Max Lucado Daily: Cast Yourself Upon the Grace of Christ
Guilt sucks the life out of our souls. Grace restores it. No one had more reason to feel the burden of guilt than did the apostle Paul. He had orchestrated the deaths of Christians—he was an ancient version of a terrorist.
Paul gave his guilt to Jesus. Period. He surrendered it to Jesus. As a result he could write, “I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.” (Philippians 3:13-14).
What would the apostle say to the guilt-ridden? Simply this: Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy. Trust in his ability to forgive. Cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone!
Read more Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World
Ephesians 1
I, Paul, am under God’s plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful believers in Ephesus. I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.
3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
15-19 That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
20-23 All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 03, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Timothy 4:1–8
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,r and in view of his appearings and his kingdom, I give you this charge:t 2 Preachu the word;v be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebukew and encouragex—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.y Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.z 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.a 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship,b do the work of an evangelist,c discharge all the duties of your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering,d and the time for my departure is near.e 7 I have fought the good fight,f I have finished the race,g I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for meh the crown of righteousness,i which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that dayj—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Insight
Second Timothy is Paul’s final letter, written from a Roman prison where he was awaiting execution (see 4:6). Taking the total sweep of this chapter, we find three distinct sections in what is regarded as Paul’s last words. In verses 1–5, the apostle challenges and urges his young protégé Timothy to be faithful in carrying out the calling he has received—particularly the ministry of preaching the Scriptures. In verses 6–8, Paul gives his own testimony of service to Jesus and his readiness to see the Savior. The bulk of the remaining verses (vv. 9–18) deals with people who disappointed Paul and how he responded to that disappointment.
What Comes Next?
There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord . . . will award to me on that day.
2 Timothy 4:8
On the night of April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In it, he hints that he believed he might not live long. He said, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. . . . [But] I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” The next day, he was assassinated.
The apostle Paul, shortly before his death, wrote to his protégé Timothy: “I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. . . . Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:6, 8). Paul knew his time on earth was drawing to a close, as did Dr. King. Both men realized lives of incredible significance, yet never lost sight of the true life ahead. Both men welcomed what came next.
Like them, may we “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
What is your understanding of this life’s temporary nature? How do you think it plays into the life that comes next?
Heavenly Father, help us to keep our eyes on You and not on the troubles and trials of this life.
Read Life to Come: The Hope of the Christian Faith at discoveryseries.org/q1205.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 03, 2020
“If You Had Known!”
If you had known…in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. —Luke 19:42
Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the city was stirred to its very foundations, but a strange god was there– the pride of the Pharisees. It was a god that seemed religious and upright, but Jesus compared it to “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27).
What is it that blinds you to the peace of God “in this your day”? Do you have a strange god– not a disgusting monster but perhaps an unholy nature that controls your life? More than once God has brought me face to face with a strange god in my life, and I knew that I should have given it up, but I didn’t do it. I got through the crisis “by the skin of my teeth,” only to find myself still under the control of that strange god. I am blind to the very things that make for my own peace. It is a shocking thing that we can be in the exact place where the Spirit of God should be having His completely unhindered way with us, and yet we only make matters worse, increasing our blame in God’s eyes.
“If you had known….” God’s words here cut directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind them. These words imply responsibility for our own faults. God holds us accountable for what we refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin. And “now they are hidden from your eyes” because you have never completely yielded your nature to Him. Oh, the deep, unending sadness for what might have been! God never again opens the doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut– doors which had no need to be shut. Never be afraid when God brings back your past. Let your memory have its way with you. It is a minister of God bringing its rebuke and sorrow to you. God will turn what might have been into a wonderful lesson of growth for the future.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 03, 2020
The Unpredictable Weather, The Unmoving Lighthouse - #8670
I've always been fascinated with lighthouses. I actually saw this feature on the evening news about a photographer who decided he loves the seagull perspective on lighthouses. He's got this little customized aircraft, he flies over Maine's many picturesque lighthouses, shooting unusual aerial photos of them. They're beautiful; they're even inspiring. He's seen them and photographed them in all kinds of settings: sunshine, clouds, storms, high tide, and low tide. And here's how he summarized what he's seen: "The lighthouse is always there, but everything else is changing."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Unpredictable Weather, The Unmoving Lighthouse."
I used to ask groups of teenagers to take four 3x5 cards and write the four most important things in their lives on those four cards. When they finished, I said, "OK, a disaster has just come into your life and you're going to lose one of the most important things in your life; except you're going to choose which one. Drop one of those cards." That's not easy, but after some thought, they dropped one.
I repeated that request another time, and again - this time with a little more resistance - they dropped one of the most important things in their life. Then, when they had only two cards, I said, "You can keep one, but only one. You're going to lose everything but the most important thing in your life. Drop one more card." Well, let me tell you, that was pretty tough.
But when everyone was finally down to just one card, I said, "Okay, you're holding a card that represents that most important thing in your life. I've got one question I want you to answer about it, is it something you can lose?" If what, or who, matters most to us is something we can lose, we can never be secure; we can never be totally at peace.
We need, in essence, a lighthouse - something we can totally depend on when everything else is changing. Something, actually someone who is - as the photographer said about those lighthouses - "always there." If you've already lost some of the cards that mattered most to you in your life, and I sure have, then you know how much we need something that's unloseable, something unmoving that will stand the unpredictable weather because the weather in our world, even in our lives, has become more and more unpredictable.
The lighthouse that never moves is beautifully described in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." So as relationships come and go, as jobs and houses and possessions come and go, as our health changes, our feelings change, our family changes, Jesus Christ remains our personal lighthouse that never moves, never changes...if we know Him.
In the verses preceding this statement, God makes this promise, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Then it says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." From the nursery to the nursing home to the funeral home, a Savior, a friend you can totally, totally trust and you'll never, never lose Him. Jesus secured the possibility of this relationship when He died on the cross to pay that death penalty we all owe for the sinning we've done. This unloseable relationship becomes yours when you grab Jesus in total trust to remove the sin-wall between you and God forever.
As the storm clouds darken and the surf becomes more turbulent, aren't you ready for this Savior-security? If you want to get started in this relationship with Jesus, this unloseable love, would you tell Him that right now, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You died for me. You rose from the dead to walk into my life. I'm yours, Jesus, from this day on."
Let me encourage you to get to our website. It's called ANewStory.com. Because your new story can begin there with the information that will help you be sure you belong to Him.
It's the season of uncertain weather, but Jesus is that lighthouse that will be "always there" for you. You grab His hand and He will never let go.
Friday, April 3, 2020
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Isaiah 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: SURVIVING APRIL
This isn’t the April we wanted.
We wanted spring training. We wanted to go to church on Easter Sunday. We wanted a weekend trip to see the spring flowers. We wanted the Masters golf tournament. I love the Masters. I don’t just like it, I love it! I keep pictures of Amen Corner on my computer screen. I love April.
But this April? This isn’t the April we wanted.
But this is the April we’ve been handed: daily reports of disease and death. An economy that’s in freefall. Dwindling supplies. Another 30 days of distance and isolation. And, most of all, a month of fear. We fear for our family. We fear for the health of our health workers. We fear this microscopic, COVID-19 culprit that stalks our streets like a thief.
So we need to brace ourselves. Adjust our expectations. April as we wanted will not happen. God willing, it will reappear in 2021. But the 2020 version? It’s time for a deep breath, a steady resolve and a few decisions. I’m thinking of three essential, emotional tools.
Gratitude. Collect your blessings. Catalog God’s kindnesses. Assemble your reasons for gratitude and recite them. “Always be joyful,” the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Thessalonians. “Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus.”
Look at the totality of those terms. Always be joyful. Pray continually. Give thanks whatever happens.
Gratitude is always an option. Matthew Henry made it his. When the 18th-century British minister and scholar was accosted by thieves and robbed of his purse, he wrote in his diary, “Let me be thankful, first because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my purse they did not take my life, third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and, fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”
Quarry some gratitude. And, be kind to others. Be the family member who offers to wash the dishes. Be the colleague who reaches out to check on the team. Be the neighbor who mows the grass of the elderly couple.
You’ll be better because of it. Research bears this out. Studies have shown that giving to help others triggers dopamine. (New fundraising slogan, perhaps?) When volunteers wearing a functional MRI scanner were told they would be giving money to charity, the areas of their brains associated with pleasure — like food and sex — lit up like Christmas trees.
Seeking joy? Do good for someone else. It really is better to give than receive.
It’s time for gratitude. It’s time to serve others and it’s time for determination. Good, old-fashioned grit, a resolve that says, “I’m not giving in to fear. I’m not caving in to despair. With God as my helper, I’m going to weather this storm.”
Some years ago, I had the honor of meeting an American hero, Gen. Robbie Risner. For seven and a half years, North Vietnamese soldiers held him and dozens of other soldiers in the Zoo, a POW camp in Hanoi.
Misery came standard issue. Solitary confinement, starvation, tortures and beatings were routine. Interrogators twisted broken legs, sliced skin with bayonets, crammed sticks up nostrils, and paper in mouths. Screams echoed throughout the camp, chilling the blood of other prisoners.
Listen to Risner’s description: “Everything was sad and dismal. It was almost the essence of despair. If you could have squeezed the feeling out of the word despair it would have come out gray, dull and lead-colored, dingy and dirty … ”
How do you survive seven and a half years in such a hole? Cut off from family. No news from the U.S. What do you do?
Here is what Risner did. He stared at a blade of grass. Several days into his incarceration, he wrestled the grate off a floor vent, stretched out on his belly, lowered his head into the opening, and peered through a pencil-sized hole in the brick and mortar at a singular blade of grass. Aside from this stem, his world had no color. So, he began his days, head in vent, heart in prayer, staring at the green blade of grass. He called it a “blood transfusion for the soul.”
You don’t have to go Hanoi to face a “gray, dull and lead-colored, dingy and dirty” existence. A pandemic will do just fine. Do what Risner did. Go on a search. Crowbar the grate from your place of isolation, and stick your head out. Fix your eyes on hope.
Gratitude.
Others.
Determination.
G-O-D.
He is still in charge. He is still Emmanuel, God with us. Heaven still awaits. The tomb of Christ is still vacant. Children still laugh and grass still turns green in April. Find a blade and set your gaze on it.
It’s not the month we wanted, but it is the month we’ve been given. And we will get through it.
© Max Lucado, March 2020
Isaiah 10
Doom to you who legislate evil,
who make laws that make victims—
Laws that make misery for the poor,
that rob my destitute people of dignity,
Exploiting defenseless widows,
taking advantage of homeless children.
What will you have to say on Judgment Day,
when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?
Who will you get to help you?
What good will your money do you?
A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners,
or just some corpses stacked in the street.
Even after all this, God is still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
5-11 “Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger.
My wrath is a cudgel in his hands!
I send him against a godless nation,
against the people I’m angry with.
I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind,
and then push their faces in the mud and leave them.
But Assyria has another agenda;
he has something else in mind.
He’s out to destroy utterly,
to stamp out as many nations as he can.
Assyria says, ‘Aren’t my commanders all kings?
Can’t they do whatever they like?
Didn’t I destroy Calno as well as Carchemish?
Hamath as well as Arpad? Level Samaria as I did Damascus?
I’ve eliminated kingdoms full of gods
far more impressive than anything in Jerusalem and Samaria.
So what’s to keep me from destroying Jerusalem
in the same way I destroyed Samaria and all her god-idols?’”
12-13 When the Master has finished dealing with Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he’ll say, “Now it’s Assyria’s turn. I’ll punish the bragging arrogance of the king of Assyria, his high and mighty posturing, the way he goes around saying,
13-14 “‘I’ve done all this by myself.
I know more than anyone.
I’ve wiped out the boundaries of whole countries.
I’ve walked in and taken anything I wanted.
I charged in like a bull
and toppled their kings from their thrones.
I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured
as easily as a boy taking a bird’s eggs from a nest.
Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse,
I gathered the world in my basket,
And no one so much as fluttered a wing
or squawked or even chirped.’”
15-19 Does an ax take over from the one who swings it?
Does a saw act more important than the sawyer?
As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger!
As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails!
Therefore the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
will send a debilitating disease on his robust Assyrian fighters.
Under the canopy of God’s bright glory
a fierce fire will break out.
Israel’s Light will burst into a conflagration.
The Holy will explode into a firestorm,
And in one day burn to cinders
every last Assyrian thornbush.
God will destroy the splendid trees and lush gardens.
The Assyrian body and soul will waste away to nothing
like a disease-ridden invalid.
A child could count what’s left of the trees
on the fingers of his two hands.
20-23 And on that Day also, what’s left of Israel, the ragtag survivors of Jacob, will no longer be fascinated by abusive, battering Assyria. They’ll lean on God, The Holy—yes, truly. The ragtag remnant—what’s left of Jacob—will come back to the Strong God. Your people Israel were once like the sand on the seashore, but only a scattered few will return. Destruction is ordered, brimming over with righteousness. For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will finish here what he started all over the globe.
24-27 Therefore the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says: “My dear, dear people who live in Zion, don’t be terrorized by the Assyrians when they beat you with clubs and threaten you with rods like the Egyptians once did. In just a short time my anger against you will be spent and I’ll turn my destroying anger on them. I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will go after them with a cat-o’-nine-tails and finish them off decisively—as Gideon downed Midian at the rock Oreb, as Moses turned the tables on Egypt. On that day, Assyria will be pulled off your back, and the yoke of slavery lifted from your neck.”
27-32 Assyria’s on the move: up from Rimmon,
on to Aiath,
through Migron,
with a bivouac at Micmash.
They’ve crossed the pass,
set camp at Geba for the night.
