserve. And I'm reaching out to You to give myself totally to You by faith, believing You are alive because you walked out of Your grave, and Jesus I am pinning all my hopes on You to get me to heaven; to forgive my sins and to fill the hole in my heart.
When you do that you will finally belong to the One who loves you most. I want to help you make sure that you have Jesus in your life, that you've begun this relationship. That's why we've set up our website, ANewStory.com. If you go there, I believe you can leave that place sure you've anchored your life to the One who loves you most.
You know what it is to pin your hopes on something beautiful for a while, until it falls apart in your hands. Jesus is offering you some life that is beautiful eternally. And no matter what else falls apart, this relationship is the one thing you will never lose.
“Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:3). John the Baptist asked this question of Christ. John was in deep trouble; he was in jail and Jesus was silent. Anytime the faithful suffer the consequences of the faithless….anytime a person does a good deed but suffers evil results…they spend time in the dungeon of doubt.
Clouds of doubt are created when the warm, moist air of our expectations meet the cold air of God’s silence. You may learn what John the Baptist did: that the problem is not so much in God’s silence as it is in our ability to hear God’s solution.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Acts 4:1-22
While Peter and John were addressing the people, the priests, the chief of the Temple police, and some Sadducees came up, indignant that these upstart apostles were instructing the people and proclaiming that the resurrection from the dead had taken place in Jesus. They arrested them and threw them in jail until morning, for by now it was late in the evening. But many of those who listened had already believed the Message—in round numbers about five thousand!
5-7 The next day a meeting was called in Jerusalem. The rulers, religious leaders, religion scholars, Annas the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander—everybody who was anybody was there. They stood Peter and John in the middle of the room and grilled them: “Who put you in charge here? What business do you have doing this?”
8-12 With that, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, let loose: “Rulers and leaders of the people, if we have been brought to trial today for helping a sick man, put under investigation regarding this healing, I’ll be completely frank with you—we have nothing to hide. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is ‘the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.’ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”
13-14 They couldn’t take their eyes off them—Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realized these two were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education. They recognized them as companions of Jesus, but with the man right before them, seeing him standing there so upright—so healed!—what could they say against that?
15-17 They sent them out of the room so they could work out a plan. They talked it over: “What can we do with these men? By now it’s known all over town that a miracle has occurred, and that they are behind it. There is no way we can refute that. But so that it doesn’t go any further, let’s silence them with threats so they won’t dare to use Jesus’ name ever again with anyone.”
18-20 They called them back and warned them that they were on no account ever again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John spoke right back, “Whether it’s right in God’s eyes to listen to you rather than to God, you decide. As for us, there’s no question—we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard.”
21-22 The religious leaders renewed their threats, but then released them. They couldn’t come up with a charge that would stick, that would keep them in jail. The people wouldn’t have stood for it—they were all praising God over what had happened. The man who had been miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 14:15-18
“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!
18-20 “I will not leave you orphaned. I’m coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I’m in my Father, and you’re in me, and I’m in you.
Insight
When Jesus was about to return to the Father, He promised His disciples He wouldn’t abandon them but would ask the Father to give them “another advocate,” the Holy Spirit (John 14:16–17). Advocate is from the Greek word parakletos, which means “one who helps or enables another person” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7–8). Various translations render this word “Helper” (nkjv), “Counselor” (niv), “Comforter” (kjv), and “Friend” (the message).
There are two different Greek words for “another”: heteros, which connotes another of a different kind; and allos, which means another of the same kind. Allos is the word used in John 14:16. When the Father sent the Spirit, He sent an equal—a personal representative (v. 26), not an inferior or subordinate substitute. The Spirit continues what Jesus did: He comforts, encourages, guides, and strengthens. He reminds us of all that Jesus taught (v. 26; 16:12–15).
Never Alone
He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. John 14:16–17
While writing a Bible guide for pastors in Indonesia, a writer friend grew fascinated with that nation’s culture of togetherness. Called gotong royong—meaning “mutual assistance”—the concept is practiced in villages, where neighbors may work together to repair someone’s roof or rebuild a bridge or path. In cities too my friend said, “People always go places with someone else—to a doctor’s appointment, for example. It’s the cultural norm. So you’re never alone.”
Worldwide, believers in Jesus rejoice in knowing we also are never alone. Our constant and forever companion is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Far more than a loyal friend, the Spirit of God is given to every follower of Christ by our heavenly Father to “help you and be with you forever” (John 14:16).
Jesus promised God’s Spirit would come after His own time on Earth ended. “I will not leave you as orphans,” Jesus said (v. 18). Instead, the Holy Spirit—“the Spirit of Truth” who “lives with you and will be in you”—indwells each of us who receives Christ as Savior (v. 17).
The Holy Spirit is our Helper, Comforter, Encourager, and Counselor—a constant companion in a world where loneliness can afflict even connected people. May we forever abide in His comforting love and help. By Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
As a believer in Christ, how does it encourage you to know that the Holy Spirit lives inside of you? How have you neglected God’s comfort?
Jesus promised we will always have companionship with the Holy Spirit, who never leaves us.
To learn more about basic Christian beliefs visit christianuniversity.org/ST101.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Unquestioned Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing. —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If a man cannot prove his religion in the valley, it is not worth anything. Shade of His Hand, 1200 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Beautiful Things That Fall Apart - #8447
Occasionally my wife would flip the TV on to one of those home shopping channels. And there actually were some good deals that showed up there, and sometimes I couldn't get to the remote fast enough. One day she saw this 14-karat gold bracelet and she decided to order it. When it arrived, it looked just as beautiful as it had on television, until our then two-year-old grandson got interested in it. He saw it on a dresser. Fascinated with this bracelet, he picked it up, played with it for a moment, at which point the bracelet totally fell apart. My wife said there was one drawback to ordering from television or catalogs; she just couldn't hold the jewelry in her hand and feel the weight of it. The bracelet turned out to be very attractive on the outside but hollow on the inside.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful Things That Fall Apart."
Maybe you've experienced that kind of disappointment in your life, not with jewelry but with relationships, your job, your dream, your accomplishments, or even your marriage. It was beautiful for a while, but then it just fell apart. It's almost like many of the things we depend on for happiness and meaning turn out to be hollow inside.
Those disappointments actually can start us searching for something that is both beautiful and solid gold inside and out. Something that won't fall apart on us, something that won't let us down or leave us alone, something unbreakable - "unloseable." That search has led millions of people ultimately to Jesus Christ. It could be that He's where your search can end, too.
Jesus met a searcher at a well one day; a well where both he and this woman had stopped for a drink on a hot day. Their conversation later revealed that this woman had been looking for love and fulfillment in relationships with one guy after another. Now, we all look different places, but we're all looking. Her hopes, her search just happened to be in the series of relationships.
In John 4:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus identifies the problem with so many of the "beautiful things" we look to, and then offers something very exciting. Speaking symbolically, Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again." Translation: things just keep leaving us unsatisfied, still searching. "But whoever drinks the water I give him," Jesus says, "will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." That's "eternal" as in unloseable.
What Jesus offers is not a religion, it's the one relationship - the one love that will totally fill the hole in your heart. It's the relationship with Him that the Bible says you were literally created for. That's why all those other beautiful things ultimately seem so hollow. But that relationship with Jesus is impossible as long as your sin stands between you and Him. No religion can take our sin away. Only He can because only He died to pay for it. If there was any other way, believe me, He would not have paid that awful price.
So your search for your life-anchor finally ends when you open up your life to the One who paid for your life on the cross. If you've never done that, you could do it right now where you are and say, "Jesus, I believe that some of those things you died for were mine. You were supposed to run my life and I did instead. Thank you for paying the death penalty that I deserve. And I'm reaching out to You to give myself totally to You by faith, believing You are alive because you walked out of Your grave, and Jesus I am pinning all my hopes on You to get me to heaven; to forgive my sins and to fill the hole in my heart.
When you do that you will finally belong to the One who loves you most. I want to help you make sure that you have Jesus in your life, that you've begun this relationship. That's why we've set up our website, ANewStory.com. If you go there, I believe you can leave that place sure you've anchored your life to the One who loves you most.
You know what it is to pin your hopes on something beautiful for a while, until it falls apart in your hands. Jesus is offering you some life that is beautiful eternally. And no matter what else falls apart, this relationship is the one thing you will never lose.
Monday, May 27, 2019
Proverbs 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE GREASY POLE OF POWER
There are certain things you can do that no one else can, and you are alive to do them. But there’s a canyon of difference between doing your best to glorify God and doing whatever it takes to glorify yourself. The quest for excellence is a mark of maturity. The quest for power is childish.
The first power play happened in a garden. A promise of prestige was whispered with a hiss by a fallen angel. Eve swallowed the hook. The temptation to be like God eclipsed her view of God. Absolute power is unreachable. The pole of power is greasy.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Which would you prefer? To be king of the mountain for a day? Or to be a child of God for eternity?
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 24
Don’t envy bad people;
don’t even want to be around them.
All they think about is causing a disturbance;
all they talk about is making trouble.
20
3-4 It takes wisdom to build a house,
and understanding to set it on a firm foundation;
It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms
with fine furniture and beautiful draperies.
21
5-6 It’s better to be wise than strong;
intelligence outranks muscle any day.
Strategic planning is the key to warfare;
to win, you need a lot of good counsel.
22
7 Wise conversation is way over the head of fools;
in a serious discussion they haven’t a clue.