Ramah trembles with fright.
Gibeah of Saul has run off.
Cry for help, daughter of Gallim!
Listen to her, Laishah!
Do something, Anathoth!
Madmenah takes to the hills.
The people of Gebim flee in panic.
The enemy’s soon at Nob—nearly there!
In sight of the city he shakes his fist
At the mount of dear daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33-34 But now watch this: The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
swings his ax and lops the branches,
Chops down the giant trees,
lays flat the towering forest-on-the-march.
His ax will make toothpicks of that forest,
that Lebanon-like army reduced to kindling.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 02, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Corinthians 9:6–9
Generosity Encouraged
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.e 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,f not reluctantly or under compulsion,g for God loves a cheerful giver.h 8 And God is ablei to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,j you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their giftsk to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”
Insight
Paul’s first trip to Corinth took place near the end of his second missionary journey after leaving Athens (Acts 18:1). While in Corinth, Paul worked during the week as a tentmaker with Aquila and Priscilla (v. 3), and on the Sabbath he “reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (v. 4) to receive the message of the gospel.
His second visit to Corinth occurred after Timothy visited there (1 Corinthians 4:17) and is described as Paul’s “painful visit” (2 Corinthians 2:1). In addition to 1 and 2 Corinthians, many scholars believe Paul wrote at least one other letter to the Corinthians, now lost (see 1 Corinthians 5:9; 2 Corinthians 7:8–10). It’s clear Paul loved and was deeply concerned for this church (2 Corinthians 2:4).
Cheerful Givers
God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Years ago, my wife received a small rebate from something she’d purchased. It wasn’t something she’d expected, it just showed up in the mail. About the same time, a good friend shared with her the immense needs of women in another country, entrepreneurial-minded women trying to better themselves by way of education and business. As is often the case, however, their first barrier was financial.
My wife took that rebate and made a micro-loan to a ministry devoted to helping these women. When the loan was repaid, she simply loaned again, and again, and so far has made twenty-seven such investments. My wife enjoys many things, but there’s rarely a smile as big on her face as when she receives an update on the flourishing taking place in the lives of women she’s never met.
We often hear emphasis on the last word in this phrase—“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7)—and rightly so. But our giving has a specific quality about it—it shouldn’t be done “reluctantly or under compulsion,” and we’re called not to sow “sparingly” (vv. 6–7). In a word, our giving is to be “cheerful.” And while each of us will give a little differently, our faces are places for telling evidence of our cheer. By: John Blase
When did you last “cheerfully” give? Why do you believe God loves a cheerful giver?
Generous Father God, thank You for the joy that comes in giving from a cheer-filled heart. And thank You for the ways in which You provide abundantly for our needs.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 02, 2020
The Glory That’s Unsurpassed
…the Lord Jesus…has sent me that you may receive your sight… —Acts 9:17
When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ— “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ.
We must learn to maintain a strong degree of character in our lives, even to the level that has been revealed in our vision of Jesus Christ.
The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others. The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God’s own heart (see Acts 13:22).
Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you.
Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside,
So enchained my spirit’s vision,
Gazing on the Crucified.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 16-18; Luke 7:1-30
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 02, 2020
Heaven's Balanced Books - #8669
We saw it a few years ago. Boy, in one weekend, it was like a string of corporate meltdowns. And when that happens, Wall Street gets a very bad case of the jitters. I mean, when you suddenly discover that a major company that we thought was doing well was actually in big trouble, it doesn't exactly inspire investor confidence. In some cases, some have some shall we say unusually "creative accounting." And it can, for a while, conceal how bad things are. Of course, the fundamentals of financial viability, they don't ever change. Your outgo and your income, your losses and your gains have to at least balance. That's why you look at your checkbook. And it's management's job to, of course, be sure that they do balance.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heaven's Balanced Books."
When you open your heart to Jesus Christ, it would be appropriate to hang a sign that says "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT." You step down and the One who should have been your Chief Executive Officer all along finally takes charge. And you can be sure He's committed to balancing the books in your life, keeping a loving balance between gains and losses.
In the midst of horrendous personal losses, Job was still able to see this balancing work of God in his life. It's in Job 1:21, where he expresses it. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Later, Job would have this balancing work of God more than proved when, as the Bible says, "the Lord...gave him twice as much as he had before...the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first" (Job 42:10-12).
In God's deep love and infinite wisdom, He knows we just can't stand to have all blessings or all burdens. We can't have all happiness or all heartaches. That may be why the writer of Proverbs 30 says, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you...or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8-9).
Solomon assures us that, in God's great management of our life, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to tear down and a time to build...a time to weep and a time to laugh" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3-4). See the balance?
Maybe right now you're particularly focused on a lot of bad news, some losses you've been experiencing. This might be a good time to step back and look at the big picture of what heaven's CEO is doing in your whole life. It's time to review the blessings that are still there side-by-side with your burdens. God has this incredible way of knowing just how much loss you can handle and how to balance that with some good news, just in time. And how much victory you can handle and how to balance that with some struggle.
This loving God, who knows exactly what you need and when you need it, is working this very day on His gracious, life-building balance. At any given moment, you're going to have something discouraging, but always something encouraging to offset it and make it bearable. At any given moment, you'll have some wonderful answered prayers and some yet-to-be-answered prayers. You can be sure that until the day you see Jesus, you will always - I mean, always - have plenty to thank Him for and plenty to trust Him for. That's how spiritual babies become spiritual adults. That's how spiritual wimps become spiritual warriors. Always something to thank Him for, always to something to trust Him for.
Don't miss the good things God's doing because you're nearsightedly focusing on the hard things. You have a Savior who's always balancing the gains and the losses to make your life more profitable than you could ever imagine.
This isn’t the April we wanted.
We wanted spring training. We wanted to go to church on Easter Sunday. We wanted a weekend trip to see the spring flowers. We wanted the Masters golf tournament. I love the Masters. I don’t just like it, I love it! I keep pictures of Amen Corner on my computer screen. I love April.
But this April? This isn’t the April we wanted.
But this is the April we’ve been handed: daily reports of disease and death. An economy that’s in freefall. Dwindling supplies. Another 30 days of distance and isolation. And, most of all, a month of fear. We fear for our family. We fear for the health of our health workers. We fear this microscopic, COVID-19 culprit that stalks our streets like a thief.
So we need to brace ourselves. Adjust our expectations. April as we wanted will not happen. God willing, it will reappear in 2021. But the 2020 version? It’s time for a deep breath, a steady resolve and a few decisions. I’m thinking of three essential, emotional tools.
Gratitude. Collect your blessings. Catalog God’s kindnesses. Assemble your reasons for gratitude and recite them. “Always be joyful,” the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Thessalonians. “Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus.”
Look at the totality of those terms. Always be joyful. Pray continually. Give thanks whatever happens.
Gratitude is always an option. Matthew Henry made it his. When the 18th-century British minister and scholar was accosted by thieves and robbed of his purse, he wrote in his diary, “Let me be thankful, first because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my purse they did not take my life, third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and, fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”
Quarry some gratitude. And, be kind to others. Be the family member who offers to wash the dishes. Be the colleague who reaches out to check on the team. Be the neighbor who mows the grass of the elderly couple.
You’ll be better because of it. Research bears this out. Studies have shown that giving to help others triggers dopamine. (New fundraising slogan, perhaps?) When volunteers wearing a functional MRI scanner were told they would be giving money to charity, the areas of their brains associated with pleasure — like food and sex — lit up like Christmas trees.
Seeking joy? Do good for someone else. It really is better to give than receive.
It’s time for gratitude. It’s time to serve others and it’s time for determination. Good, old-fashioned grit, a resolve that says, “I’m not giving in to fear. I’m not caving in to despair. With God as my helper, I’m going to weather this storm.”
Some years ago, I had the honor of meeting an American hero, Gen. Robbie Risner. For seven and a half years, North Vietnamese soldiers held him and dozens of other soldiers in the Zoo, a POW camp in Hanoi.
Misery came standard issue. Solitary confinement, starvation, tortures and beatings were routine. Interrogators twisted broken legs, sliced skin with bayonets, crammed sticks up nostrils, and paper in mouths. Screams echoed throughout the camp, chilling the blood of other prisoners.
Listen to Risner’s description: “Everything was sad and dismal. It was almost the essence of despair. If you could have squeezed the feeling out of the word despair it would have come out gray, dull and lead-colored, dingy and dirty … ”
How do you survive seven and a half years in such a hole? Cut off from family. No news from the U.S. What do you do?
Here is what Risner did. He stared at a blade of grass. Several days into his incarceration, he wrestled the grate off a floor vent, stretched out on his belly, lowered his head into the opening, and peered through a pencil-sized hole in the brick and mortar at a singular blade of grass. Aside from this stem, his world had no color. So, he began his days, head in vent, heart in prayer, staring at the green blade of grass. He called it a “blood transfusion for the soul.”
You don’t have to go Hanoi to face a “gray, dull and lead-colored, dingy and dirty” existence. A pandemic will do just fine. Do what Risner did. Go on a search. Crowbar the grate from your place of isolation, and stick your head out. Fix your eyes on hope.
Gratitude.
Others.
Determination.
G-O-D.
He is still in charge. He is still Emmanuel, God with us. Heaven still awaits. The tomb of Christ is still vacant. Children still laugh and grass still turns green in April. Find a blade and set your gaze on it.
It’s not the month we wanted, but it is the month we’ve been given. And we will get through it.
© Max Lucado, March 2020
Isaiah 10
Doom to you who legislate evil,
who make laws that make victims—
Laws that make misery for the poor,
that rob my destitute people of dignity,
Exploiting defenseless widows,
taking advantage of homeless children.
What will you have to say on Judgment Day,
when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?
Who will you get to help you?
What good will your money do you?
A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners,
or just some corpses stacked in the street.
Even after all this, God is still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
5-11 “Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger.
My wrath is a cudgel in his hands!
I send him against a godless nation,
against the people I’m angry with.
I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind,
and then push their faces in the mud and leave them.
But Assyria has another agenda;
he has something else in mind.
He’s out to destroy utterly,
to stamp out as many nations as he can.
Assyria says, ‘Aren’t my commanders all kings?
Can’t they do whatever they like?
Didn’t I destroy Calno as well as Carchemish?
Hamath as well as Arpad? Level Samaria as I did Damascus?
I’ve eliminated kingdoms full of gods
far more impressive than anything in Jerusalem and Samaria.
So what’s to keep me from destroying Jerusalem
in the same way I destroyed Samaria and all her god-idols?’”
12-13 When the Master has finished dealing with Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he’ll say, “Now it’s Assyria’s turn. I’ll punish the bragging arrogance of the king of Assyria, his high and mighty posturing, the way he goes around saying,
13-14 “‘I’ve done all this by myself.
I know more than anyone.
I’ve wiped out the boundaries of whole countries.
I’ve walked in and taken anything I wanted.
I charged in like a bull
and toppled their kings from their thrones.
I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured
as easily as a boy taking a bird’s eggs from a nest.
Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse,
I gathered the world in my basket,
And no one so much as fluttered a wing
or squawked or even chirped.’”
15-19 Does an ax take over from the one who swings it?
Does a saw act more important than the sawyer?
As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger!
As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails!
Therefore the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
will send a debilitating disease on his robust Assyrian fighters.
Under the canopy of God’s bright glory
a fierce fire will break out.
Israel’s Light will burst into a conflagration.
The Holy will explode into a firestorm,
And in one day burn to cinders
every last Assyrian thornbush.
God will destroy the splendid trees and lush gardens.
The Assyrian body and soul will waste away to nothing
like a disease-ridden invalid.
A child could count what’s left of the trees
on the fingers of his two hands.
20-23 And on that Day also, what’s left of Israel, the ragtag survivors of Jacob, will no longer be fascinated by abusive, battering Assyria. They’ll lean on God, The Holy—yes, truly. The ragtag remnant—what’s left of Jacob—will come back to the Strong God. Your people Israel were once like the sand on the seashore, but only a scattered few will return. Destruction is ordered, brimming over with righteousness. For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will finish here what he started all over the globe.
24-27 Therefore the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says: “My dear, dear people who live in Zion, don’t be terrorized by the Assyrians when they beat you with clubs and threaten you with rods like the Egyptians once did. In just a short time my anger against you will be spent and I’ll turn my destroying anger on them. I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will go after them with a cat-o’-nine-tails and finish them off decisively—as Gideon downed Midian at the rock Oreb, as Moses turned the tables on Egypt. On that day, Assyria will be pulled off your back, and the yoke of slavery lifted from your neck.”
27-32 Assyria’s on the move: up from Rimmon,
on to Aiath,
through Migron,
with a bivouac at Micmash.
They’ve crossed the pass,
set camp at Geba for the night.
Ramah trembles with fright.
Gibeah of Saul has run off.
Cry for help, daughter of Gallim!
Listen to her, Laishah!
Do something, Anathoth!
Madmenah takes to the hills.
The people of Gebim flee in panic.
The enemy’s soon at Nob—nearly there!
In sight of the city he shakes his fist
At the mount of dear daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33-34 But now watch this: The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
swings his ax and lops the branches,
Chops down the giant trees,
lays flat the towering forest-on-the-march.
His ax will make toothpicks of that forest,
that Lebanon-like army reduced to kindling.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 02, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Corinthians 9:6–9
Generosity Encouraged
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.e 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,f not reluctantly or under compulsion,g for God loves a cheerful giver.h 8 And God is ablei to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,j you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their giftsk to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”
Insight
Paul’s first trip to Corinth took place near the end of his second missionary journey after leaving Athens (Acts 18:1). While in Corinth, Paul worked during the week as a tentmaker with Aquila and Priscilla (v. 3), and on the Sabbath he “reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (v. 4) to receive the message of the gospel.