23
8-9 The person who’s always cooking up some evil
soon gets a reputation as prince of rogues.
Fools incubate sin;
cynics desecrate beauty.
24
10 If you fall to pieces in a crisis,
there wasn’t much to you in the first place.
25
11-12 Rescue the perishing;
don’t hesitate to step in and help.
If you say, “Hey, that’s none of my business,”
will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know—
Someone not impressed with weak excuses.
26
13-14 Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you—
and delicacies that melt in your mouth.
Likewise knowledge,
and wisdom for your soul—
Get that and your future’s secured,
your hope is on solid rock.
27
15-16 Don’t interfere with good people’s lives;
don’t try to get the best of them.
No matter how many times you trip them up,
God-loyal people don’t stay down long;
Soon they’re up on their feet,
while the wicked end up flat on their faces.
28
17-18 Don’t laugh when your enemy falls;
don’t crow over his collapse.
God might see, and become very provoked,
and then take pity on his plight.
29
19-20 Don’t bother your head with braggarts
or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
Those people have no future at all;
they’re headed down a dead-end street.
30
21-22 Fear God, dear child—respect your leaders;
don’t be defiant or mutinous.
Without warning your life can turn upside down,
and who knows how or when it might happen?
More Sayings of the Wise
23 It’s wrong, very wrong,
to go along with injustice.
24-25 Whoever whitewashes the wicked
gets a black mark in the history books,
But whoever exposes the wicked
will be thanked and rewarded.
26 An honest answer
is like a warm hug.
27 First plant your fields;
then build your barn.
28-29 Don’t talk about your neighbors behind their backs—
no slander or gossip, please.
Don’t say to anyone, “I’ll get back at you for what you did to me.
I’ll make you pay for what you did!”
30-34 One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones,
and then passed the vineyard of a lout;
They were overgrown with weeds,
thick with thistles, all the fences broken down.
I took a long look and pondered what I saw;
the fields preached me a sermon and I listened:
“A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
with poverty as your permanent houseguest!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 27, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Samuel 9:1-7
One day David asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family? If so, I’d like to show him some kindness in honor of Jonathan.”
2 It happened that a servant from Saul’s household named Ziba was there. They called him into David’s presence. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Yes sir,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there anyone left from the family of Saul to whom I can show some godly kindness?”
Ziba told the king, “Yes, there is Jonathan’s son, lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?”
“He’s living at the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 King David didn’t lose a minute. He sent and got him from the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan (who was the son of Saul), came before David, he bowed deeply, abasing himself, honoring David.
David spoke his name: “Mephibosheth.”
“Yes sir?”
7 “Don’t be frightened,” said David. “I’d like to do something special for you in memory of your father Jonathan. To begin with, I’m returning to you all the properties of your grandfather Saul. Furthermore, from now on you’ll take all your meals at my table.”
Insight
Jonathan’s father, Saul, had hated David with murderous envy (1 Samuel 18:1–16). Even though showing kindness to a surviving member of Saul’s house could’ve been met with lingering animosity, David made the choice to honor Jonathan’s family. He learned that one of Jonathan’s sons, Mephibosheth, was still living, although injured and permanently disabled. He’d been dropped by a nursemaid in the confusion following news of his father’s and grandfather’s deaths (2 Samuel 4:4). David himself would someday need mercy (Psalm 25:11). His kindness foreshadowed the coming of Christ (Luke 1:26–27), for whose sake God asks us to show mercy and kindness to one another.
A Living Memorial of Kindness
David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?” 2 Samuel 9:1
I grew up in a church full of traditions. One came into play when a beloved family member or friend died. Often a church pew or possibly a painting in a hallway showed up not long afterward with a brass plate affixed: “In Memory of . . .” The deceased’s name would be etched there, a shining reminder of a life passed on. I always appreciated those memorials. And I still do. Yet at the same time they’ve always given me pause because they are static, inanimate objects, in a very literal sense something “not alive.” Is there a way to add an element of “life” to the memorial?
Following the death of his beloved friend Jonathan, David wanted to remember him and to keep a promise to him (1 Samuel 20:12–17). But rather than simply seek something static, David searched and found something very much alive—a son of Jonathan (2 Samuel 9:3). David’s decision here is dramatic. He chose to extend kindness (v. 1) to Mephibosheth (vv. 6–7) in the specific forms of restored property (“all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul”) and the ongoing provision of food and drink (“you will always eat at my table”).
As we continue to remember those who’ve died with plaques and paintings, may we also recall David’s example and extend kindness to those still living. By John Blase
Reflect & Pray
Who has died that you don’t want to forget? What might a specific kindness to another person look like for you?
Jesus, give me the strength to extend kindness in memory of the kindness others have shown me, but most important because of Your great kindness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 27, 2019
The Life To Know Him
…tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39— “…for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else. The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 27, 2019
Everything For the War Effort - #8446
When World War II began, almost every American's life changed, including my dad's. He couldn't fight because of a medical problem, and he was working at that time in a plant that had been making some kind of industrial product. And suddenly almost overnight it was converted into a defense plant. They stopped making whatever little things they had been making, and they started to make airplane parts. Well, it was obvious what was happening. It was a war, and that plant had to be used to help win the war. During that time, not that I remember it personally (let me make that clear), people made sacrifices of gasoline, and food, and rubber tires, and money. Why? Well, because you know that everything is needed to fight the war. It was then and it still is.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Everything For the War Effort."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Numbers 32. I'm going to begin reading at verse 5. Let me set the scene a little bit. The Jews are getting ready to enter the Promised Land. They're facing walled cities, barbarian tribes, and well-developed armies to fight. A couple of the tribes already have their inheritance on the peaceful side of Jordan; the east side. They have an idea for Moses, they say, "If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as our possession." In other words, "how about this, we'll just kind of settle down, start milking the cows." "'Do not make us cross the Jordan.' they said. Moses said to them, 'Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here?'" The message to Moses from God to these comfortable folks: "This is your war, too, folks."
You know, it's easy to forget in the comfort of American Christianity that there is a war going on. The forces of darkness know what time it is, and there just isn't much time left. They are throwing everything: all the money, all the talent, all the technology - everything they can into the battle for people's hearts, for people's families, for their lives, for their eternal futures. This is war!
Let me explain what you see going on in your school, in your family, in your community. It's war! And Jesus Christ fights that war through His people. The devil is no match for God's people when they're mobilized to fight in Jesus' name. But many of us seem to have forgotten that there's a war going on.
When you realize there's a war, you throw everything you've got into the war effort. You put your money into it, you put your talent into it, you put your time into it. It's all converted to the war effort.
You sacrifice what you might like to have for yourself. You say, "You know what? After we win this thing, I can have that." In other parts of the world right now, Christians know that its hand-to-hand combat and they live like it. In North America, it's easy to forget - just to send a few warriors out; some of those professional warriors who can take all the risks for us and maybe have all the faith for us. Hey but, we could send a check.
God says to you and me, as He said to those believers centuries ago, "This is your war, too." God's victory strategy is that every Christian sacrifices for His battle. But the best I have - not the least I have - is used to make an eternal difference somewhere in the world or somewhere in my community.
Amy Carmichael, the missionary heroine said it so well, "We'll have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only a few short hours to win them." My brother, my sister...we are in those few short hours!
There are certain things you can do that no one else can, and you are alive to do them. But there’s a canyon of difference between doing your best to glorify God and doing whatever it takes to glorify yourself. The quest for excellence is a mark of maturity. The quest for power is childish.
The first power play happened in a garden. A promise of prestige was whispered with a hiss by a fallen angel. Eve swallowed the hook. The temptation to be like God eclipsed her view of God. Absolute power is unreachable. The pole of power is greasy.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Which would you prefer? To be king of the mountain for a day? Or to be a child of God for eternity?
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 24
Don’t envy bad people;
don’t even want to be around them.
All they think about is causing a disturbance;
all they talk about is making trouble.
20
3-4 It takes wisdom to build a house,
and understanding to set it on a firm foundation;
It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms
with fine furniture and beautiful draperies.
21
5-6 It’s better to be wise than strong;
intelligence outranks muscle any day.
Strategic planning is the key to warfare;
to win, you need a lot of good counsel.
22
7 Wise conversation is way over the head of fools;
in a serious discussion they haven’t a clue.
23
8-9 The person who’s always cooking up some evil
soon gets a reputation as prince of rogues.
Fools incubate sin;
cynics desecrate beauty.
24
10 If you fall to pieces in a crisis,
there wasn’t much to you in the first place.
25
11-12 Rescue the perishing;
don’t hesitate to step in and help.
If you say, “Hey, that’s none of my business,”
will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know—
Someone not impressed with weak excuses.
26
13-14 Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you—
and delicacies that melt in your mouth.
Likewise knowledge,
and wisdom for your soul—
Get that and your future’s secured,
your hope is on solid rock.
27
15-16 Don’t interfere with good people’s lives;
don’t try to get the best of them.
No matter how many times you trip them up,
God-loyal people don’t stay down long;
Soon they’re up on their feet,
while the wicked end up flat on their faces.
28
17-18 Don’t laugh when your enemy falls;
don’t crow over his collapse.
God might see, and become very provoked,
and then take pity on his plight.
29
19-20 Don’t bother your head with braggarts
or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
Those people have no future at all;
they’re headed down a dead-end street.
30
21-22 Fear God, dear child—respect your leaders;
don’t be defiant or mutinous.