His second visit to Corinth occurred after Timothy visited there (1 Corinthians 4:17) and is described as Paul’s “painful visit” (2 Corinthians 2:1). In addition to 1 and 2 Corinthians, many scholars believe Paul wrote at least one other letter to the Corinthians, now lost (see 1 Corinthians 5:9; 2 Corinthians 7:8–10). It’s clear Paul loved and was deeply concerned for this church (2 Corinthians 2:4).
Cheerful Givers
God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Years ago, my wife received a small rebate from something she’d purchased. It wasn’t something she’d expected, it just showed up in the mail. About the same time, a good friend shared with her the immense needs of women in another country, entrepreneurial-minded women trying to better themselves by way of education and business. As is often the case, however, their first barrier was financial.
My wife took that rebate and made a micro-loan to a ministry devoted to helping these women. When the loan was repaid, she simply loaned again, and again, and so far has made twenty-seven such investments. My wife enjoys many things, but there’s rarely a smile as big on her face as when she receives an update on the flourishing taking place in the lives of women she’s never met.
We often hear emphasis on the last word in this phrase—“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7)—and rightly so. But our giving has a specific quality about it—it shouldn’t be done “reluctantly or under compulsion,” and we’re called not to sow “sparingly” (vv. 6–7). In a word, our giving is to be “cheerful.” And while each of us will give a little differently, our faces are places for telling evidence of our cheer. By: John Blase
When did you last “cheerfully” give? Why do you believe God loves a cheerful giver?
Generous Father God, thank You for the joy that comes in giving from a cheer-filled heart. And thank You for the ways in which You provide abundantly for our needs.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 02, 2020
The Glory That’s Unsurpassed
…the Lord Jesus…has sent me that you may receive your sight… —Acts 9:17
When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ— “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ.
We must learn to maintain a strong degree of character in our lives, even to the level that has been revealed in our vision of Jesus Christ.
The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others. The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God’s own heart (see Acts 13:22).
Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you.
Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside,
So enchained my spirit’s vision,
Gazing on the Crucified.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 16-18; Luke 7:1-30
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 02, 2020
Heaven's Balanced Books - #8669
We saw it a few years ago. Boy, in one weekend, it was like a string of corporate meltdowns. And when that happens, Wall Street gets a very bad case of the jitters. I mean, when you suddenly discover that a major company that we thought was doing well was actually in big trouble, it doesn't exactly inspire investor confidence. In some cases, some have some shall we say unusually "creative accounting." And it can, for a while, conceal how bad things are. Of course, the fundamentals of financial viability, they don't ever change. Your outgo and your income, your losses and your gains have to at least balance. That's why you look at your checkbook. And it's management's job to, of course, be sure that they do balance.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heaven's Balanced Books."
When you open your heart to Jesus Christ, it would be appropriate to hang a sign that says "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT." You step down and the One who should have been your Chief Executive Officer all along finally takes charge. And you can be sure He's committed to balancing the books in your life, keeping a loving balance between gains and losses.
In the midst of horrendous personal losses, Job was still able to see this balancing work of God in his life. It's in Job 1:21, where he expresses it. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Later, Job would have this balancing work of God more than proved when, as the Bible says, "the Lord...gave him twice as much as he had before...the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first" (Job 42:10-12).
In God's deep love and infinite wisdom, He knows we just can't stand to have all blessings or all burdens. We can't have all happiness or all heartaches. That may be why the writer of Proverbs 30 says, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you...or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8-9).
Solomon assures us that, in God's great management of our life, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to tear down and a time to build...a time to weep and a time to laugh" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3-4). See the balance?
Maybe right now you're particularly focused on a lot of bad news, some losses you've been experiencing. This might be a good time to step back and look at the big picture of what heaven's CEO is doing in your whole life. It's time to review the blessings that are still there side-by-side with your burdens. God has this incredible way of knowing just how much loss you can handle and how to balance that with some good news, just in time. And how much victory you can handle and how to balance that with some struggle.
This loving God, who knows exactly what you need and when you need it, is working this very day on His gracious, life-building balance. At any given moment, you're going to have something discouraging, but always something encouraging to offset it and make it bearable. At any given moment, you'll have some wonderful answered prayers and some yet-to-be-answered prayers. You can be sure that until the day you see Jesus, you will always - I mean, always - have plenty to thank Him for and plenty to trust Him for. That's how spiritual babies become spiritual adults. That's how spiritual wimps become spiritual warriors. Always something to thank Him for, always to something to trust Him for.
Don't miss the good things God's doing because you're nearsightedly focusing on the hard things. You have a Savior who's always balancing the gains and the losses to make your life more profitable than you could ever imagine.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Isaiah 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS TESTING THE CHURCH
I think God is testing the church. By that I mean He is strengthening us. He’s calling upon us to be the people He desires for His church to be.
You will remember that when Jesus fed that crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children, the gospel tells us that Jesus tested his followers by telling them to feed those people. They could have and they should have looked to him and said, “Lord, you can do this.” And so that’s the call of the church right now…to be the people who come to God and say, God we cannot solve this but you can.
Bless our leaders. Bless those in research. Bless those who are vulnerable, we ask you Lord. So let’s be that people, folks. Let’s be people who call out to God in asking for help. We’re gonna get through this. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I’m not saying it’s gonna be quick. But God will take this and He will use it for good.
Isaiah 9
But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious— the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.
2-7 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
8-10 The Master sent a message against Jacob.
It landed right on Israel’s doorstep.
All the people soon heard the message,
Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.
But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.
They dismissed the message, saying,
“Things aren’t that bad.
We can handle anything that comes.
If our buildings are knocked down,
we’ll rebuild them bigger and finer.
If our forests are cut down,
we’ll replant them with finer trees.”
11-12 So God incited their adversaries against them,
stirred up their enemies to attack:
From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.
They made hash of Israel.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
13-17 But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,
didn’t seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
So God hacked off Israel’s head and tail,
palm branch and reed, both on the same day.
The big-head elders were the head,
the lying prophets were the tail.
Those who were supposed to lead this people
led them down blind alleys,
And those who followed the leaders
ended up lost and confused.
That’s why the Master lost interest in the young men,
had no feeling for their orphans and widows.
All of them were godless and evil,
talking filth and folly.
And even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
18-21 Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,
the kind that burns everything in its path—
Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—
filling the skies with smoke.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,
set the whole country on fire,
Turned the people into consuming fires,
consuming one another in their lusts—
Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging
themselves left and right with people and things.
But still they starved. Not even their children
were safe from their rapacious hunger.
Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
and then the two ganged up against Judah.
And after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 22:39–44
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
Jesus went out as usualv to the Mount of Olives,w and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”x 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt downy and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cupz from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”a 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.b 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Insight
When you leave the eastern side of the old city of Jerusalem, you descend into the valley of the Brook Kidron. Once across the Kidron, you come upon the garden of Gethsemane—located at the base of the Mount of Olives and in the shadow of the temple mount and its eastern gate (also known as the Golden Gate). This becomes strategic because Ezekiel 44:1–3 tells us that only the Prince (Messiah) will be able to enter that gate, causing some scholars to believe that when Jesus the Messiah returns, He’ll enter Jerusalem through that gate. It’s appropriate, then, that Jesus would begin His passion in the view of the gate which most represents His final victory. That strategic reality gains added significance in that the Hebrew name for the eastern gate is the “gate of mercy.” Mercy secured through the sufferings of Christ that began in Gethsemane.
Praying Like Jesus
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42
Every coin has two sides. The front is called “heads” and, from early Roman times, usually depicts a country’s head of state. The back is called “tails,” a term possibly originating from the British ten pence depicting the raised tail of a heraldic lion.
Like a coin, Christ’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane possesses two sides. In the deepest hours of His life, on the night before He died on a cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). When Christ says, “take this cup,” that’s the raw honesty of prayer. He reveals His personal desire, “This is what I want.”
Then Jesus turns the coin, praying “not my will.” That’s the side of abandon. Abandoning ourselves to God begins when we simply say, “But what do You want, God?”
This two-sided prayer is also included in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 and is mentioned in John 18. Jesus prayed both sides of prayer: take this cup (what I want, God), yet not My will (what do You want, God?), pivoting between them.
Two sides of Jesus. Two sides of prayer. By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
What might we learn if we prayed honestly and with complete abandon, as Jesus did? What situation are you facing right now where you can pray honestly yet with abandon to God?
Father, help me follow the example of Your Son, who spent everything so that I might possess real life that includes experiencing intimate prayer with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Helpful or Heartless Toward Others?
It is Christ…who also makes intercession for us….the Spirit…makes intercession for the saints… —Romans 8:34, 27
Do we need any more arguments than these to become intercessors– that Christ “always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25), and that the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for the saints”? Are we living in such a relationship with others that we do the work of intercession as a result of being the children of God who are taught by His Spirit? We should take a look at our current circumstances. Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country, or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us? Are we being pushed out of the presence of God and left with no time for worship? If so, we must put a stop to such distractions and get into such a living relationship with God that our relationship with others is maintained through the work of intercession, where God works His miracles.
Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don’t worship God, and we fail to intercede. If a burden and its resulting pressure come upon us while we are not in an attitude of worship, it will only produce a hardness toward God and despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them. We give them a quick verse of Scripture, like jabbing them with a spear, or leave them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord.
Are our lives in the proper place so that we may participate in the intercession of our Lord and the Holy Spirit?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Knocking Down the Missiles - #8668
It's no secret that we live in a pretty dangerous world. And one of the reasons for that is there's an awful lot of people with an awful lot of missiles. I remember when there was this one superpower other than us that had the power to do a lot of destructive things with missiles. And today there's a proliferation and many countries have nuclear capability. It seems like more are on the way. And out of that came the idea of a new kind of missile, an anti-missile missile. And the idea there is that we can launch a defensive missile to pre-empt and destroy an incoming enemy missile. Well, if we've got to live in that kind of a world, that sounds like a good idea to me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knocking Down The Missiles."
Now, you know, the Kingdom of God could use some anti-missile missile folks. You know why? We need more people who will knock down verbal missiles, because they do a lot of damage to people. Just look around your church. Look around your circle of Christians. Is there too much gossip, backstabbing, talking about people when they're not in the room? Is there too much brokenness between brothers and sisters and misunderstanding? Do you see walls? Do you see hard feelings? Do you see disunity developing?
We need some people who can be part of the answer to that. And you can be if you'll commit to seven little words that can knock down the missiles that destroy the unity and the love of the followers of Jesus. They're actually based on our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 18:15. Get ready for these words. They're powerful, but there aren't many of them. Jesus said, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault..." Did you notice first of all the scope of your complaint: "just between the two of you." Yeah, that's what it says. That could just be one of the most disobeyed commands our Lord ever gave and one of the most damaging disobediences.
We go and talk to everyone but the person we've got the problem with. We would far rather talk about them than to them, and that raises the question of whether we really want a solution or do we just want an audience for our gripes. Now for those seven anti-missile words. When a person comes to you with something negative about another person, get used to saying these words: "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, or talk to her." Every time you do that, you know what you're doing? You're standing up for the Jesus-way and you're standing against Satan's attempts to divide God's children.
The Bible says that "the words of a gossip are like choice morsels" (Proverbs 18:8). We love to hear the dirt, but God does not. He says, "A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends" (Proverbs 16:28), and he said "whoever spreads slander is a fool" (Proverbs 10:18). The mission of someone who loves Jesus is to contain the negative talk - not spread it - and to go direct yourself when you have a problem with another person. You can try to avoid doing it the Biblical way by saying, "Well, they don't listen" or "What good will it do?" Well, really that doesn't matter. Because Jesus says your responsibility is to go to your brother or sister and keep it "just between the two of you." How are you doing on that?
There are way too many missiles being fired by God's children at God's children, and no army can win when they're aiming their weapons at each other can they? The good news is that you can do something about it. You can show people another way to be; actually, it's the Jesus way to be. When a person comes to you with something negative about another person, keep used to saying these words, "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, or talk to her." When you hear something negative about a brother or sister, say those words again, "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, talk to her."
You can actually be the one who knocks down some missiles that otherwise could hurt an awful lot of people.
I think God is testing the church. By that I mean He is strengthening us. He’s calling upon us to be the people He desires for His church to be.
You will remember that when Jesus fed that crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children, the gospel tells us that Jesus tested his followers by telling them to feed those people. They could have and they should have looked to him and said, “Lord, you can do this.” And so that’s the call of the church right now…to be the people who come to God and say, God we cannot solve this but you can.
Bless our leaders. Bless those in research. Bless those who are vulnerable, we ask you Lord. So let’s be that people, folks. Let’s be people who call out to God in asking for help. We’re gonna get through this. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I’m not saying it’s gonna be quick. But God will take this and He will use it for good.
Isaiah 9
But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious— the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.
2-7 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
8-10 The Master sent a message against Jacob.
It landed right on Israel’s doorstep.
All the people soon heard the message,
Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.
But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.
They dismissed the message, saying,
“Things aren’t that bad.
We can handle anything that comes.
If our buildings are knocked down,
we’ll rebuild them bigger and finer.
If our forests are cut down,
we’ll replant them with finer trees.”
11-12 So God incited their adversaries against them,
stirred up their enemies to attack:
From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.
They made hash of Israel.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
13-17 But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,
didn’t seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
So God hacked off Israel’s head and tail,
palm branch and reed, both on the same day.
The big-head elders were the head,
the lying prophets were the tail.
Those who were supposed to lead this people
led them down blind alleys,
And those who followed the leaders
ended up lost and confused.
That’s why the Master lost interest in the young men,
had no feeling for their orphans and widows.