Without warning your life can turn upside down,
and who knows how or when it might happen?
More Sayings of the Wise
23 It’s wrong, very wrong,
to go along with injustice.
24-25 Whoever whitewashes the wicked
gets a black mark in the history books,
But whoever exposes the wicked
will be thanked and rewarded.
26 An honest answer
is like a warm hug.
27 First plant your fields;
then build your barn.
28-29 Don’t talk about your neighbors behind their backs—
no slander or gossip, please.
Don’t say to anyone, “I’ll get back at you for what you did to me.
I’ll make you pay for what you did!”
30-34 One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones,
and then passed the vineyard of a lout;
They were overgrown with weeds,
thick with thistles, all the fences broken down.
I took a long look and pondered what I saw;
the fields preached me a sermon and I listened:
“A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
with poverty as your permanent houseguest!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 27, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Samuel 9:1-7
One day David asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family? If so, I’d like to show him some kindness in honor of Jonathan.”
2 It happened that a servant from Saul’s household named Ziba was there. They called him into David’s presence. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Yes sir,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there anyone left from the family of Saul to whom I can show some godly kindness?”
Ziba told the king, “Yes, there is Jonathan’s son, lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?”
“He’s living at the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 King David didn’t lose a minute. He sent and got him from the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan (who was the son of Saul), came before David, he bowed deeply, abasing himself, honoring David.
David spoke his name: “Mephibosheth.”
“Yes sir?”
7 “Don’t be frightened,” said David. “I’d like to do something special for you in memory of your father Jonathan. To begin with, I’m returning to you all the properties of your grandfather Saul. Furthermore, from now on you’ll take all your meals at my table.”
Insight
Jonathan’s father, Saul, had hated David with murderous envy (1 Samuel 18:1–16). Even though showing kindness to a surviving member of Saul’s house could’ve been met with lingering animosity, David made the choice to honor Jonathan’s family. He learned that one of Jonathan’s sons, Mephibosheth, was still living, although injured and permanently disabled. He’d been dropped by a nursemaid in the confusion following news of his father’s and grandfather’s deaths (2 Samuel 4:4). David himself would someday need mercy (Psalm 25:11). His kindness foreshadowed the coming of Christ (Luke 1:26–27), for whose sake God asks us to show mercy and kindness to one another.
A Living Memorial of Kindness
David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?” 2 Samuel 9:1
I grew up in a church full of traditions. One came into play when a beloved family member or friend died. Often a church pew or possibly a painting in a hallway showed up not long afterward with a brass plate affixed: “In Memory of . . .” The deceased’s name would be etched there, a shining reminder of a life passed on. I always appreciated those memorials. And I still do. Yet at the same time they’ve always given me pause because they are static, inanimate objects, in a very literal sense something “not alive.” Is there a way to add an element of “life” to the memorial?
Following the death of his beloved friend Jonathan, David wanted to remember him and to keep a promise to him (1 Samuel 20:12–17). But rather than simply seek something static, David searched and found something very much alive—a son of Jonathan (2 Samuel 9:3). David’s decision here is dramatic. He chose to extend kindness (v. 1) to Mephibosheth (vv. 6–7) in the specific forms of restored property (“all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul”) and the ongoing provision of food and drink (“you will always eat at my table”).
As we continue to remember those who’ve died with plaques and paintings, may we also recall David’s example and extend kindness to those still living. By John Blase
Reflect & Pray
Who has died that you don’t want to forget? What might a specific kindness to another person look like for you?
Jesus, give me the strength to extend kindness in memory of the kindness others have shown me, but most important because of Your great kindness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 27, 2019
The Life To Know Him
…tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39— “…for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else. The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 27, 2019
Everything For the War Effort - #8446
When World War II began, almost every American's life changed, including my dad's. He couldn't fight because of a medical problem, and he was working at that time in a plant that had been making some kind of industrial product. And suddenly almost overnight it was converted into a defense plant. They stopped making whatever little things they had been making, and they started to make airplane parts. Well, it was obvious what was happening. It was a war, and that plant had to be used to help win the war. During that time, not that I remember it personally (let me make that clear), people made sacrifices of gasoline, and food, and rubber tires, and money. Why? Well, because you know that everything is needed to fight the war. It was then and it still is.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Everything For the War Effort."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Numbers 32. I'm going to begin reading at verse 5. Let me set the scene a little bit. The Jews are getting ready to enter the Promised Land. They're facing walled cities, barbarian tribes, and well-developed armies to fight. A couple of the tribes already have their inheritance on the peaceful side of Jordan; the east side. They have an idea for Moses, they say, "If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as our possession." In other words, "how about this, we'll just kind of settle down, start milking the cows." "'Do not make us cross the Jordan.' they said. Moses said to them, 'Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here?'" The message to Moses from God to these comfortable folks: "This is your war, too, folks."
You know, it's easy to forget in the comfort of American Christianity that there is a war going on. The forces of darkness know what time it is, and there just isn't much time left. They are throwing everything: all the money, all the talent, all the technology - everything they can into the battle for people's hearts, for people's families, for their lives, for their eternal futures. This is war!
Let me explain what you see going on in your school, in your family, in your community. It's war! And Jesus Christ fights that war through His people. The devil is no match for God's people when they're mobilized to fight in Jesus' name. But many of us seem to have forgotten that there's a war going on.
When you realize there's a war, you throw everything you've got into the war effort. You put your money into it, you put your talent into it, you put your time into it. It's all converted to the war effort.
You sacrifice what you might like to have for yourself. You say, "You know what? After we win this thing, I can have that." In other parts of the world right now, Christians know that its hand-to-hand combat and they live like it. In North America, it's easy to forget - just to send a few warriors out; some of those professional warriors who can take all the risks for us and maybe have all the faith for us. Hey but, we could send a check.
God says to you and me, as He said to those believers centuries ago, "This is your war, too." God's victory strategy is that every Christian sacrifices for His battle. But the best I have - not the least I have - is used to make an eternal difference somewhere in the world or somewhere in my community.
Amy Carmichael, the missionary heroine said it so well, "We'll have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only a few short hours to win them." My brother, my sister...we are in those few short hours!
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Proverbs 23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Loneliness
We'll try anything to get rid of our loneliness. But should we? Should we be so quick to drop it? Could it be that loneliness is a gift? A gift from God? A friend turns away. The job goes bad. Your spouse didn't understand. The church is dull. One by one he removes the options until all you have left is God. He would do that? Hebrews 12:6 tells us, "The Lord disciplines those he loves." If he must silence every voice, he will. He wants you to discover what David discovered and to be able to say what David said, "You are with me."
Loneliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? Scripture says, "Perfect love casts out fear." If a season of solitude is his way to teach you to hear his song, don't you think it's worth it? So do I.
From Traveling Light
Proverbs 23
1-3 When you go out to dinner with an influential person,
mind your manners:
Don’t gobble your food,
don’t talk with your mouth full.
And don’t stuff yourself;
bridle your appetite.
7
4-5 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich;
restrain yourself!
Riches disappear in the blink of an eye;
wealth sprouts wings
and flies off into the wild blue yonder.
8
6-8 Don’t accept a meal from a tightwad;
don’t expect anything special.
He’ll be as stingy with you as he is with himself;
he’ll say, “Eat! Drink!” but won’t mean a word of it.
His miserly serving will turn your stomach
when you realize the meal’s a sham.
9
9 Don’t bother talking sense to fools;
they’ll only poke fun at your words.
10
10-11 Don’t stealthily move back the boundary lines
or cheat orphans out of their property,
For they have a powerful Advocate
who will go to bat for them.
11
12 Give yourselves to disciplined instruction;
open your ears to tested knowledge.
12
13-14 Don’t be afraid to correct your young ones;
a spanking won’t kill them.
A good spanking, in fact, might save them
from something worse than death.
13
15-16 Dear child, if you become wise,
I’ll be one happy parent.
My heart will dance and sing
to the tuneful truth you’ll speak.
14
17-18 Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels;
soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—
That’s where your future lies.
Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.
15
19-21 Oh listen, dear child—become wise;
point your life in the right direction.
Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk;
don’t eat too much food and get fat.
Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row,
in a stupor and dressed in rags.
16
22-25 Listen with respect to the father who raised you,
and when your mother grows old, don’t neglect her.
Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money;
buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight.
Parents rejoice when their children turn out well;
wise children become proud parents.
So make your father happy!
Make your mother proud!
17
26 Dear child, I want your full attention;
please do what I show you.
27-28 A whore is a bottomless pit;
a loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.
She’ll take you for all you’ve got;
she’s worse than a pack of thieves.
18
29-35 Who are the people who are always crying the blues?
Who do you know who reeks of self-pity?
Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all?
Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot?
It’s those who spend the night with a bottle,
for whom drinking is serious business.
Don’t judge wine by its label,
or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor.
Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—
the splitting headache, the queasy stomach.
Do you really prefer seeing double,
with your speech all slurred,
Reeling and seasick,
drunk as a sailor?
“They hit me,” you’ll say, “but it didn’t hurt;
they beat on me, but I didn’t feel a thing.
When I’m sober enough to manage it,
bring me another drink!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Chronicles 28:8-10
“And now, in this public place, all Israel looking on and God listening in, as God’s people, obey and study every last one of the commandments of your God so that you can make the most of living in this good land and pass it on intact to your children, insuring a good future.