All of them were godless and evil,
talking filth and folly.
And even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
18-21 Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,
the kind that burns everything in its path—
Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—
filling the skies with smoke.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,
set the whole country on fire,
Turned the people into consuming fires,
consuming one another in their lusts—
Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging
themselves left and right with people and things.
But still they starved. Not even their children
were safe from their rapacious hunger.
Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
and then the two ganged up against Judah.
And after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 22:39–44
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
Jesus went out as usualv to the Mount of Olives,w and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”x 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt downy and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cupz from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”a 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.b 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Insight
When you leave the eastern side of the old city of Jerusalem, you descend into the valley of the Brook Kidron. Once across the Kidron, you come upon the garden of Gethsemane—located at the base of the Mount of Olives and in the shadow of the temple mount and its eastern gate (also known as the Golden Gate). This becomes strategic because Ezekiel 44:1–3 tells us that only the Prince (Messiah) will be able to enter that gate, causing some scholars to believe that when Jesus the Messiah returns, He’ll enter Jerusalem through that gate. It’s appropriate, then, that Jesus would begin His passion in the view of the gate which most represents His final victory. That strategic reality gains added significance in that the Hebrew name for the eastern gate is the “gate of mercy.” Mercy secured through the sufferings of Christ that began in Gethsemane.
Praying Like Jesus
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42
Every coin has two sides. The front is called “heads” and, from early Roman times, usually depicts a country’s head of state. The back is called “tails,” a term possibly originating from the British ten pence depicting the raised tail of a heraldic lion.
Like a coin, Christ’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane possesses two sides. In the deepest hours of His life, on the night before He died on a cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). When Christ says, “take this cup,” that’s the raw honesty of prayer. He reveals His personal desire, “This is what I want.”
Then Jesus turns the coin, praying “not my will.” That’s the side of abandon. Abandoning ourselves to God begins when we simply say, “But what do You want, God?”
This two-sided prayer is also included in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 and is mentioned in John 18. Jesus prayed both sides of prayer: take this cup (what I want, God), yet not My will (what do You want, God?), pivoting between them.
Two sides of Jesus. Two sides of prayer. By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
What might we learn if we prayed honestly and with complete abandon, as Jesus did? What situation are you facing right now where you can pray honestly yet with abandon to God?
Father, help me follow the example of Your Son, who spent everything so that I might possess real life that includes experiencing intimate prayer with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Helpful or Heartless Toward Others?
It is Christ…who also makes intercession for us….the Spirit…makes intercession for the saints… —Romans 8:34, 27
Do we need any more arguments than these to become intercessors– that Christ “always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25), and that the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for the saints”? Are we living in such a relationship with others that we do the work of intercession as a result of being the children of God who are taught by His Spirit? We should take a look at our current circumstances. Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country, or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us? Are we being pushed out of the presence of God and left with no time for worship? If so, we must put a stop to such distractions and get into such a living relationship with God that our relationship with others is maintained through the work of intercession, where God works His miracles.
Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don’t worship God, and we fail to intercede. If a burden and its resulting pressure come upon us while we are not in an attitude of worship, it will only produce a hardness toward God and despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them. We give them a quick verse of Scripture, like jabbing them with a spear, or leave them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord.
Are our lives in the proper place so that we may participate in the intercession of our Lord and the Holy Spirit?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Knocking Down the Missiles - #8668
It's no secret that we live in a pretty dangerous world. And one of the reasons for that is there's an awful lot of people with an awful lot of missiles. I remember when there was this one superpower other than us that had the power to do a lot of destructive things with missiles. And today there's a proliferation and many countries have nuclear capability. It seems like more are on the way. And out of that came the idea of a new kind of missile, an anti-missile missile. And the idea there is that we can launch a defensive missile to pre-empt and destroy an incoming enemy missile. Well, if we've got to live in that kind of a world, that sounds like a good idea to me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knocking Down The Missiles."
Now, you know, the Kingdom of God could use some anti-missile missile folks. You know why? We need more people who will knock down verbal missiles, because they do a lot of damage to people. Just look around your church. Look around your circle of Christians. Is there too much gossip, backstabbing, talking about people when they're not in the room? Is there too much brokenness between brothers and sisters and misunderstanding? Do you see walls? Do you see hard feelings? Do you see disunity developing?
We need some people who can be part of the answer to that. And you can be if you'll commit to seven little words that can knock down the missiles that destroy the unity and the love of the followers of Jesus. They're actually based on our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 18:15. Get ready for these words. They're powerful, but there aren't many of them. Jesus said, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault..." Did you notice first of all the scope of your complaint: "just between the two of you." Yeah, that's what it says. That could just be one of the most disobeyed commands our Lord ever gave and one of the most damaging disobediences.
We go and talk to everyone but the person we've got the problem with. We would far rather talk about them than to them, and that raises the question of whether we really want a solution or do we just want an audience for our gripes. Now for those seven anti-missile words. When a person comes to you with something negative about another person, get used to saying these words: "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, or talk to her." Every time you do that, you know what you're doing? You're standing up for the Jesus-way and you're standing against Satan's attempts to divide God's children.
The Bible says that "the words of a gossip are like choice morsels" (Proverbs 18:8). We love to hear the dirt, but God does not. He says, "A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends" (Proverbs 16:28), and he said "whoever spreads slander is a fool" (Proverbs 10:18). The mission of someone who loves Jesus is to contain the negative talk - not spread it - and to go direct yourself when you have a problem with another person. You can try to avoid doing it the Biblical way by saying, "Well, they don't listen" or "What good will it do?" Well, really that doesn't matter. Because Jesus says your responsibility is to go to your brother or sister and keep it "just between the two of you." How are you doing on that?
There are way too many missiles being fired by God's children at God's children, and no army can win when they're aiming their weapons at each other can they? The good news is that you can do something about it. You can show people another way to be; actually, it's the Jesus way to be. When a person comes to you with something negative about another person, keep used to saying these words, "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, or talk to her." When you hear something negative about a brother or sister, say those words again, "Don't talk to me. Talk to him, talk to her."
You can actually be the one who knocks down some missiles that otherwise could hurt an awful lot of people.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Acts 20:17-38, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS ALWAYS SOVEREIGN
I love what Chuck Swindoll always says. That “God is not sometimes sovereign. He is always sovereign.” The challenge that awaits us is to not give in to despair…to not do foolish things, but to trust.
The key question that we all need to be asking right now is, “What is God saying to us?” I think He’s talking to the whole world. I think He’s telling us that our priorities have gotten misplaced. We need to dislodge those priorities and return to our heavenly Father. I think He’s calling us back to Himself. I do…I do.
Is this a signal of end times as some people are saying? I do not know. But I do know God is doing something in the world and He’s calling upon us. He’s talking to the whole world. And we are going to get through this. It may not be quick. It may not be easy. But God is going to use this for good.
Acts 20:17-38
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the leaders of the congregation. When they arrived, he said, “You know that from day one of my arrival in Asia I was with you totally—laying my life on the line, serving the Master no matter what, putting up with no end of scheming by Jews who wanted to do me in. I didn’t skimp or trim in any way. Every truth and encouragement that could have made a difference to you, you got. I taught you out in public and I taught you in your homes, urging Jews and Greeks alike to a radical life-change before God and an equally radical trust in our Master Jesus.
22-24 “But there is another urgency before me now. I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. I’m completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won’t be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.
25-27 “And so this is good-bye. You’re not going to see me again, nor I you, you whom I have gone among for so long proclaiming the news of God’s inaugurated kingdom. I’ve done my best for you, given you my all, held back nothing of God’s will for you.
28 “Now it’s up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people—God’s people they are—to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for.
29-31 “I know that as soon as I’m gone, vicious wolves are going to show up and rip into this flock, men from your very own ranks twisting words so as to seduce disciples into following them instead of Jesus. So stay awake and keep up your guard. Remember those three years I kept at it with you, never letting up, pouring my heart out with you, one after another.
32 “Now I’m turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends.
33-35 “I’ve never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. In everything I’ve done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’”
36-38 Then Paul went down on his knees, all of them kneeling with him, and prayed. And then a river of tears. Much clinging to Paul, not wanting to let him go. They knew they would never see him again—he had told them quite plainly. The pain cut deep. Then, bravely, they walked him down to the ship.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ephesians 1:3–14
Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,g who has blessed us in the heavenly realmsh with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose usi in him before the creation of the worldj to be holy and blamelessk in his sight. In lovel 5 heb predestinedm us for adoption to sonshipc n through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasureo and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace,p which he has freely given us in the One he loves.q 7 In him we have redemptionr through his blood,s the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the richest of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 hed made known to us the mysteryu of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposedv in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillmentw—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.x
11 In him we were also chosen,e having been predestinedy according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purposez of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.a 13 And you also were included in Christb when you heard the message of truth,c the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal,d the promised Holy Spirit,e 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritancef until the redemptiong of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Insight
Ephesians 1:3–14 praises God for His work of creation and redemption. Paul goes to great lengths to describe and celebrate the goodness of God for His grace and promise. Twice Paul mentions that our salvation is in accordance with His good pleasure or “according to the purpose of His will” (vv. 5, 9 esv). God made the decision to lavish grace on those who would be saved in Jesus Christ, and He took delight in extending that grace.
Inheritance Isn’t Earned
He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:5
“Thanks for dinner, Dad,” I said as I set my napkin on the restaurant table. I was home on a break from college and, after being gone for a while, it felt strange to have my parents pay for me. “You’re welcome, Julie,” my dad replied, “but you don’t have to thank me for everything all the time. I know you’ve been off on your own, but you’re still my daughter and a part of the family.” I smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”
In my family, I haven’t done anything to earn my parents’ love or what they do for me. But my dad’s comment reminds me that I haven’t done anything to deserve to be a part of God’s family either.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells his readers that God chose them “to be holy and blameless in his sight” (1:4), or to stand without blemish before Him (5:25–27). But this is only possible through Jesus, in whom “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (1:7). We don’t have to earn God’s grace, forgiveness, or entrance into His family. We simply accept His free gift.
When we turn our lives over to Jesus, we become children of God, which means we receive eternal life and have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven. Praise God for offering such a wonderful gift! By: Julie Schwab
Reflect & Pray
In what ways do you feel or act as if you have to earn God’s love? How can you practice living in the freedom of His love?
Faithful God, thank You for freely giving Your Son so I can be a part of Your family. Help me to honor You in all You’ve done for me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Heedfulness or Hypocrisy in Ourselves?
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. —1 John 5:16
If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of others and forgetting that God says, “…he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself.
One of the most subtle and illusive burdens God ever places on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning others. He gives us discernment so that we may accept the responsibility for those souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them (see Philippians 2:5). We should intercede in accordance with what God says He will give us, namely, “life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” It is not that we are able to bring God into contact with our minds, but that we awaken ourselves to the point where God is able to convey His mind to us regarding the people for whom we intercede.
Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in us? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with us as intercessors.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own. Biblical Ethics, 99 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 11-12; Luke 6:1-26
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
The Difference Between Life and Death - #8667
The cable news people called it a miracle. So did the man who is alive today because of what happened. He'd gone out for an afternoon on his boat off the coast of California. He didn't expect that sudden high wind that hit his vessel. Threw him catapulting over the rail and into the water. The boat continued moving with its propellers nearly cutting him to pieces. He escaped that danger with relatively minor cuts, but now he was alone and adrift in these cold waters, knowing that hypothermia would soon set in. He was unable to sustain himself in that water, and he prayed for divine help. And at that moment, he saw a balloon floating on the water nearby. He grabbed the balloon, put it under his shirt to keep him buoyant. There's one problem with balloons - they tend to lose air. And slowly, the balloon that was holding him up just did that.
With hypothermia beginning to set in, he was at the end of his ability to stay alive or to stay afloat. He closed his eyes, knowing death was going to be near. He said, "All I could do was begin to say the 23rd Psalm out loud, 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.' When I got to the part that says, 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me,' (He said) I opened my eyes. And there, floating in front of me, was a board. I grabbed it. I hung on tight. Then, in front of me, I saw a large buoy. I paddled to that buoy, only to be challenged by a huge sea lion." That's when he was sure he was going to die. But that was when, five hours after he'd gone overboard, his brother arrived in a search boat and saved his life. Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Difference Between Life and Death."
Here's a man facing a seemingly deadly situation, a series of amazing intervention, and the arrival of the rescuer who was his only hope...just in the nick of time. For someone listening today, that's not just a story. It's actually your story, or it's about to be. It's my story. It's a story of millions of others whose only hope was a rescue - a spiritual rescue.
Our word for today from the Word of God is really just eight powerful words from Zephaniah 3:17. It simply says, "The Lord your God is mighty to save." He really is. He has both the love and the power to do whatever it takes to save you from the emptiness and the turbulence of a life away from God, and more importantly, from the awful agony of an eternity without God. He's in the saving business.
Like that man overboard, the Bible says that we're all in a deadly situation from which we can't save ourselves, and often we don't even know the danger we're in. The Bible says we are "without hope and without God in this world" (Ephesians 2:12) - away from the Source of our life because we've hijacked our life from Him. It's called sin. It's a lifetime of willful choices that have ignored and disobeyed God's laws. And the Bible says, "The wages of (that) sin is death" (Romans 6:23). We're overboard, we're drifting, and we're dying.
Along the way, though, the One who is "mighty to save" has sent you some "boards" and "balloons" that would keep you afloat until you could find the real Rescuer. You are alive today by His grace and His intervention in ways you don't even know. He's wanted you to have a chance to grab the hand of His Son, His rescuer from heaven. Because one day you will "walk through that valley of the shadow of death," and your only hope is those four words, "You are with me." If Jesus isn't with you when you enter eternity, you're without hope. If He is with you, you're in heaven forever.