9-10 “And you, Solomon my son, get to know well your father’s God; serve him with a whole heart and eager mind, for God examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek him, he’ll make sure you find him, but if you abandon him, he’ll leave you for good. Look sharp now! God has chosen you to build his holy house. Be brave, determined! And do it!”
1 Chronicles 28:19-21 The Message (MSG)
11-19 Then David presented his son Solomon with the plans for The Temple complex: porch, storerooms, meeting rooms, and the place for atoning sacrifice. He turned over the plans for everything that God’s Spirit had brought to his mind: the design of the courtyards, the arrangements of rooms, and the closets for storing all the holy things. He gave him his plan for organizing the Levites and priests in their work of leading and ordering worship in the house of God, and for caring for the liturgical furnishings. He provided exact specifications for how much gold and silver was needed for each article used in the services of worship: the gold and silver Lampstands and lamps, the gold tables for consecrated bread, the silver tables, the gold forks, the bowls and the jars, and the Incense Altar. And he gave him the plan for sculpting the cherubs with their wings outstretched over the Chest of the Covenant of God—the cherubim throne. “Here are the blueprints for the whole project as God gave me to understand it,” David said.
20-21 David continued to address Solomon: “Take charge! Take heart! Don’t be anxious or get discouraged. God, my God, is with you in this; he won’t walk off and leave you in the lurch. He’s at your side until every last detail is completed for conducting the worship of God. You have all the priests and Levites standing ready to pitch in, and skillful craftsmen and artisans of every kind ready to go to work. Both leaders and people are ready. Just say the word.”
Insight
Because David was a warrior who had shed much blood, he wasn’t permitted to build God’s temple (1 Chronicles 28:3). Instead, the task was to be carried out by his son Solomon who was “a man of peace” (22:8–10). Knowing that Solomon had two difficult tasks ahead—to be as good a king as David was and to build a house for God to dwell in—David reminded Solomon that God would give him success only if Solomon was “unswerving in carrying out [God’s] commands and laws” (28:7). Four hundred years earlier, Moses told his successor Joshua the same truth (Joshua 1:7–8). Their obedience didn’t indicate perfection but was evidence of their devotion to and trust in God.
The Call to Courage
Be strong and courageous. 1 Chronicles 28:20
Among a display of male statues (Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, and others) in London’s Parliament Square, stands a lone statue of a woman. The solitary woman is Millicent Fawcett, who fought for the right of women to vote. She’s immortalized in bronze—holding a banner displaying words she offered in a tribute to a fellow suffragist: “Courage calls to courage everywhere.” Fawcett insisted that one person’s courage emboldens others—calling timid souls into action.
As David prepared to hand his throne over to his son Solomon, he explained the responsibilities that would soon rest heavy on his shoulders. It’s likely Solomon quivered under the weight of what he faced: leading Israel to follow all God’s instructions, guarding the land God had entrusted to them, and overseeing the monumental task of building the temple (1 Chronicles 28:8–10).
Knowing Solomon’s trembling heart, David offered his son powerful words: “Be strong and courageous . . . . Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you” (v. 20). Real courage would never arise from Solomon’s own skill or confidence but rather from relying on God’s presence and strength. God provided the courage Solomon needed.
When we face hardship, we often try to drum up boldness or talk ourselves into bravery. God, however, is the one who renews our faith. He will be with us. And His presence calls us to courage. By Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
What causes your heart to tremble in fear? How can you seek God’s presence and power in moving toward courage?
God, I’m often so afraid. And when I am, I’m tempted to rely on my own wits or courage—and that’s never enough. Be with me. Give me Your courage.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught
Pray without ceasing… —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing…”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “…everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But…, but….” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
We'll try anything to get rid of our loneliness. But should we? Should we be so quick to drop it? Could it be that loneliness is a gift? A gift from God? A friend turns away. The job goes bad. Your spouse didn't understand. The church is dull. One by one he removes the options until all you have left is God. He would do that? Hebrews 12:6 tells us, "The Lord disciplines those he loves." If he must silence every voice, he will. He wants you to discover what David discovered and to be able to say what David said, "You are with me."
Loneliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? Scripture says, "Perfect love casts out fear." If a season of solitude is his way to teach you to hear his song, don't you think it's worth it? So do I.
From Traveling Light
Proverbs 23
1-3 When you go out to dinner with an influential person,
mind your manners:
Don’t gobble your food,
don’t talk with your mouth full.
And don’t stuff yourself;
bridle your appetite.
7
4-5 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich;
restrain yourself!
Riches disappear in the blink of an eye;
wealth sprouts wings
and flies off into the wild blue yonder.
8
6-8 Don’t accept a meal from a tightwad;
don’t expect anything special.
He’ll be as stingy with you as he is with himself;
he’ll say, “Eat! Drink!” but won’t mean a word of it.
His miserly serving will turn your stomach
when you realize the meal’s a sham.
9
9 Don’t bother talking sense to fools;
they’ll only poke fun at your words.
10
10-11 Don’t stealthily move back the boundary lines
or cheat orphans out of their property,
For they have a powerful Advocate
who will go to bat for them.
11
12 Give yourselves to disciplined instruction;
open your ears to tested knowledge.
12
13-14 Don’t be afraid to correct your young ones;
a spanking won’t kill them.
A good spanking, in fact, might save them
from something worse than death.
13
15-16 Dear child, if you become wise,
I’ll be one happy parent.
My heart will dance and sing
to the tuneful truth you’ll speak.
14
17-18 Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels;
soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—
That’s where your future lies.
Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.
15
19-21 Oh listen, dear child—become wise;
point your life in the right direction.
Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk;
don’t eat too much food and get fat.
Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row,
in a stupor and dressed in rags.
16
22-25 Listen with respect to the father who raised you,
and when your mother grows old, don’t neglect her.
Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money;
buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight.
Parents rejoice when their children turn out well;
wise children become proud parents.
So make your father happy!
Make your mother proud!
17
26 Dear child, I want your full attention;
please do what I show you.
27-28 A whore is a bottomless pit;
a loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.
She’ll take you for all you’ve got;
she’s worse than a pack of thieves.
18
29-35 Who are the people who are always crying the blues?
Who do you know who reeks of self-pity?
Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all?
Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot?
It’s those who spend the night with a bottle,
for whom drinking is serious business.
Don’t judge wine by its label,
or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor.
Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—
the splitting headache, the queasy stomach.
Do you really prefer seeing double,
with your speech all slurred,
Reeling and seasick,
drunk as a sailor?
“They hit me,” you’ll say, “but it didn’t hurt;
they beat on me, but I didn’t feel a thing.
When I’m sober enough to manage it,
bring me another drink!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Chronicles 28:8-10
“And now, in this public place, all Israel looking on and God listening in, as God’s people, obey and study every last one of the commandments of your God so that you can make the most of living in this good land and pass it on intact to your children, insuring a good future.
9-10 “And you, Solomon my son, get to know well your father’s God; serve him with a whole heart and eager mind, for God examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek him, he’ll make sure you find him, but if you abandon him, he’ll leave you for good. Look sharp now! God has chosen you to build his holy house. Be brave, determined! And do it!”
1 Chronicles 28:19-21 The Message (MSG)
11-19 Then David presented his son Solomon with the plans for The Temple complex: porch, storerooms, meeting rooms, and the place for atoning sacrifice. He turned over the plans for everything that God’s Spirit had brought to his mind: the design of the courtyards, the arrangements of rooms, and the closets for storing all the holy things. He gave him his plan for organizing the Levites and priests in their work of leading and ordering worship in the house of God, and for caring for the liturgical furnishings. He provided exact specifications for how much gold and silver was needed for each article used in the services of worship: the gold and silver Lampstands and lamps, the gold tables for consecrated bread, the silver tables, the gold forks, the bowls and the jars, and the Incense Altar. And he gave him the plan for sculpting the cherubs with their wings outstretched over the Chest of the Covenant of God—the cherubim throne. “Here are the blueprints for the whole project as God gave me to understand it,” David said.
20-21 David continued to address Solomon: “Take charge! Take heart! Don’t be anxious or get discouraged. God, my God, is with you in this; he won’t walk off and leave you in the lurch. He’s at your side until every last detail is completed for conducting the worship of God. You have all the priests and Levites standing ready to pitch in, and skillful craftsmen and artisans of every kind ready to go to work. Both leaders and people are ready. Just say the word.”
Insight
Because David was a warrior who had shed much blood, he wasn’t permitted to build God’s temple (1 Chronicles 28:3). Instead, the task was to be carried out by his son Solomon who was “a man of peace” (22:8–10). Knowing that Solomon had two difficult tasks ahead—to be as good a king as David was and to build a house for God to dwell in—David reminded Solomon that God would give him success only if Solomon was “unswerving in carrying out [God’s] commands and laws” (28:7). Four hundred years earlier, Moses told his successor Joshua the same truth (Joshua 1:7–8). Their obedience didn’t indicate perfection but was evidence of their devotion to and trust in God.
The Call to Courage
Be strong and courageous. 1 Chronicles 28:20
Among a display of male statues (Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, and others) in London’s Parliament Square, stands a lone statue of a woman. The solitary woman is Millicent Fawcett, who fought for the right of women to vote. She’s immortalized in bronze—holding a banner displaying words she offered in a tribute to a fellow suffragist: “Courage calls to courage everywhere.” Fawcett insisted that one person’s courage emboldens others—calling timid souls into action.
As David prepared to hand his throne over to his son Solomon, he explained the responsibilities that would soon rest heavy on his shoulders. It’s likely Solomon quivered under the weight of what he faced: leading Israel to follow all God’s instructions, guarding the land God had entrusted to them, and overseeing the monumental task of building the temple (1 Chronicles 28:8–10).
Knowing Solomon’s trembling heart, David offered his son powerful words: “Be strong and courageous . . . . Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you” (v. 20). Real courage would never arise from Solomon’s own skill or confidence but rather from relying on God’s presence and strength. God provided the courage Solomon needed.
When we face hardship, we often try to drum up boldness or talk ourselves into bravery. God, however, is the one who renews our faith. He will be with us. And His presence calls us to courage. By Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
What causes your heart to tremble in fear? How can you seek God’s presence and power in moving toward courage?
God, I’m often so afraid. And when I am, I’m tempted to rely on my own wits or courage—and that’s never enough. Be with me. Give me Your courage.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught
Pray without ceasing… —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing…”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “…everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But…, but….” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Proverbs 22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Get Over Yourself
Proverbs 16:5 says, "The Lord despises pride." So, get over yourself!
An elementary boy came home from tryouts for the school play. "Mommy, mommy" he announced, "I got a part. I've been chosen to sit in the audience and clap and cheer." When you have a chance to clap and cheer, do you take it? If you do, your head is starting to fit your hat size.
Demanding respect is like chasing a butterfly. Chase it, and you'll never catch it. Sit still, and it may light on your shoulder. The Bible says in Proverbs 27:2, "Don't praise yourself. Let someone else do it." Does your self-esteem need attention? You need only pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this: The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that's a fact!
From Traveling Light
Proverbs 22
A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich;
a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.
2 The rich and the poor shake hands as equals—
God made them both!
3 A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
4 The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God
is plenty and honor and a satisfying life.
5 The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick;
if you know what’s good for you, stay clear of it.
6 Point your kids in the right direction—
when they’re old they won’t be lost.
7 The poor are always ruled over by the rich,
so don’t borrow and put yourself under their power.
8 Whoever sows sin reaps weeds,
and bullying anger sputters into nothing.
9 Generous hands are blessed hands
because they give bread to the poor.
10 Kick out the troublemakers and things will quiet down;
you need a break from bickering and griping!
11 God loves the pure-hearted and well-spoken;
good leaders also delight in their friendship.
12 God guards knowledge with a passion,
but he’ll have nothing to do with deception.
13 The loafer says, “There’s a lion on the loose!
If I go out I’ll be eaten alive!”
14 The mouth of a whore is a bottomless pit;
you’ll fall in that pit if you’re on the outs with God.
15 Young people are prone to foolishness and fads;
the cure comes through tough-minded discipline.
16 Exploit the poor or glad-hand the rich—whichever,
you’ll end up the poorer for it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 16:25-34
Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.
27-28 Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”
29-31 The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”
32-34 They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.
Insight
We’re not always given all the details of stories in the Bible, but we can be assured the authors of Scripture were inspired to record what was necessary to convey the meaning and message God intended. Acts 16:31–32 is a good example of this. Verse 31 is clearly a condensed version of the gospel: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” The whole of the gospel is captured in this statement, but verse 32 indicates the jailer and his family still needed further instruction about what it means to follow Christ: “Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.” We’re not told the details of what Paul and Silas included in “the word of the Lord.”
Shackled but Not Silent
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25
In the summer of 1963, after an all-night bus ride, US civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and six other black passengers stopped to eat at a diner in Winona, Mississippi. After law enforcement officers forced them to leave, they were arrested and jailed. But the humiliation wouldn’t end with unlawful arrest. All received severe beatings, but Fannie’s was the worst. After a brutal attack that left her near death she burst out in song: “Paul and Silas was bound in jail, let my people go.” And she didn’t sing alone. Other prisoners, restrained in body but not in soul, joined her in worship.
According to Acts 16, Paul and Silas found themselves in a difficult place when they were imprisoned for telling others about Jesus. But discomfort didn’t dampen their faith. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (v. 25). Their bold worship created the opportunity to continue to talk about Jesus. “Then they spoke the word of the Lord to [the jailer] and to all the others in his house” (v. 32).
Most of us will not likely face the extreme circumstances encountered by Paul, Silas, or Fannie, but each of us will face uncomfortable situations. When that happens, our strength comes from our faithful God. May there be a song in our hearts that will honor Him and give us boldness to speak for Him—even in the midst of trouble. By Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
When was the last time you found yourself in a difficult situation? How did God help you live out your faith and witness?
Hard times call for prayer and praise to the One who controls all things.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 25, 2019
The Good or The Best?
If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. —Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice.
Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing.
Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “…walk before Me…” (Genesis 17:1).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Proverbs 16:5 says, "The Lord despises pride." So, get over yourself!
An elementary boy came home from tryouts for the school play. "Mommy, mommy" he announced, "I got a part. I've been chosen to sit in the audience and clap and cheer." When you have a chance to clap and cheer, do you take it? If you do, your head is starting to fit your hat size.
Demanding respect is like chasing a butterfly. Chase it, and you'll never catch it. Sit still, and it may light on your shoulder. The Bible says in Proverbs 27:2, "Don't praise yourself. Let someone else do it." Does your self-esteem need attention? You need only pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this: The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that's a fact!
From Traveling Light
Proverbs 22
A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich;
a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.
2 The rich and the poor shake hands as equals—
God made them both!
3 A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
4 The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God
is plenty and honor and a satisfying life.
5 The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick;
if you know what’s good for you, stay clear of it.
6 Point your kids in the right direction—
when they’re old they won’t be lost.
7 The poor are always ruled over by the rich,
so don’t borrow and put yourself under their power.
8 Whoever sows sin reaps weeds,
and bullying anger sputters into nothing.
9 Generous hands are blessed hands
because they give bread to the poor.
10 Kick out the troublemakers and things will quiet down;
you need a break from bickering and griping!
11 God loves the pure-hearted and well-spoken;
good leaders also delight in their friendship.
12 God guards knowledge with a passion,
but he’ll have nothing to do with deception.
13 The loafer says, “There’s a lion on the loose!
If I go out I’ll be eaten alive!”
14 The mouth of a whore is a bottomless pit;
you’ll fall in that pit if you’re on the outs with God.
15 Young people are prone to foolishness and fads;
the cure comes through tough-minded discipline.
16 Exploit the poor or glad-hand the rich—whichever,
you’ll end up the poorer for it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 16:25-34
Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.
27-28 Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”
29-31 The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”
32-34 They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.
Insight
We’re not always given all the details of stories in the Bible, but we can be assured the authors of Scripture were inspired to record what was necessary to convey the meaning and message God intended. Acts 16:31–32 is a good example of this. Verse 31 is clearly a condensed version of the gospel: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” The whole of the gospel is captured in this statement, but verse 32 indicates the jailer and his family still needed further instruction about what it means to follow Christ: “Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.” We’re not told the details of what Paul and Silas included in “the word of the Lord.”
Shackled but Not Silent
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25
In the summer of 1963, after an all-night bus ride, US civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and six other black passengers stopped to eat at a diner in Winona, Mississippi. After law enforcement officers forced them to leave, they were arrested and jailed. But the humiliation wouldn’t end with unlawful arrest. All received severe beatings, but Fannie’s was the worst. After a brutal attack that left her near death she burst out in song: “Paul and Silas was bound in jail, let my people go.” And she didn’t sing alone. Other prisoners, restrained in body but not in soul, joined her in worship.
According to Acts 16, Paul and Silas found themselves in a difficult place when they were imprisoned for telling others about Jesus. But discomfort didn’t dampen their faith. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (v. 25). Their bold worship created the opportunity to continue to talk about Jesus. “Then they spoke the word of the Lord to [the jailer] and to all the others in his house” (v. 32).
Most of us will not likely face the extreme circumstances encountered by Paul, Silas, or Fannie, but each of us will face uncomfortable situations. When that happens, our strength comes from our faithful God. May there be a song in our hearts that will honor Him and give us boldness to speak for Him—even in the midst of trouble. By Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
When was the last time you found yourself in a difficult situation? How did God help you live out your faith and witness?
Hard times call for prayer and praise to the One who controls all things.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 25, 2019
The Good or The Best?
If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. —Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice.
Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing.
Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “…walk before Me…” (Genesis 17:1).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Friday, May 24, 2019
Acts 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE POWER OF A SEED
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” (Matthew 5:9). Jesus said. The principle for peace is the same as the principle for crops– Never underestimate the power of a seed. Somebody in your world desperately needs a word of peace. Want to see a miracle? Plant a word of love heart-deep in that person’s life. Nurture it with a smile and a prayer, and watch what happens.
When God’s people had forgotten his name, he planted the seed of his own self in the womb of a Jewish girl. The seed shoved away the stones of legalism, oppression and prejudice. Then the stone of death was rolled by humans and sealed by Satan in front of the tomb. But the seed of God shoved, the ground trembled, the rock tumbled, and the flower of Easter blossomed. Never underestimate the power of a seed.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Acts 3
One day at three o’clock in the afternoon, Peter and John were on their way into the Temple for prayer meeting. At the same time there was a man crippled from birth being carried up. Every day he was set down at the Temple gate, the one named Beautiful, to beg from those going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple, he asked for a handout. Peter, with John at his side, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look here.” He looked up, expecting to get something from them.
6-8 Peter said, “I don’t have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked.