Today, the nail-pierced hand of heaven's Rescuer is reaching for you. The nail prints are there because He had to die so you could live; took the penalty for your sin. And this day, you have to make your choice about Him. How do you grab His hand? You say, "Jesus, I've done it my way. I'm done. You died for my sin. I am Yours." In that moment, you're saved, you're rescued, and you're safe.
Our website will help you cross over. All the information you need is there. ANewStory.com. Because none of us knows how much longer we have to choose life. So, would you let today be the day that you grab the hand of that One who is mighty to save?
I love what Chuck Swindoll always says. That “God is not sometimes sovereign. He is always sovereign.” The challenge that awaits us is to not give in to despair…to not do foolish things, but to trust.
The key question that we all need to be asking right now is, “What is God saying to us?” I think He’s talking to the whole world. I think He’s telling us that our priorities have gotten misplaced. We need to dislodge those priorities and return to our heavenly Father. I think He’s calling us back to Himself. I do…I do.
Is this a signal of end times as some people are saying? I do not know. But I do know God is doing something in the world and He’s calling upon us. He’s talking to the whole world. And we are going to get through this. It may not be quick. It may not be easy. But God is going to use this for good.
Acts 20:17-38
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the leaders of the congregation. When they arrived, he said, “You know that from day one of my arrival in Asia I was with you totally—laying my life on the line, serving the Master no matter what, putting up with no end of scheming by Jews who wanted to do me in. I didn’t skimp or trim in any way. Every truth and encouragement that could have made a difference to you, you got. I taught you out in public and I taught you in your homes, urging Jews and Greeks alike to a radical life-change before God and an equally radical trust in our Master Jesus.
22-24 “But there is another urgency before me now. I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. I’m completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won’t be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.
25-27 “And so this is good-bye. You’re not going to see me again, nor I you, you whom I have gone among for so long proclaiming the news of God’s inaugurated kingdom. I’ve done my best for you, given you my all, held back nothing of God’s will for you.
28 “Now it’s up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people—God’s people they are—to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for.
29-31 “I know that as soon as I’m gone, vicious wolves are going to show up and rip into this flock, men from your very own ranks twisting words so as to seduce disciples into following them instead of Jesus. So stay awake and keep up your guard. Remember those three years I kept at it with you, never letting up, pouring my heart out with you, one after another.
32 “Now I’m turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends.
33-35 “I’ve never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. In everything I’ve done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’”
36-38 Then Paul went down on his knees, all of them kneeling with him, and prayed. And then a river of tears. Much clinging to Paul, not wanting to let him go. They knew they would never see him again—he had told them quite plainly. The pain cut deep. Then, bravely, they walked him down to the ship.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ephesians 1:3–14
Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,g who has blessed us in the heavenly realmsh with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose usi in him before the creation of the worldj to be holy and blamelessk in his sight. In lovel 5 heb predestinedm us for adoption to sonshipc n through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasureo and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace,p which he has freely given us in the One he loves.q 7 In him we have redemptionr through his blood,s the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the richest of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 hed made known to us the mysteryu of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposedv in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillmentw—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.x
11 In him we were also chosen,e having been predestinedy according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purposez of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.a 13 And you also were included in Christb when you heard the message of truth,c the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal,d the promised Holy Spirit,e 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritancef until the redemptiong of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Insight
Ephesians 1:3–14 praises God for His work of creation and redemption. Paul goes to great lengths to describe and celebrate the goodness of God for His grace and promise. Twice Paul mentions that our salvation is in accordance with His good pleasure or “according to the purpose of His will” (vv. 5, 9 esv). God made the decision to lavish grace on those who would be saved in Jesus Christ, and He took delight in extending that grace.
Inheritance Isn’t Earned
He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:5
“Thanks for dinner, Dad,” I said as I set my napkin on the restaurant table. I was home on a break from college and, after being gone for a while, it felt strange to have my parents pay for me. “You’re welcome, Julie,” my dad replied, “but you don’t have to thank me for everything all the time. I know you’ve been off on your own, but you’re still my daughter and a part of the family.” I smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”
In my family, I haven’t done anything to earn my parents’ love or what they do for me. But my dad’s comment reminds me that I haven’t done anything to deserve to be a part of God’s family either.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells his readers that God chose them “to be holy and blameless in his sight” (1:4), or to stand without blemish before Him (5:25–27). But this is only possible through Jesus, in whom “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (1:7). We don’t have to earn God’s grace, forgiveness, or entrance into His family. We simply accept His free gift.
When we turn our lives over to Jesus, we become children of God, which means we receive eternal life and have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven. Praise God for offering such a wonderful gift! By: Julie Schwab
Reflect & Pray
In what ways do you feel or act as if you have to earn God’s love? How can you practice living in the freedom of His love?
Faithful God, thank You for freely giving Your Son so I can be a part of Your family. Help me to honor You in all You’ve done for me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Heedfulness or Hypocrisy in Ourselves?
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. —1 John 5:16
If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of others and forgetting that God says, “…he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself.
One of the most subtle and illusive burdens God ever places on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning others. He gives us discernment so that we may accept the responsibility for those souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them (see Philippians 2:5). We should intercede in accordance with what God says He will give us, namely, “life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” It is not that we are able to bring God into contact with our minds, but that we awaken ourselves to the point where God is able to convey His mind to us regarding the people for whom we intercede.
Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in us? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with us as intercessors.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own. Biblical Ethics, 99 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 11-12; Luke 6:1-26
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
The Difference Between Life and Death - #8667
The cable news people called it a miracle. So did the man who is alive today because of what happened. He'd gone out for an afternoon on his boat off the coast of California. He didn't expect that sudden high wind that hit his vessel. Threw him catapulting over the rail and into the water. The boat continued moving with its propellers nearly cutting him to pieces. He escaped that danger with relatively minor cuts, but now he was alone and adrift in these cold waters, knowing that hypothermia would soon set in. He was unable to sustain himself in that water, and he prayed for divine help. And at that moment, he saw a balloon floating on the water nearby. He grabbed the balloon, put it under his shirt to keep him buoyant. There's one problem with balloons - they tend to lose air. And slowly, the balloon that was holding him up just did that.
With hypothermia beginning to set in, he was at the end of his ability to stay alive or to stay afloat. He closed his eyes, knowing death was going to be near. He said, "All I could do was begin to say the 23rd Psalm out loud, 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.' When I got to the part that says, 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me,' (He said) I opened my eyes. And there, floating in front of me, was a board. I grabbed it. I hung on tight. Then, in front of me, I saw a large buoy. I paddled to that buoy, only to be challenged by a huge sea lion." That's when he was sure he was going to die. But that was when, five hours after he'd gone overboard, his brother arrived in a search boat and saved his life. Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Difference Between Life and Death."
Here's a man facing a seemingly deadly situation, a series of amazing intervention, and the arrival of the rescuer who was his only hope...just in the nick of time. For someone listening today, that's not just a story. It's actually your story, or it's about to be. It's my story. It's a story of millions of others whose only hope was a rescue - a spiritual rescue.
Our word for today from the Word of God is really just eight powerful words from Zephaniah 3:17. It simply says, "The Lord your God is mighty to save." He really is. He has both the love and the power to do whatever it takes to save you from the emptiness and the turbulence of a life away from God, and more importantly, from the awful agony of an eternity without God. He's in the saving business.
Like that man overboard, the Bible says that we're all in a deadly situation from which we can't save ourselves, and often we don't even know the danger we're in. The Bible says we are "without hope and without God in this world" (Ephesians 2:12) - away from the Source of our life because we've hijacked our life from Him. It's called sin. It's a lifetime of willful choices that have ignored and disobeyed God's laws. And the Bible says, "The wages of (that) sin is death" (Romans 6:23). We're overboard, we're drifting, and we're dying.
Along the way, though, the One who is "mighty to save" has sent you some "boards" and "balloons" that would keep you afloat until you could find the real Rescuer. You are alive today by His grace and His intervention in ways you don't even know. He's wanted you to have a chance to grab the hand of His Son, His rescuer from heaven. Because one day you will "walk through that valley of the shadow of death," and your only hope is those four words, "You are with me." If Jesus isn't with you when you enter eternity, you're without hope. If He is with you, you're in heaven forever.
Today, the nail-pierced hand of heaven's Rescuer is reaching for you. The nail prints are there because He had to die so you could live; took the penalty for your sin. And this day, you have to make your choice about Him. How do you grab His hand? You say, "Jesus, I've done it my way. I'm done. You died for my sin. I am Yours." In that moment, you're saved, you're rescued, and you're safe.
Our website will help you cross over. All the information you need is there. ANewStory.com. Because none of us knows how much longer we have to choose life. So, would you let today be the day that you grab the hand of that One who is mighty to save?
Monday, March 30, 2020
Isaiah 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: FEED YOUR FAITH, NOT YOUR FEARS
I’m just checking in to make sure that you are feeding your faith more than you are feeding your fears. You know if you feed your faith, your fears will starve. But if you feed your fears, your faith will. So we have to make an intentional decision during this season of high anxiety and turbulence to encourage one another and to feed one another’s faith. And also we need to take the initiative to feed our own faith.
So I encourage you my friend, I encourage you. Don’t give into despair. Don’t give into anxiety. We’re gonna get through this. We really are. I know that we’re getting new news day by day. I know that developments are changing it seems by the hour. But let me tell you the thing that has not changed. Our heavenly father is still on the throne.
Isaiah 8
Then God told me, “Get a big sheet of paper and write in indelible ink, ‘This belongs to Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Spoil-Speeds-Plunder-Hurries).’”
2-3 I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document. Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess. She conceived and gave birth to a son.
3-4 God told me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before that baby says ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mamma’ the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”
5-8 God spoke to me again, saying:
“Because this people has turned its back
on the gently flowing stream of Shiloah
And gotten all excited over Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
I’m stepping in and facing them with
the wild floodwaters of the Euphrates,
The king of Assyria and all his fanfare,
a river in flood, bursting its banks,
Pouring into Judah, sweeping everything before it,
water up to your necks,
A huge wingspan of a raging river,
O Immanuel, spreading across your land.”
9-10 But face the facts, all you oppressors, and then wring your hands.
Listen, all of you, far and near.
Prepare for the worst and wring your hands.
Yes, prepare for the worst and wring your hands!
Plan and plot all you want—nothing will come of it.
All your talk is mere talk, empty words,
Because when all is said and done,
the last word is Immanuel—God-With-Us.
11-15 God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:
“Don’t be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them.
Don’t fear what they fear.
Don’t take on their worries.
If you’re going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way,
The Rock standing in the willful way
of both houses of Israel,
A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass
to the citizens of Jerusalem.
Many of them are going to run into that Rock
and get their bones broken,
Get tangled up in that barbed wire
and not get free of it.”
16-18 Gather up the testimony,
preserve the teaching for my followers,
While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,
while I wait and hope for him.
I stand my ground and hope,
I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,
Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who makes his home in Mount Zion.
19-22 When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers.
Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
get in touch with the dead?”
Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”
People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
They end up in the dark with nothing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 30, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:Matthew 26:26–29
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke itd and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup,e and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of theb covenant,f which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.g 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with youh in my Father’s kingdom.”
Insight
The Passover is a family meal observed at the beginning of Israel’s religious calendar, commemorating their deliverance from Egyptian slavery and celebrating the beginning of a redeemed people who belong to God (Exodus 12:1–3; 13:3, 14–16; 19:5–6).
Because Jesus Himself is the true Passover Lamb (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7), He instituted a new family meal. His eating the Passover with His disciples points to the formation of a new kingdom of God—a new redeemed people and a new family of God. Today we refer to it as the Last Supper because it would have been the last Passover meal for Jesus before the cross (Matthew 26:17–30). Many scholars believe the next feast will be at the great messianic banquet when Jesus returns to establish His Father’s kingdom on earth (see Isaiah 25:6; Luke 13:29; 14:15).
Blessed Bread
Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Matthew 26:26 nlt
When our oldest child became a teenager, my wife and I gave her a journal that we’d been writing in since her birth. We’d recorded her likes and dislikes, quirks and memorable one-liners. At some point the entries became more like letters, describing what we see in her and how we see God at work in her. When we gave it to her on her thirteenth birthday, she was mesmerized. She’d been given the gift of knowing a crucial part of the origins of her identity.
In blessing something as common as bread, Jesus was revealing its identity. What it—along with all creation—was made to reflect: God’s glory. I believe Jesus was also pointing to the future of the material world. All creation will one day be filled with the glory of God. So in blessing bread (Matthew 26:26), Jesus was pointing to the origin and the destiny of creation (Romans 8:21–22).
Maybe the “beginning” of your story feels messed up. Maybe you don’t think there’s much of a future. But there’s a bigger story. It’s a story of a God who made you on purpose and for a purpose, who took pleasure in you. It’s a story of God who came to rescue you (Matthew 26:28); a God who put His Spirit in you to renew you and recover your identity. It’s a story of a God who wants to bless you. By: Glenn Packiam
Reflect & Pray
How does seeing your true origin story as being made on purpose and for a purpose change the way you see yourself? What’s the bigger story than simply your situation right now?
Dear Jesus, I place my life like bread in Your hands. Only You can return me to my origin. Only You can carry me to my destiny. Jesus, You are the author and the finisher of my faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 30, 2020
Holiness or Hardness Toward God?
He…wondered that there was no intercessor… —Isaiah 59:16
The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial— that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.
Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, “But God, I just don’t see how you are going to do this”? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don’t worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.
Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?
Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work— work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L
Bible in a Year: Judges 9-10; Luke 5:17-39
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 30, 2020
Heaven's Balanced Books - #8666
When there's a string of corporate meltdowns, Wall Street gets a very bad case of the jitters. It happened a few years ago, didn't it? The sudden discovery that a major company we thought was doing well is actually in big trouble doesn't exactly inspire investor confidence. In some cases, some unusually "creative accounting" conceal how bad things really are for some time. Of course, the fundamentals of financial viability never really change. Your outgo and your income, your losses and your gains have to at least balance, and it's management's job to, of course, be sure that they do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heaven's Balanced Books."
When you open your heart to Jesus Christ, it would be appropriate to hang a sign that says, "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT." You step down and the One who should have been your Chief Executive Officer all along takes charge. And you can be sure He's committed to balancing the books in your life, keeping a loving balance between gains and losses.
In the midst of horrendous personal losses, Job was still able to see this balancing work of God in his life. In Job 1:21, which is our word for today from the Word of God, he says, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Later, Job would have this balancing work of God more than proved when, as the Bible says, "the Lord...gave him twice as much as he had before...the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first" (Job 42:10-12).
In God's deep love and infinite wisdom, He knows that we just can't stand to have all blessings or all burdens, all happiness or all heartaches. That might be why the writer of Proverbs 30 says, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you...or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8-9).
Solomon assures us that, in God's great management of our life, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to tear down and a time to build...a time to weep and a time to laugh" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3-4).
Maybe right now you're particularly focused on a lot of bad news, some losses you're experiencing. This might be a good time to step back and look at the big picture of what heaven's CEO is doing in your life. It's time to review the blessings that are there side-by-side with the burdens. Are you missing that? God has this incredible way of knowing just how much loss you can handle and how to balance that with some good news, and how much victory you can handle and how to balance that with some struggle.
This loving God, who knows exactly what you need and when you need it, is working this very day on His gracious, life-building balance. At any given moment, you'll have something discouraging, but always something encouraging to offset it and make it bearable.
At any given moment, you will have some wonderful answered prayers and you'll also have some yet-to-be-answered prayers. You can be sure that until the day you see Jesus, you will always, and I mean always, have plenty to thank Him for and plenty to trust Him for. That's how spiritual babies become spiritual adults. That's how spiritual wimps become spiritual warriors.
Don't miss the good things God is doing because you're nearsightedly focusing on the hard things. You have a Savior who's always balancing the gains and the losses to make your life more profitable than you could ever imagine.
I’m just checking in to make sure that you are feeding your faith more than you are feeding your fears. You know if you feed your faith, your fears will starve. But if you feed your fears, your faith will. So we have to make an intentional decision during this season of high anxiety and turbulence to encourage one another and to feed one another’s faith. And also we need to take the initiative to feed our own faith.
So I encourage you my friend, I encourage you. Don’t give into despair. Don’t give into anxiety. We’re gonna get through this. We really are. I know that we’re getting new news day by day. I know that developments are changing it seems by the hour. But let me tell you the thing that has not changed. Our heavenly father is still on the throne.
Isaiah 8
Then God told me, “Get a big sheet of paper and write in indelible ink, ‘This belongs to Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Spoil-Speeds-Plunder-Hurries).’”
2-3 I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document. Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess. She conceived and gave birth to a son.
3-4 God told me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before that baby says ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mamma’ the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”
5-8 God spoke to me again, saying:
“Because this people has turned its back
on the gently flowing stream of Shiloah
And gotten all excited over Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
I’m stepping in and facing them with
the wild floodwaters of the Euphrates,
The king of Assyria and all his fanfare,
a river in flood, bursting its banks,
Pouring into Judah, sweeping everything before it,
water up to your necks,
A huge wingspan of a raging river,
O Immanuel, spreading across your land.”
9-10 But face the facts, all you oppressors, and then wring your hands.
Listen, all of you, far and near.
Prepare for the worst and wring your hands.
Yes, prepare for the worst and wring your hands!
Plan and plot all you want—nothing will come of it.
All your talk is mere talk, empty words,
Because when all is said and done,
the last word is Immanuel—God-With-Us.
11-15 God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:
“Don’t be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them.
Don’t fear what they fear.
Don’t take on their worries.
If you’re going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way,
The Rock standing in the willful way
of both houses of Israel,
A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass
to the citizens of Jerusalem.
Many of them are going to run into that Rock
and get their bones broken,
Get tangled up in that barbed wire
and not get free of it.”
16-18 Gather up the testimony,
preserve the teaching for my followers,
While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,
while I wait and hope for him.
I stand my ground and hope,
I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,
Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who makes his home in Mount Zion.
19-22 When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers.
Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
get in touch with the dead?”
Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”
People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
They end up in the dark with nothing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 30, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:Matthew 26:26–29
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke itd and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup,e and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of theb covenant,f which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.g 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with youh in my Father’s kingdom.”
Insight
The Passover is a family meal observed at the beginning of Israel’s religious calendar, commemorating their deliverance from Egyptian slavery and celebrating the beginning of a redeemed people who belong to God (Exodus 12:1–3; 13:3, 14–16; 19:5–6).
Because Jesus Himself is the true Passover Lamb (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7), He instituted a new family meal. His eating the Passover with His disciples points to the formation of a new kingdom of God—a new redeemed people and a new family of God. Today we refer to it as the Last Supper because it would have been the last Passover meal for Jesus before the cross (Matthew 26:17–30). Many scholars believe the next feast will be at the great messianic banquet when Jesus returns to establish His Father’s kingdom on earth (see Isaiah 25:6; Luke 13:29; 14:15).
Blessed Bread
Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Matthew 26:26 nlt
When our oldest child became a teenager, my wife and I gave her a journal that we’d been writing in since her birth. We’d recorded her likes and dislikes, quirks and memorable one-liners. At some point the entries became more like letters, describing what we see in her and how we see God at work in her. When we gave it to her on her thirteenth birthday, she was mesmerized. She’d been given the gift of knowing a crucial part of the origins of her identity.
In blessing something as common as bread, Jesus was revealing its identity. What it—along with all creation—was made to reflect: God’s glory. I believe Jesus was also pointing to the future of the material world. All creation will one day be filled with the glory of God. So in blessing bread (Matthew 26:26), Jesus was pointing to the origin and the destiny of creation (Romans 8:21–22).
Maybe the “beginning” of your story feels messed up. Maybe you don’t think there’s much of a future. But there’s a bigger story. It’s a story of a God who made you on purpose and for a purpose, who took pleasure in you. It’s a story of God who came to rescue you (Matthew 26:28); a God who put His Spirit in you to renew you and recover your identity. It’s a story of a God who wants to bless you. By: Glenn Packiam
Reflect & Pray
How does seeing your true origin story as being made on purpose and for a purpose change the way you see yourself? What’s the bigger story than simply your situation right now?
Dear Jesus, I place my life like bread in Your hands. Only You can return me to my origin. Only You can carry me to my destiny. Jesus, You are the author and the finisher of my faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 30, 2020
Holiness or Hardness Toward God?
He…wondered that there was no intercessor… —Isaiah 59:16
The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial— that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.
Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, “But God, I just don’t see how you are going to do this”? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don’t worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.
Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?
Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work— work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L
Bible in a Year: Judges 9-10; Luke 5:17-39
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 30, 2020
Heaven's Balanced Books - #8666
When there's a string of corporate meltdowns, Wall Street gets a very bad case of the jitters. It happened a few years ago, didn't it? The sudden discovery that a major company we thought was doing well is actually in big trouble doesn't exactly inspire investor confidence. In some cases, some unusually "creative accounting" conceal how bad things really are for some time. Of course, the fundamentals of financial viability never really change. Your outgo and your income, your losses and your gains have to at least balance, and it's management's job to, of course, be sure that they do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heaven's Balanced Books."
When you open your heart to Jesus Christ, it would be appropriate to hang a sign that says, "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT." You step down and the One who should have been your Chief Executive Officer all along takes charge. And you can be sure He's committed to balancing the books in your life, keeping a loving balance between gains and losses.
In the midst of horrendous personal losses, Job was still able to see this balancing work of God in his life. In Job 1:21, which is our word for today from the Word of God, he says, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Later, Job would have this balancing work of God more than proved when, as the Bible says, "the Lord...gave him twice as much as he had before...the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first" (Job 42:10-12).
In God's deep love and infinite wisdom, He knows that we just can't stand to have all blessings or all burdens, all happiness or all heartaches. That might be why the writer of Proverbs 30 says, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you...or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8-9).
Solomon assures us that, in God's great management of our life, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to tear down and a time to build...a time to weep and a time to laugh" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3-4).
Maybe right now you're particularly focused on a lot of bad news, some losses you're experiencing. This might be a good time to step back and look at the big picture of what heaven's CEO is doing in your life. It's time to review the blessings that are there side-by-side with the burdens. Are you missing that? God has this incredible way of knowing just how much loss you can handle and how to balance that with some good news, and how much victory you can handle and how to balance that with some struggle.
This loving God, who knows exactly what you need and when you need it, is working this very day on His gracious, life-building balance. At any given moment, you'll have something discouraging, but always something encouraging to offset it and make it bearable.
At any given moment, you will have some wonderful answered prayers and you'll also have some yet-to-be-answered prayers. You can be sure that until the day you see Jesus, you will always, and I mean always, have plenty to thank Him for and plenty to trust Him for. That's how spiritual babies become spiritual adults. That's how spiritual wimps become spiritual warriors.
Don't miss the good things God is doing because you're nearsightedly focusing on the hard things. You have a Savior who's always balancing the gains and the losses to make your life more profitable than you could ever imagine.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Isaiah 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Six Hours, One Friday
Six hours, one Friday. Mundane to the casual observer. A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients. But to a handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed.
It is no normal six hours. It is no normal Friday. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. What do you do with that day in history? What do you do with its claims? They were the most critical hours in history.
Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
from Six Hours One Friday
Isaiah 7
During the time that Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem, but the attack sputtered out. When the Davidic government learned that Aram had joined forces with Ephraim (that is, Israel), Ahaz and his people were badly shaken. They shook like trees in the wind.
3-6 Then God told Isaiah, “Go and meet Ahaz. Take your son Shear-jashub (A-Remnant-Will-Return) with you. Meet him south of the city at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. Tell him, Listen, calm down. Don’t be afraid. And don’t panic over these two burnt-out cases, Rezin of Aram and the son of Remaliah. They talk big but there’s nothing to them. Aram, along with Ephraim’s son of Remaliah, have plotted to do you harm. They’ve conspired against you, saying, ‘Let’s go to war against Judah, dismember it, take it for ourselves, and set the son of Tabeel up as a puppet king over it.’
7-9 But God, the Master, says,
“It won’t happen.
Nothing will come of it
Because the capital of Aram is Damascus
and the king of Damascus is a mere man, Rezin.
As for Ephraim, in sixty-five years
it will be rubble, nothing left of it.
The capital of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah.
If you don’t take your stand in faith,
you won’t have a leg to stand on.”
10-11 God spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”
12 But Ahaz said, “I’d never do that. I’d never make demands like that on God!”
13-17 So Isaiah told him, “Then listen to this, government of David! It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!”
18-19 That’s when God will whistle for the flies at the headwaters of Egypt’s Nile, and whistle for the bees in the land of Assyria. They’ll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There’ll be no getting away from them.
20 And that’s when the Master will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates—the king of Assyria no less!—and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded. He’ll shave off your beards while he’s at it.
21-22 It will be a time when survivors will count themselves lucky to have a cow and a couple of sheep. At least they’ll have plenty of milk! Whoever’s left in the land will learn to make do with the simplest foods—curds, whey, and honey.
23-25 But that’s not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won’t be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 15:5–8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;y apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.z 7 If you remain in mea and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.b 8 This is to my Father’s glory,c that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Insight
It’s important to consider the full revelation of God in Scripture when trying to understand the meaning of any passage. Jesus’ words in John 15:5, “Apart from me, you can do nothing,” are similar to Paul’s statements in Acts 17:28, “In him we live and move and have our being,” and Colossians 1:17, “in him all things hold together.” All of these verses emphasize the necessity of Christ to our very existence.
In John 15, Jesus is speaking specifically to His followers. He’s talking about the fruit that comes from the branch connected to the vine. When Jesus says that without Him we can do nothing, He means that without the source of life—the vine—the branch can’t even produce a leaf or a flower, let alone the fruit that brings God honor.
Fruit Juice
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. John 15:5
A thrift-store bargain, the lamp seemed perfect for my home office—the right color, size, and price. Back at home, however, when I plugged in the cord, nothing happened. No light. No power. No juice.
No problem, my husband assured me. “I can fix that. Easy.” As he took the lamp apart, he saw the trouble immediately. The plug wasn’t connected to anything. Without wiring to a source of power, the “perfect” pretty lamp was useless.
The same is true for us. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” But then he added this reminder: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
This teaching was given in a grape-growing region, so His disciples readily understood it. Grapevines are hardy plants, and their branches tolerate vigorous pruning. Cut off from their life source, however, the branches are worthless deadwood. So it is with us.
As we remain in Jesus and let His words dwell in us, we’re wired to our life source—Christ Himself. “This is to my Father’s glory,” said Jesus, “that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (v. 8). Such a fruitful outcome needs daily nourishment, however. Freely, God provides it through the Scriptures and His love. So plug in and let the juice flow! By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean for you to remain in Jesus? How has He equipped you to bear fruit for Him?
All-powerful God, empower me to remain in You and allow Your loving Word to yield good fruit in me.