8-10 The man went into the Temple with them, walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. Everybody there saw him walking around and praising God. They recognized him as the one who sat begging at the Temple’s Gate Beautiful and rubbed their eyes, astonished, scarcely believing what they were seeing.
11 The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic. All the people ran up to where they were at Solomon’s Porch to see it for themselves.
12-16 When Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:
“Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise, and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his Son Jesus. The very One that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in his place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised him from the dead—and we’re the witnesses. Faith in Jesus’ name put this man, whose condition you know so well, on his feet—yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes.
17-18 “And now, friends, I know you had no idea what you were doing when you killed Jesus, and neither did your leaders. But God, who through the preaching of all the prophets had said all along that his Messiah would be killed, knew exactly what you were doing and used it to fulfill his plans.
19-23 “Now it’s time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be. Moses, for instance, said, ‘Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word he speaks to you. Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.’
24-26 “All the prophets from Samuel on down said the same thing, said most emphatically that these days would come. These prophets, along with the covenant God made with your ancestors, are your family tree. God’s covenant-word to Abraham provides the text: ‘By your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ But you are first in line: God, having raised up his Son, sent him to bless you as you turn, one by one, from your evil ways.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, May 24, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 8:42-47
“If God were your father,” said Jesus, “you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn’t come on my own. He sent me. Why can’t you understand one word I say? Here’s why: You can’t handle it. You’re from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone on God’s side listens to God’s words. This is why you’re not listening—because you’re not on God’s side.”
Insight
In today’s passage, Jesus unequivocally declares that Satan is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan (also known as the devil, the enemy, the thief, the evil one, the tempter) is in direct opposition to Jesus, “the truth” who sets us free (v. 32). Satan has “no truth in him” (v. 44), but Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” (14:6). In the last hours before His crucifixion, as Jesus stood before Pilate, He states: “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth” (18:37). Jesus came to earth to declare the truth about Himself, to explain the Father to us, and to expose the truth about ourselves, as He did with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). While Satan “[came] only to steal and kill and destroy” (10:10) and was “a murderer from the beginning” (8:44), Jesus brings life eternal (3:16).
“God Saved My Life”
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
When Aaron (not his real name) was 15, he began praying to Satan: “I felt like he and I had a partnership.” Aaron started to lie, steal, and manipulate his family and friends. He also experienced nightmares: “I woke up one morning and saw the devil at the end of the bed. He told me that I was going to pass my exams and then die.” Yet when he finished his exams, he lived. Aaron reflected, “It was clear to me that he was a liar.”
Hoping to meet girls, Aaron went to a Christian festival, where a man offered to pray for him. “While he was praying, I felt a sense of peace flood my body.” He felt something “more powerful, and more liberating,” than what he felt from Satan. The man who prayed told Aaron God had a plan and Satan was a liar. This man echoed what Jesus said of Satan when He responded to some who opposed him: “He is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
Aaron turned to Christ from Satanism and now “belongs to God” (v. 47). He ministers in an urban community, sharing the difference following Jesus makes. He’s a living testament of God’s saving power: “I can say with confidence that God saved my life.”
God is the source of all that is good, holy, and true. We can turn to Him to find truth. By Amy Boucher Pye
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced God rescuing you from evil? Who can you share your story with this week?
God is more powerful than the father of lies.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 24, 2019
The Delight of Despair
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. —Revelation 1:17
It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.
“He laid His right hand on me…” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?
Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, May 24, 2019
The End of the Maze - #8445
During a break for our hard working Native American team, we took them to an action park. Many of them were attracted to the maze at the park. We love to capture team memories on video, so one of our guys managed to find a spot looking down on the maze to shoot some video. And, it's really pretty funny because everyone is running down these twisting passageways, hoping to be the first person to find the exit. Unfortunately, most of those passageways of course lead to dead ends. So people are going full tilt, right into a dead end, hoping - even expecting - that this is the path that will get them where they want to go.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The End of the Maze."
There's a much bigger, much more important maze out there these days - the one that offers all kinds of paths to get to God. If you're an honest seeker, sincerely wanting to experience God for yourself, to know Him here and to be with Him when this life is over, frankly, there's a confusing assortment of roads out there. But the Bible's warning goes like this: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12). In other words, a lot of seemingly promising paths in the spiritual maze end up in an awful dead end.
But maybe you've already experienced the disappointment of some spiritual roads you've traveled. They've left you without peace...still without fulfillment. So you've gone on searching. The trendy thing to do today is to go to the "buffet" route spiritually - don't fully commit yourself to any one way, just try a little of that one and a little of this one. Then there's the "any god is fine" approach that seems so open-minded, so desirable. But we don't believe that about treating disease - any surgery, any medication is fine. We don't believe it about mathematics - either your sum or my sum is fine, even though they contradict one another.
If you want to come to a location where I'm waiting for you, you can't come any way you choose to any location you choose. Only I can tell you how to get where I am. Only God can tell you how to get where He is. And He has. The God of the Bible is unlike any other god in the world. Every other god, every other religion gives us a way to go looking for him. Only the God of the Bible comes looking for us, and dies for the sin that we deserve to pay for, and then comes back from the dead, and lives inside those who belong to Him, and makes it possible for us to know right here and now that we're going to go to heaven when we die. To know it right now, that's fantastic!
The God of the Bible is Jesus Christ who says in John 14:6, our word for today from the Word of God: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." He didn't say Christianity is the way - no religion is. The way that leads out of the mazec the way that leads to God's forgiveness, to personal peace and to heaven is the Man who died for every sin you have ever done and who walked out of His grave and proved that He alone can give eternal life. You can't give eternal life if you don't have it! And only Jesus has proven he has it.
If you're tired of searchingc if you're ready to finally find, Jesus is one step of faith away. Picture yourself at the foot of the cross where He loved you enough to die for you and tell Him that you want to be His from this day on. If you want a religion, go somewhere else. But if you want the relationship you were made for, well you tell Jesus today, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You have captured my heart with a love that would love me enough to die for what I've done against You. And You're alive! Be alive in my life today."
That will be the beginning of a whole new story for you. In fact, that's what our website is called, ANewStory.com. Where you can find there the Biblical information that will help you know for sure your eternity is settled, you belong to Jesus.
You don't have to keep looking for God anymore. He's come looking for you, and His name is Jesus. And He is everything that your heart has been restless for.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” (Matthew 5:9). Jesus said. The principle for peace is the same as the principle for crops– Never underestimate the power of a seed. Somebody in your world desperately needs a word of peace. Want to see a miracle? Plant a word of love heart-deep in that person’s life. Nurture it with a smile and a prayer, and watch what happens.
When God’s people had forgotten his name, he planted the seed of his own self in the womb of a Jewish girl. The seed shoved away the stones of legalism, oppression and prejudice. Then the stone of death was rolled by humans and sealed by Satan in front of the tomb. But the seed of God shoved, the ground trembled, the rock tumbled, and the flower of Easter blossomed. Never underestimate the power of a seed.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Acts 3
One day at three o’clock in the afternoon, Peter and John were on their way into the Temple for prayer meeting. At the same time there was a man crippled from birth being carried up. Every day he was set down at the Temple gate, the one named Beautiful, to beg from those going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple, he asked for a handout. Peter, with John at his side, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look here.” He looked up, expecting to get something from them.
6-8 Peter said, “I don’t have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked.
8-10 The man went into the Temple with them, walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. Everybody there saw him walking around and praising God. They recognized him as the one who sat begging at the Temple’s Gate Beautiful and rubbed their eyes, astonished, scarcely believing what they were seeing.
11 The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic. All the people ran up to where they were at Solomon’s Porch to see it for themselves.
12-16 When Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:
“Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise, and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his Son Jesus. The very One that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in his place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised him from the dead—and we’re the witnesses. Faith in Jesus’ name put this man, whose condition you know so well, on his feet—yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes.
17-18 “And now, friends, I know you had no idea what you were doing when you killed Jesus, and neither did your leaders. But God, who through the preaching of all the prophets had said all along that his Messiah would be killed, knew exactly what you were doing and used it to fulfill his plans.
19-23 “Now it’s time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be. Moses, for instance, said, ‘Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word he speaks to you. Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.’
24-26 “All the prophets from Samuel on down said the same thing, said most emphatically that these days would come. These prophets, along with the covenant God made with your ancestors, are your family tree. God’s covenant-word to Abraham provides the text: ‘By your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ But you are first in line: God, having raised up his Son, sent him to bless you as you turn, one by one, from your evil ways.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, May 24, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 8:42-47
“If God were your father,” said Jesus, “you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn’t come on my own. He sent me. Why can’t you understand one word I say? Here’s why: You can’t handle it. You’re from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone on God’s side listens to God’s words. This is why you’re not listening—because you’re not on God’s side.”
Insight
In today’s passage, Jesus unequivocally declares that Satan is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan (also known as the devil, the enemy, the thief, the evil one, the tempter) is in direct opposition to Jesus, “the truth” who sets us free (v. 32). Satan has “no truth in him” (v. 44), but Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” (14:6). In the last hours before His crucifixion, as Jesus stood before Pilate, He states: “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth” (18:37). Jesus came to earth to declare the truth about Himself, to explain the Father to us, and to expose the truth about ourselves, as He did with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). While Satan “[came] only to steal and kill and destroy” (10:10) and was “a murderer from the beginning” (8:44), Jesus brings life eternal (3:16).
“God Saved My Life”
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
When Aaron (not his real name) was 15, he began praying to Satan: “I felt like he and I had a partnership.” Aaron started to lie, steal, and manipulate his family and friends. He also experienced nightmares: “I woke up one morning and saw the devil at the end of the bed. He told me that I was going to pass my exams and then die.” Yet when he finished his exams, he lived. Aaron reflected, “It was clear to me that he was a liar.”
Hoping to meet girls, Aaron went to a Christian festival, where a man offered to pray for him. “While he was praying, I felt a sense of peace flood my body.” He felt something “more powerful, and more liberating,” than what he felt from Satan. The man who prayed told Aaron God had a plan and Satan was a liar. This man echoed what Jesus said of Satan when He responded to some who opposed him: “He is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
Aaron turned to Christ from Satanism and now “belongs to God” (v. 47). He ministers in an urban community, sharing the difference following Jesus makes. He’s a living testament of God’s saving power: “I can say with confidence that God saved my life.”
God is the source of all that is good, holy, and true. We can turn to Him to find truth. By Amy Boucher Pye
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced God rescuing you from evil? Who can you share your story with this week?
God is more powerful than the father of lies.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 24, 2019
The Delight of Despair
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. —Revelation 1:17
It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.
“He laid His right hand on me…” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?
Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, May 24, 2019
The End of the Maze - #8445
During a break for our hard working Native American team, we took them to an action park. Many of them were attracted to the maze at the park. We love to capture team memories on video, so one of our guys managed to find a spot looking down on the maze to shoot some video. And, it's really pretty funny because everyone is running down these twisting passageways, hoping to be the first person to find the exit. Unfortunately, most of those passageways of course lead to dead ends. So people are going full tilt, right into a dead end, hoping - even expecting - that this is the path that will get them where they want to go.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The End of the Maze."
There's a much bigger, much more important maze out there these days - the one that offers all kinds of paths to get to God. If you're an honest seeker, sincerely wanting to experience God for yourself, to know Him here and to be with Him when this life is over, frankly, there's a confusing assortment of roads out there. But the Bible's warning goes like this: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12). In other words, a lot of seemingly promising paths in the spiritual maze end up in an awful dead end.
But maybe you've already experienced the disappointment of some spiritual roads you've traveled. They've left you without peace...still without fulfillment. So you've gone on searching. The trendy thing to do today is to go to the "buffet" route spiritually - don't fully commit yourself to any one way, just try a little of that one and a little of this one. Then there's the "any god is fine" approach that seems so open-minded, so desirable. But we don't believe that about treating disease - any surgery, any medication is fine. We don't believe it about mathematics - either your sum or my sum is fine, even though they contradict one another.
If you want to come to a location where I'm waiting for you, you can't come any way you choose to any location you choose. Only I can tell you how to get where I am. Only God can tell you how to get where He is. And He has. The God of the Bible is unlike any other god in the world. Every other god, every other religion gives us a way to go looking for him. Only the God of the Bible comes looking for us, and dies for the sin that we deserve to pay for, and then comes back from the dead, and lives inside those who belong to Him, and makes it possible for us to know right here and now that we're going to go to heaven when we die. To know it right now, that's fantastic!
The God of the Bible is Jesus Christ who says in John 14:6, our word for today from the Word of God: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." He didn't say Christianity is the way - no religion is. The way that leads out of the mazec the way that leads to God's forgiveness, to personal peace and to heaven is the Man who died for every sin you have ever done and who walked out of His grave and proved that He alone can give eternal life. You can't give eternal life if you don't have it! And only Jesus has proven he has it.
If you're tired of searchingc if you're ready to finally find, Jesus is one step of faith away. Picture yourself at the foot of the cross where He loved you enough to die for you and tell Him that you want to be His from this day on. If you want a religion, go somewhere else. But if you want the relationship you were made for, well you tell Jesus today, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You have captured my heart with a love that would love me enough to die for what I've done against You. And You're alive! Be alive in my life today."
That will be the beginning of a whole new story for you. In fact, that's what our website is called, ANewStory.com. Where you can find there the Biblical information that will help you know for sure your eternity is settled, you belong to Jesus.
You don't have to keep looking for God anymore. He's come looking for you, and His name is Jesus. And He is everything that your heart has been restless for.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Proverbs 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: TEMPLE BUILDERS AND SAVIOR SEEKERS
The next time you enter an assembly of worship, watch the people. You can tell the ones who remember the slain one. They’re wide-eyed and expectant. They don’t yawn while receiving a gift from the king himself!
You can also tell the ones who see only the temple. Their eyes wander. Their mouths open—not to sing, but to yawn. The temple gazers don’t mean to be bored. But the one they once planned to honor hasn’t been seen in a while. But those who have seen him can’t forget him. They find him, often in spite of the temple rather than because of it.
The temple builders and the Savior seekers. One sees the structure and says, “What a great church.” The other sees the Savior and says, “What a great Christ!”
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 21
Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God;
he directs it to whatever ends he chooses.
2 We justify our actions by appearances;
God examines our motives.
3 Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors
mean far more to God than religious performance.
4 Arrogance and pride—distinguishing marks in the wicked—
are just plain sin.
5 Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run;
hurry and scurry puts you further behind.
6 Make it to the top by lying and cheating;
get paid with smoke and a promotion—to death!
7 The wicked get buried alive by their loot
because they refuse to use it to help others.
8 Mixed motives twist life into tangles;
pure motives take you straight down the road.
9 Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack
than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.
10 Wicked souls love to make trouble;
they feel nothing for friends and neighbors.
11 Simpletons only learn the hard way,
but the wise learn by listening.
12 A God-loyal person will see right through the wicked
and undo the evil they’ve planned.
13 If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor,
your cries will go unheard, unanswered.
14 A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person;
a heartfelt present cools a hot temper.
15 Good people celebrate when justice triumphs,
but for the workers of evil it’s a bad day.
16 Whoever wanders off the straight and narrow
ends up in a congregation of ghosts.
17 You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life!
The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.
18 What a bad person plots against the good, boomerangs;
the plotter gets it in the end.
19 Better to live in a tent in the wild
than with a cross and petulant spouse.
20 Valuables are safe in a wise person’s home;
fools put it all out for yard sales.
21 Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind
finds life itself—glorious life!
22 One sage entered a whole city of armed soldiers—
their trusted defenses fell to pieces!
23 Watch your words and hold your tongue;
you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.
24 You know their names—Brash, Impudent, Blasphemer—
intemperate hotheads, every one.
25 Lazy people finally die of hunger
because they won’t get up and go to work.
26 Sinners are always wanting what they don’t have;
the God-loyal are always giving what they do have.
27 Religious performance by the wicked stinks;
it’s even worse when they use it to get ahead.
28 A lying witness is unconvincing;
a person who speaks truth is respected.
29 Unscrupulous people fake it a lot;
honest people are sure of their steps.
30 Nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived,
can get the better of God.
31 Do your best, prepare for the worst—
then trust God to bring victory.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 8:1-11
Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.
3-6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
6-8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
9-10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
11 “No one, Master.”
“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
Insight
Although the earliest Greek manuscripts don’t include John 8:1–11, scholars believe this was an authentic event from Jesus’s life—a part of oral tradition that was added to John’s gospel later. The Mosaic Law mandates both adulterer and adulteress must be put to death by stoning (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22–24). If Jesus let the adulterous woman go unpunished, the Pharisees would accuse and condemn Him for contradicting and rejecting God’s laws (John 8:6). If Jesus confirmed the death penalty, He would be discredited for His lack of compassion and could also be charged for breaking Roman laws for “only the Romans are permitted to execute someone” (John 18:31 nlt).
Throwing Stones
Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. John 8:7
Lisa felt no sympathy for those who cheated on their spouse . . . until she found herself deeply unsatisfied with her marriage and struggling to resist a dangerous attraction. That painful experience helped her gain a new compassion for others and greater understanding of Christ’s words: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” (John 8:7).
Jesus was teaching in the temple courts when He made that statement. A group of teachers of the law and Pharisees had just dragged a woman caught in adultery before Him and challenged, “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (v. 5). Because they considered Jesus a threat to their authority, the question was “a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him” (v. 6)—and getting rid of Him.
Yet when Jesus replied, “Let any one of you who is without sin . . .” not one of the woman’s accusers could bring themselves to pick up a stone. One by one, they walked away.
Before we critically judge another’s behavior while looking lightly at our own sin, let’s remember that all of us “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Instead of condemnation, our Savior showed this woman—and you and me—grace and hope (John 3:16; 8:10–11). How can we not do the same for others? By Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
How can you put the lesson of John 8 into action in how you treat others? How can you use your own experience to help others facing similar challenges?
Dear Lord, thank You for loving us! Help us to look with compassion on others and to be gracious in all we say and do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Our Careful Unbelief
…do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. —Matthew 6:25
Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.
“…do not worry about your life….” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (Matthew 13:22). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit.
The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Why Are You Carrying That? - #8444
It's one of life's great acts of faith - checking your suitcase with an airline. You see, I have flown a lot in my life commercially, and most of my bags got where I was going most of the time - but most, not all. There as a time my suitcase decided to stay in Chicago when I went to Toronto. That began a several-hour ordeal of making the rounds at the airport, trying to locate my bag.