To learn more about growing spiritually, visit christianuniversity.org/SF104.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Our Lord’s Surprise Visits
You also be ready… —Luke 12:40
A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we are not ready to face Jesus Himself at every turn. The greatest need is not facing our beliefs or doctrines, or even facing the question of whether or not we are of any use to Him, but the need is to face Him.
Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle— we must be spiritually real.
If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today’s world, and instead are “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thoughts, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer. But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 7-8; Luke 5:1-16
Six hours, one Friday. Mundane to the casual observer. A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients. But to a handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed.
It is no normal six hours. It is no normal Friday. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. What do you do with that day in history? What do you do with its claims? They were the most critical hours in history.
Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
from Six Hours One Friday
Isaiah 7
During the time that Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem, but the attack sputtered out. When the Davidic government learned that Aram had joined forces with Ephraim (that is, Israel), Ahaz and his people were badly shaken. They shook like trees in the wind.
3-6 Then God told Isaiah, “Go and meet Ahaz. Take your son Shear-jashub (A-Remnant-Will-Return) with you. Meet him south of the city at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. Tell him, Listen, calm down. Don’t be afraid. And don’t panic over these two burnt-out cases, Rezin of Aram and the son of Remaliah. They talk big but there’s nothing to them. Aram, along with Ephraim’s son of Remaliah, have plotted to do you harm. They’ve conspired against you, saying, ‘Let’s go to war against Judah, dismember it, take it for ourselves, and set the son of Tabeel up as a puppet king over it.’
7-9 But God, the Master, says,
“It won’t happen.
Nothing will come of it
Because the capital of Aram is Damascus
and the king of Damascus is a mere man, Rezin.
As for Ephraim, in sixty-five years
it will be rubble, nothing left of it.
The capital of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah.
If you don’t take your stand in faith,
you won’t have a leg to stand on.”
10-11 God spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”
12 But Ahaz said, “I’d never do that. I’d never make demands like that on God!”
13-17 So Isaiah told him, “Then listen to this, government of David! It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!”
18-19 That’s when God will whistle for the flies at the headwaters of Egypt’s Nile, and whistle for the bees in the land of Assyria. They’ll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There’ll be no getting away from them.
20 And that’s when the Master will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates—the king of Assyria no less!—and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded. He’ll shave off your beards while he’s at it.
21-22 It will be a time when survivors will count themselves lucky to have a cow and a couple of sheep. At least they’ll have plenty of milk! Whoever’s left in the land will learn to make do with the simplest foods—curds, whey, and honey.
23-25 But that’s not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won’t be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 15:5–8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;y apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.z 7 If you remain in mea and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.b 8 This is to my Father’s glory,c that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Insight
It’s important to consider the full revelation of God in Scripture when trying to understand the meaning of any passage. Jesus’ words in John 15:5, “Apart from me, you can do nothing,” are similar to Paul’s statements in Acts 17:28, “In him we live and move and have our being,” and Colossians 1:17, “in him all things hold together.” All of these verses emphasize the necessity of Christ to our very existence.
In John 15, Jesus is speaking specifically to His followers. He’s talking about the fruit that comes from the branch connected to the vine. When Jesus says that without Him we can do nothing, He means that without the source of life—the vine—the branch can’t even produce a leaf or a flower, let alone the fruit that brings God honor.
Fruit Juice
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. John 15:5
A thrift-store bargain, the lamp seemed perfect for my home office—the right color, size, and price. Back at home, however, when I plugged in the cord, nothing happened. No light. No power. No juice.
No problem, my husband assured me. “I can fix that. Easy.” As he took the lamp apart, he saw the trouble immediately. The plug wasn’t connected to anything. Without wiring to a source of power, the “perfect” pretty lamp was useless.
The same is true for us. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” But then he added this reminder: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
This teaching was given in a grape-growing region, so His disciples readily understood it. Grapevines are hardy plants, and their branches tolerate vigorous pruning. Cut off from their life source, however, the branches are worthless deadwood. So it is with us.
As we remain in Jesus and let His words dwell in us, we’re wired to our life source—Christ Himself. “This is to my Father’s glory,” said Jesus, “that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (v. 8). Such a fruitful outcome needs daily nourishment, however. Freely, God provides it through the Scriptures and His love. So plug in and let the juice flow! By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean for you to remain in Jesus? How has He equipped you to bear fruit for Him?
All-powerful God, empower me to remain in You and allow Your loving Word to yield good fruit in me.
To learn more about growing spiritually, visit christianuniversity.org/SF104.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Our Lord’s Surprise Visits
You also be ready… —Luke 12:40
A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we are not ready to face Jesus Himself at every turn. The greatest need is not facing our beliefs or doctrines, or even facing the question of whether or not we are of any use to Him, but the need is to face Him.
Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle— we must be spiritually real.
If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today’s world, and instead are “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thoughts, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer. But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 7-8; Luke 5:1-16
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Acts 20:1-16 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Spiritual MRI
We can't live with foreign objects buried in our bodies or our souls. What would an X-ray of your interior reveal? Remorse over a poor choice? Shame about the marriage that didn't work, the temptation you couldn't resist? Guilt lies hidden beneath the surface, festering, irritating. Sometimes so deeply embedded you don't know the cause.
And you can be touchy, you know. Understandable, since you have a shank of shame lodged in your soul. Would you like an extraction? Here's what you do. Confess! Ask God to help you. Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Confession. You see, confessors find a freedom that deniers don't. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins! He will cleanse us. Not might, could, would, or should. He WILL!
From Grace
Acts 20:1-16
With things back to normal, Paul called the disciples together and encouraged them to keep up the good work in Ephesus. Then, saying his good-byes, he left for Macedonia. Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope.
2-4 Then he came to Greece and stayed on for three months. Just as he was about to sail for Syria, the Jews cooked up a plot against him. So he went the other way, by land back through Macedonia, and gave them the slip. His companions for the journey were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, both Thessalonians; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and the two from western Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
5-6 They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. Meanwhile, we stayed in Philippi for Passover Week, and then set sail. Within five days we were again in Troas and stayed a week.
7-9 We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master’s Supper. Paul addressed the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul talked on, way past midnight. We were meeting in a well-lighted upper room. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window. As Paul went on and on, Eutychus fell sound asleep and toppled out the third-story window. When they picked him up, he was dead.
10-12 Paul went down, stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard. “No more crying,” he said. “There’s life in him yet.” Then Paul got up and served the Master’s Supper. And went on telling stories of the faith until dawn! On that note, they left—Paul going one way, the congregation another, leading the boy off alive, and full of life themselves.
13-16 In the meantime, the rest of us had gone on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we planned to pick up Paul. Paul wanted to walk there, and so had made these arrangements earlier. Things went according to plan: We met him in Assos, took him on board, and sailed to Mitylene. The next day we put in opposite Chios, Samos a day later, and then Miletus. Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus so that he wouldn’t be held up in Asia province. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost, if at all possible.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Kings 6:1–7
An Axhead Floats
6 The companyl of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”
And he said, “Go.”
3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threwm it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Insight
Most of Israel had turned against God, but a faithful remnant of seven thousand had not worshiped the pagan god Baal (1 Kings 19:18). These included at least three schools of prophets. Scholars believe these schools (perhaps the equivalent of Bible seminaries today) were started by Samuel (1 Samuel 19:20). At the time of Elisha, “the company of the prophets” could be found in three cities: Bethel (2 Kings 2:3), Jericho (v. 5), and Gilgal (4:38). In 2 Kings 6:1–7, Elisha was teaching the students who were training for ministry. Because their meeting place was too small, they decided to build a bigger classroom (vv. 1–2). While cutting a tree, the iron ax fell into the Jordan River. The loss of the borrowed ax would be extremely costly for that student because very few tools at that time were made of iron. Elisha saved that man from debt, if he were unable to compensate for such a huge loss, and possible servitude.
The Would-Be Woodcutter
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
One year when I was in college, I cut, stacked, sold, and delivered firewood. It was a hard job, so I have empathy for the hapless logger in the 2 Kings 6 story.
Elisha’s school for prophets had prospered, and their meeting place had become too small. Someone suggested they go into the woods, cut logs, and enlarge their facilities. Elisha agreed and accompanied the workers. Things were going remarkably well until someone’s axhead fell into the water (v. 5).
Some have suggested that Elisha simply probed in the water with his stick until he located the axhead and dragged it into sight. That would hardly be worth mentioning, however. No, it was a miracle: The axhead was set in motion by God’s hand and began to float so the man could retrieve it (vv. 6–7).
The simple miracle enshrines a profound truth: God cares about the small stuff of life—lost axheads, lost keys, lost glasses, lost phones—the little things that cause us to fret. He doesn’t always restore what’s lost, but He understands and comforts us in our distress.
Next to the assurance of our salvation, the assurance of God’s care is essential. Without it we would feel alone in the world, exposed to innumerable worries. It’s good to know He cares and is moved by our losses—small as they may be. Our concerns are His concerns. By: David H. Roper
Reflect & Pray
What “little” things are troubling you that you can cast on God right now? How does it encourage you to know that you can be assured of His daily care for you?
Loving God, here are my concerns. Please take them, provide as You see best, and give me Your peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?
"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8
ust because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
Bible in a Year: Judges 4-6; Luke 4:31-44
We can't live with foreign objects buried in our bodies or our souls. What would an X-ray of your interior reveal? Remorse over a poor choice? Shame about the marriage that didn't work, the temptation you couldn't resist? Guilt lies hidden beneath the surface, festering, irritating. Sometimes so deeply embedded you don't know the cause.
And you can be touchy, you know. Understandable, since you have a shank of shame lodged in your soul. Would you like an extraction? Here's what you do. Confess! Ask God to help you. Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Confession. You see, confessors find a freedom that deniers don't. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins! He will cleanse us. Not might, could, would, or should. He WILL!
From Grace
Acts 20:1-16
With things back to normal, Paul called the disciples together and encouraged them to keep up the good work in Ephesus. Then, saying his good-byes, he left for Macedonia. Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope.
2-4 Then he came to Greece and stayed on for three months. Just as he was about to sail for Syria, the Jews cooked up a plot against him. So he went the other way, by land back through Macedonia, and gave them the slip. His companions for the journey were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, both Thessalonians; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and the two from western Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
5-6 They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. Meanwhile, we stayed in Philippi for Passover Week, and then set sail. Within five days we were again in Troas and stayed a week.
7-9 We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master’s Supper. Paul addressed the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul talked on, way past midnight. We were meeting in a well-lighted upper room. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window. As Paul went on and on, Eutychus fell sound asleep and toppled out the third-story window. When they picked him up, he was dead.
10-12 Paul went down, stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard. “No more crying,” he said. “There’s life in him yet.” Then Paul got up and served the Master’s Supper. And went on telling stories of the faith until dawn! On that note, they left—Paul going one way, the congregation another, leading the boy off alive, and full of life themselves.
13-16 In the meantime, the rest of us had gone on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we planned to pick up Paul. Paul wanted to walk there, and so had made these arrangements earlier. Things went according to plan: We met him in Assos, took him on board, and sailed to Mitylene. The next day we put in opposite Chios, Samos a day later, and then Miletus. Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus so that he wouldn’t be held up in Asia province. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost, if at all possible.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Kings 6:1–7
An Axhead Floats
6 The companyl of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”
And he said, “Go.”
3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threwm it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Insight
Most of Israel had turned against God, but a faithful remnant of seven thousand had not worshiped the pagan god Baal (1 Kings 19:18). These included at least three schools of prophets. Scholars believe these schools (perhaps the equivalent of Bible seminaries today) were started by Samuel (1 Samuel 19:20). At the time of Elisha, “the company of the prophets” could be found in three cities: Bethel (2 Kings 2:3), Jericho (v. 5), and Gilgal (4:38). In 2 Kings 6:1–7, Elisha was teaching the students who were training for ministry. Because their meeting place was too small, they decided to build a bigger classroom (vv. 1–2). While cutting a tree, the iron ax fell into the Jordan River. The loss of the borrowed ax would be extremely costly for that student because very few tools at that time were made of iron. Elisha saved that man from debt, if he were unable to compensate for such a huge loss, and possible servitude.
The Would-Be Woodcutter
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
One year when I was in college, I cut, stacked, sold, and delivered firewood. It was a hard job, so I have empathy for the hapless logger in the 2 Kings 6 story.
Elisha’s school for prophets had prospered, and their meeting place had become too small. Someone suggested they go into the woods, cut logs, and enlarge their facilities. Elisha agreed and accompanied the workers. Things were going remarkably well until someone’s axhead fell into the water (v. 5).
Some have suggested that Elisha simply probed in the water with his stick until he located the axhead and dragged it into sight. That would hardly be worth mentioning, however. No, it was a miracle: The axhead was set in motion by God’s hand and began to float so the man could retrieve it (vv. 6–7).
The simple miracle enshrines a profound truth: God cares about the small stuff of life—lost axheads, lost keys, lost glasses, lost phones—the little things that cause us to fret. He doesn’t always restore what’s lost, but He understands and comforts us in our distress.
Next to the assurance of our salvation, the assurance of God’s care is essential. Without it we would feel alone in the world, exposed to innumerable worries. It’s good to know He cares and is moved by our losses—small as they may be. Our concerns are His concerns. By: David H. Roper
Reflect & Pray
What “little” things are troubling you that you can cast on God right now? How does it encourage you to know that you can be assured of His daily care for you?
Loving God, here are my concerns. Please take them, provide as You see best, and give me Your peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?
"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8
ust because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
Bible in a Year: Judges 4-6; Luke 4:31-44
Friday, March 27, 2020
2 Chronicles 32, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: I WILL GIVE YOU PEACE
There is a story in the Bible about some men in a boat who were caught in the midst of a big storm. They are afraid for their lives. All hope seems lost. But then they call on Jesus who is in the boat with them. He answers their call and speaks peace to the storm. He calms the raging sea around them, and most importantly, the fear in their hearts.