I had carried on to the plane this very heavy, over-the-shoulder briefcase, and basically I had my office in it. My hosts in Toronto had sent a great young man named Jason to pick me up, and he was a great help. At one point, when I was waiting a long time for an agent, Jason just stood there with my heavy briefcase on his shoulder. He was slowly getting shorter as he stood there, actually. Now, we weren't going anywhere; he could have just set it down. So, I asked him a simple question, "Why are you carrying that?" He smiled sheepishly and said, "I have no idea" and he promptly set it down. He felt much better.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Are You Carrying That?"
My young friend was carrying a burden that he didn't have to carry. You might be making that very same mistake with a burden that's been weighing you down.
There's a wonderful invitation in our word for today from the Word of God that might have your name all over it. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." In light of this offer - this promise - I wonder if God is asking you today, "Why are you carrying that?"
You might say, "Well, I've talked to God about what's weighing me down." That doesn't necessarily mean you've cast those cares on Him. I can go to the mechanic with my car and tell him all about what's wrong with the brakes or the steering or the problems we're having starting the car. But it doesn't do any good if I just drive away with the car afterwards. I've told him all my concerns but it's not enough to just tell him about the car. Nothing's going to happen until I leave it with him.
Now, you might be telling God about the weight you're carrying, about how heavy it is, about what you'd like Him to do about it. But that doesn't mean you're leaving it with Him; that doesn't mean you're casting those cares on Him. Picture yourself walking into God's Throne Room, all bent over, carrying that person or that situation or that need on your back. Now picture yourself leaving God's Throne Room after you've prayed about it. Are you still all bent over, or did you leave that burden in the hands of Almighty God? If so, you'll leave that Throne Room walking tall.
It's God's burden now. You've surrendered trying to be the fixer, the solver, the figure-outer (is that a word?), the controller. You've decided to live the truth of that promise that is repeated several times in Scripture, "The battle is the Lord's." It may have been yours when you entered His presence, but not any more. It's His battle now.
The old hymn is so insightful when it says, "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." Needless pain. Needless worry. Needless emotional weight. Philippians 4:6-7 says that when you give Him your anxieties, you trade stress for "the peace of God which transcends all understanding." Psalm 55 says that when you let God carry it, He will sustain you; He will keep you from falling. So there you are all burdened down, stressed out, discouraged. And your Lord has just one question for you today: "Why are you carrying that?"
The next time you enter an assembly of worship, watch the people. You can tell the ones who remember the slain one. They’re wide-eyed and expectant. They don’t yawn while receiving a gift from the king himself!
You can also tell the ones who see only the temple. Their eyes wander. Their mouths open—not to sing, but to yawn. The temple gazers don’t mean to be bored. But the one they once planned to honor hasn’t been seen in a while. But those who have seen him can’t forget him. They find him, often in spite of the temple rather than because of it.
The temple builders and the Savior seekers. One sees the structure and says, “What a great church.” The other sees the Savior and says, “What a great Christ!”
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 21
Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God;
he directs it to whatever ends he chooses.
2 We justify our actions by appearances;
God examines our motives.
3 Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors
mean far more to God than religious performance.
4 Arrogance and pride—distinguishing marks in the wicked—
are just plain sin.
5 Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run;
hurry and scurry puts you further behind.
6 Make it to the top by lying and cheating;
get paid with smoke and a promotion—to death!
7 The wicked get buried alive by their loot
because they refuse to use it to help others.
8 Mixed motives twist life into tangles;
pure motives take you straight down the road.
9 Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack
than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.
10 Wicked souls love to make trouble;
they feel nothing for friends and neighbors.
11 Simpletons only learn the hard way,
but the wise learn by listening.
12 A God-loyal person will see right through the wicked
and undo the evil they’ve planned.
13 If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor,
your cries will go unheard, unanswered.
14 A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person;
a heartfelt present cools a hot temper.
15 Good people celebrate when justice triumphs,
but for the workers of evil it’s a bad day.
16 Whoever wanders off the straight and narrow
ends up in a congregation of ghosts.
17 You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life!
The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.
18 What a bad person plots against the good, boomerangs;
the plotter gets it in the end.
19 Better to live in a tent in the wild
than with a cross and petulant spouse.
20 Valuables are safe in a wise person’s home;
fools put it all out for yard sales.
21 Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind
finds life itself—glorious life!
22 One sage entered a whole city of armed soldiers—
their trusted defenses fell to pieces!
23 Watch your words and hold your tongue;
you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.
24 You know their names—Brash, Impudent, Blasphemer—
intemperate hotheads, every one.
25 Lazy people finally die of hunger
because they won’t get up and go to work.
26 Sinners are always wanting what they don’t have;
the God-loyal are always giving what they do have.
27 Religious performance by the wicked stinks;
it’s even worse when they use it to get ahead.
28 A lying witness is unconvincing;
a person who speaks truth is respected.
29 Unscrupulous people fake it a lot;
honest people are sure of their steps.
30 Nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived,
can get the better of God.
31 Do your best, prepare for the worst—
then trust God to bring victory.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 8:1-11
Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.
3-6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
6-8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
9-10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
11 “No one, Master.”
“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
Insight
Although the earliest Greek manuscripts don’t include John 8:1–11, scholars believe this was an authentic event from Jesus’s life—a part of oral tradition that was added to John’s gospel later. The Mosaic Law mandates both adulterer and adulteress must be put to death by stoning (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22–24). If Jesus let the adulterous woman go unpunished, the Pharisees would accuse and condemn Him for contradicting and rejecting God’s laws (John 8:6). If Jesus confirmed the death penalty, He would be discredited for His lack of compassion and could also be charged for breaking Roman laws for “only the Romans are permitted to execute someone” (John 18:31 nlt).
Throwing Stones
Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. John 8:7
Lisa felt no sympathy for those who cheated on their spouse . . . until she found herself deeply unsatisfied with her marriage and struggling to resist a dangerous attraction. That painful experience helped her gain a new compassion for others and greater understanding of Christ’s words: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” (John 8:7).
Jesus was teaching in the temple courts when He made that statement. A group of teachers of the law and Pharisees had just dragged a woman caught in adultery before Him and challenged, “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (v. 5). Because they considered Jesus a threat to their authority, the question was “a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him” (v. 6)—and getting rid of Him.
Yet when Jesus replied, “Let any one of you who is without sin . . .” not one of the woman’s accusers could bring themselves to pick up a stone. One by one, they walked away.
Before we critically judge another’s behavior while looking lightly at our own sin, let’s remember that all of us “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Instead of condemnation, our Savior showed this woman—and you and me—grace and hope (John 3:16; 8:10–11). How can we not do the same for others? By Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
How can you put the lesson of John 8 into action in how you treat others? How can you use your own experience to help others facing similar challenges?
Dear Lord, thank You for loving us! Help us to look with compassion on others and to be gracious in all we say and do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Our Careful Unbelief
…do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. —Matthew 6:25
Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.
“…do not worry about your life….” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (Matthew 13:22). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit.
The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Why Are You Carrying That? - #8444
It's one of life's great acts of faith - checking your suitcase with an airline. You see, I have flown a lot in my life commercially, and most of my bags got where I was going most of the time - but most, not all. There as a time my suitcase decided to stay in Chicago when I went to Toronto. That began a several-hour ordeal of making the rounds at the airport, trying to locate my bag.
I had carried on to the plane this very heavy, over-the-shoulder briefcase, and basically I had my office in it. My hosts in Toronto had sent a great young man named Jason to pick me up, and he was a great help. At one point, when I was waiting a long time for an agent, Jason just stood there with my heavy briefcase on his shoulder. He was slowly getting shorter as he stood there, actually. Now, we weren't going anywhere; he could have just set it down. So, I asked him a simple question, "Why are you carrying that?" He smiled sheepishly and said, "I have no idea" and he promptly set it down. He felt much better.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Are You Carrying That?"
My young friend was carrying a burden that he didn't have to carry. You might be making that very same mistake with a burden that's been weighing you down.
There's a wonderful invitation in our word for today from the Word of God that might have your name all over it. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." In light of this offer - this promise - I wonder if God is asking you today, "Why are you carrying that?"
You might say, "Well, I've talked to God about what's weighing me down." That doesn't necessarily mean you've cast those cares on Him. I can go to the mechanic with my car and tell him all about what's wrong with the brakes or the steering or the problems we're having starting the car. But it doesn't do any good if I just drive away with the car afterwards. I've told him all my concerns but it's not enough to just tell him about the car. Nothing's going to happen until I leave it with him.
Now, you might be telling God about the weight you're carrying, about how heavy it is, about what you'd like Him to do about it. But that doesn't mean you're leaving it with Him; that doesn't mean you're casting those cares on Him. Picture yourself walking into God's Throne Room, all bent over, carrying that person or that situation or that need on your back. Now picture yourself leaving God's Throne Room after you've prayed about it. Are you still all bent over, or did you leave that burden in the hands of Almighty God? If so, you'll leave that Throne Room walking tall.
It's God's burden now. You've surrendered trying to be the fixer, the solver, the figure-outer (is that a word?), the controller. You've decided to live the truth of that promise that is repeated several times in Scripture, "The battle is the Lord's." It may have been yours when you entered His presence, but not any more. It's His battle now.
The old hymn is so insightful when it says, "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." Needless pain. Needless worry. Needless emotional weight. Philippians 4:6-7 says that when you give Him your anxieties, you trade stress for "the peace of God which transcends all understanding." Psalm 55 says that when you let God carry it, He will sustain you; He will keep you from falling. So there you are all burdened down, stressed out, discouraged. And your Lord has just one question for you today: "Why are you carrying that?"
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