God wants to bring peace into the storms in our lives. He doesn’t want us living in fear or losing our hope. When the storm rages around us, we can find comfort knowing that we are not alone. The God of Peace is in the boat with us. We are not alone. We are not facing the storm alone. He is with us and he is for us, if we will call on him.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 32
And then, after this exemplary track record, this: Sennacherib king of Assyria came and attacked Judah. He put the fortified cities under siege, determined to take them.
2-4 When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib’s strategy was to take Jerusalem, he talked to his advisors and military leaders about eliminating all the water supplies outside the city; they thought it was a good idea. There was a great turnout of people to plug the springs and tear down the aqueduct. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria march in and be furnished with running water?”
5-6 Hezekiah also went to work repairing every part of the city wall that was damaged, built defensive towers on it, built another wall of defense further out, and reinforced the defensive rampart (the Millo) of the old City of David. He also built up a large store of armaments—spears and shields. He then appointed military officers to be responsible for the people and got them all together at the public square in front of the city gate.
6-8 Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, “Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!”
Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines.
9-15 Later on, Sennacherib, who had set up camp a few miles away at Lachish, sent messengers to Jerusalem, addressing Judah through Hezekiah: “A proclamation of Sennacherib king of Assyria: You poor people—do you think you’re safe in that so-called fortress of Jerusalem? You’re sitting ducks. Do you think Hezekiah will save you? Don’t be stupid—Hezekiah has fed you a pack of lies. When he says, ‘God will save us from the power of the king of Assyria,’ he’s lying—you’re all going to end up dead. Wasn’t it Hezekiah who cleared out all the neighborhood worship shrines and told you, ‘There is only one legitimate place to worship’? Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors have done to all the countries around here? Has there been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up against me? Can you name one god among all the nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that so much as lifted a finger against me? So what makes you think you’ll make out any better with your god? Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; don’t let him get by with his barefaced lies; don’t trust him. No god of any country or kingdom ever has been one bit of help against me or my ancestors—what kind of odds does that give your god?”
16 The messengers felt free to throw in their personal comments, putting down both God and God’s servant Hezekiah.
17 Sennacherib continued to send letters insulting the God of Israel: “The gods of the nations were powerless to help their people; the god of Hezekiah is no better, probably worse.”
18-19 The messengers would come up to the wall of Jerusalem and shout up to the people standing on the wall, shouting their propaganda in Hebrew, trying to scare them into demoralized submission. They contemptuously lumped the God of Jerusalem in with the handmade gods of other peoples.
20-21 King Hezekiah, joined by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, responded by praying, calling up to heaven. God answered by sending an angel who wiped out everyone in the Assyrian camp, both warriors and officers. Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace, tail between his legs. When he went into the temple of his god, his own sons killed him.
22-23 God saved Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem from Sennacherib king of Assyria and everyone else. And he continued to take good care of them. People streamed into Jerusalem bringing offerings for the worship of God and expensive presents to Hezekiah king of Judah. All the surrounding nations were impressed—Hezekiah’s stock soared.
24 Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to God and was given a reassuring sign.
25-26 But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. This made God angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah, and Jerusalem with him, repented of his arrogance, and God withdrew his anger while Hezekiah lived.
27-31 Hezekiah ended up very wealthy and much honored. He built treasuries for all his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and valuables, barns for the grain, new wine, and olive oil, stalls for his various breeds of cattle, and pens for his flocks. He founded royal cities for himself and built up huge stocks of sheep and cattle. God saw to it that he was extravagantly rich. Hezekiah was also responsible for diverting the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and rerouting the water to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did. But when the rulers of Babylon sent emissaries to find out about the sign from God that had taken place earlier, God left him on his own to see what he would do; he wanted to test his heart.
32-33 The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his life of loyal service, you can read for yourself—it’s written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel. When Hezekiah died, they buried him in the upper part of the King David cemetery. Everyone in Judah and Jerusalem came to the funeral. He was buried in great honor.
Manasseh his son was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 116:12–19
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodnessa to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the nameb of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vowsc to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sightd of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.e
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;f
I serve you just as my mother did;g
you have freed me from my chains.h
17 I will sacrifice a thank offeringi to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vowsj to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtsk of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.l
Praise the Lord.
Insight
We don’t know who penned this psalm, but we readily identify with the writer’s humanity. A life-threatening ordeal—perhaps some disease or an event in battle—had brought the author face to face with death and closer to God as a consequence. “The cords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came over me” (Psalm 116:3). This terror prompted the author to call on the Almighty: “Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’ ” (v. 4). Yet ultimately, death isn’t to be feared. The most quoted section of the psalm is, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (v. 15). Might the motivation for this declaration have been the death of the writer’s God-fearing mother? For in the very next line the psalmist says, “I serve you just as my mother did” (v. 16).
Precious Departure
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Psalm 116:15
Sculptor Liz Shepherd’s 2018 exhibition The Wait was described by a Boston Globe correspondent as “evok[ing] the precious, exposed, and transcendent in life.” Inspired by the time Shepherd spent at her dying father’s bedside, the exhibition attempts to convey yearning, the emptiness of loss, and the fragile sense that loved ones are just out of reach.
The idea that death is precious might seem counterintuitive; however, the psalmist declares, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15). God treasures the death of His people, for in their passing He welcomes them home.
Who are these faithful servants (“saints” nkjv) of God? According to the psalmist, they are those who serve God in gratitude for His deliverance, who call on His name, and who honor the words they speak before Him (Psalm 116:16–18). Such actions represent deliberate choices to walk with God, accept the freedom He offers, and cultivate a relationship with Him.
In so doing, we find ourselves in the company of Jesus, who is “chosen by God and precious to him . . . . For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame’ ” (1 Peter 2:4–6). When our trust is in God, our departure from this life is precious in His sight. By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
How does your perception of death compare with God’s view of the passing of His people? To what extent is your perception influenced by what the Bible says about death?
Dear God, help me to trust You even in the challenges and losses of life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 27, 2020
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Character
Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place… —Revelation 4:1
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, “Friend, come up even higher.” There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…?” (Genesis 18:17). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
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
Bible in a Year: Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 27, 2020
Why "More" is Never Enough - #8665
There was this little song from a children's TV show. It goes, "One of these things is not like the other; one of these things doesn't belong." That's how I look in the middle of twenty or thirty professional football players. That's where I've ended up a number of times when I've spoken for NFL chapel services. Every professional football team actually has a chapel meeting before their game. Often, I was invited to join the players for the team meal after the chapel. Of course, their game day meal was this massive buffet, designed to help them power up for this grueling afternoon they have ahead. After one chapel, I had the privilege of visiting for some time with one of the players who had actually played in three Super Bowls and had been named the Most Valuable Player in one of them. I said, "So you have three Super Bowl rings?" He said, "Yep, but it's still not enough. I've got ten fingers. I won't be happy until I've got a Super Bowl ring on all of them!" Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why 'More' is Never Enough."
Here's a man who has won one of the most coveted prizes in professional sports - three times! But it's not enough? I remember hearing the story of one player who had just experienced the fulfillment of his lifelong dream. He played on a national champion college football team. The morning after, his team and his name were all over the front pages, announcing they had won the championship. But he said he couldn't get over this deep feeling of depression that morning. And here were his words: He had everything he'd been living for, "Now what?"
John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in American history was asked by a reporter once, "How much money is enough money?" He smiled and answered simply, "A little bit more." It's true, isn't it? Whatever we've looked for in our life, there never seems to be enough of it to satisfy our restless heart. If you're still climbing whatever is your own "Mt. Happiness," you figure you're not satisfied because you're not there yet. But the people who are already at the top of that mountain are saying, "I'm here and I don't have it. Now what?"
Thousands of years ago, King Solomon, the richest and most sought after man of his time, reached this conclusion, recorded in the Bible in Ecclesiastes 1, "There is nothing new under the sun...I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." That says it, doesn't it - chasing the wind.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11, our word for today from the Word of God, Solomon actually puts his finger on why happiness is so elusive: He says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." And that's it! We're made for something that will last forever, and nothing that doesn't last forever could ever fill the hole in our hearts. In fact, we were made for a personal relationship with God, the only One who's big enough to fill that hole because that hole was made for Him. The Bible describes our hearts as being "like the tossing sea, which cannot rest...there is no peace," it says (Isaiah 57:20-21).
But we haven't made our Creator the center of our lives. We've marginalized Him. We've minimized Him. We've pushed Him to the edges of our life, and we've confining Him to a little compartment marked "religion." We're lonely for God. We're away from God; so far away that it took the death of God's only Son to bridge the gap between us.
Our self-run lives (and the Bible calls that sin) place us under the death penalty for all rebels against God. But the death of Jesus Christ on that cross, and His resurrection from the dead three days later, was to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done and to open the door to love and life that will never end, and for that eternity you were made for.
The Bible bottom lines what Jesus did for you on the cross in these words: "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5). The Bible says you can be, "complete in Him." Don't you want that finally? If you're tired of
searching and you're ready to place your total trust in Jesus to forgive your sin, to bring you to God, tell Him that right now, "Jesus, beginning right now, I'm Yours."
Get to our website. It's there literally to help you at this crossroads. The website is ANewStory.com. Your heart's been looking for home for a long time. Guess what? Today home has come looking for you.
There is a story in the Bible about some men in a boat who were caught in the midst of a big storm. They are afraid for their lives. All hope seems lost. But then they call on Jesus who is in the boat with them. He answers their call and speaks peace to the storm. He calms the raging sea around them, and most importantly, the fear in their hearts.
God wants to bring peace into the storms in our lives. He doesn’t want us living in fear or losing our hope. When the storm rages around us, we can find comfort knowing that we are not alone. The God of Peace is in the boat with us. We are not alone. We are not facing the storm alone. He is with us and he is for us, if we will call on him.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 32
And then, after this exemplary track record, this: Sennacherib king of Assyria came and attacked Judah. He put the fortified cities under siege, determined to take them.
2-4 When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib’s strategy was to take Jerusalem, he talked to his advisors and military leaders about eliminating all the water supplies outside the city; they thought it was a good idea. There was a great turnout of people to plug the springs and tear down the aqueduct. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria march in and be furnished with running water?”
5-6 Hezekiah also went to work repairing every part of the city wall that was damaged, built defensive towers on it, built another wall of defense further out, and reinforced the defensive rampart (the Millo) of the old City of David. He also built up a large store of armaments—spears and shields. He then appointed military officers to be responsible for the people and got them all together at the public square in front of the city gate.
6-8 Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, “Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!”
Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines.
9-15 Later on, Sennacherib, who had set up camp a few miles away at Lachish, sent messengers to Jerusalem, addressing Judah through Hezekiah: “A proclamation of Sennacherib king of Assyria: You poor people—do you think you’re safe in that so-called fortress of Jerusalem? You’re sitting ducks. Do you think Hezekiah will save you? Don’t be stupid—Hezekiah has fed you a pack of lies. When he says, ‘God will save us from the power of the king of Assyria,’ he’s lying—you’re all going to end up dead. Wasn’t it Hezekiah who cleared out all the neighborhood worship shrines and told you, ‘There is only one legitimate place to worship’? Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors have done to all the countries around here? Has there been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up against me? Can you name one god among all the nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that so much as lifted a finger against me? So what makes you think you’ll make out any better with your god? Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; don’t let him get by with his barefaced lies; don’t trust him. No god of any country or kingdom ever has been one bit of help against me or my ancestors—what kind of odds does that give your god?”
16 The messengers felt free to throw in their personal comments, putting down both God and God’s servant Hezekiah.
17 Sennacherib continued to send letters insulting the God of Israel: “The gods of the nations were powerless to help their people; the god of Hezekiah is no better, probably worse.”
18-19 The messengers would come up to the wall of Jerusalem and shout up to the people standing on the wall, shouting their propaganda in Hebrew, trying to scare them into demoralized submission. They contemptuously lumped the God of Jerusalem in with the handmade gods of other peoples.
20-21 King Hezekiah, joined by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, responded by praying, calling up to heaven. God answered by sending an angel who wiped out everyone in the Assyrian camp, both warriors and officers. Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace, tail between his legs. When he went into the temple of his god, his own sons killed him.
22-23 God saved Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem from Sennacherib king of Assyria and everyone else. And he continued to take good care of them. People streamed into Jerusalem bringing offerings for the worship of God and expensive presents to Hezekiah king of Judah. All the surrounding nations were impressed—Hezekiah’s stock soared.
24 Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to God and was given a reassuring sign.
25-26 But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. This made God angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah, and Jerusalem with him, repented of his arrogance, and God withdrew his anger while Hezekiah lived.
27-31 Hezekiah ended up very wealthy and much honored. He built treasuries for all his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and valuables, barns for the grain, new wine, and olive oil, stalls for his various breeds of cattle, and pens for his flocks. He founded royal cities for himself and built up huge stocks of sheep and cattle. God saw to it that he was extravagantly rich. Hezekiah was also responsible for diverting the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and rerouting the water to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did. But when the rulers of Babylon sent emissaries to find out about the sign from God that had taken place earlier, God left him on his own to see what he would do; he wanted to test his heart.
32-33 The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his life of loyal service, you can read for yourself—it’s written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel. When Hezekiah died, they buried him in the upper part of the King David cemetery. Everyone in Judah and Jerusalem came to the funeral. He was buried in great honor.
Manasseh his son was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 116:12–19
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodnessa to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the nameb of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vowsc to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sightd of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.e
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;f
I serve you just as my mother did;g
you have freed me from my chains.h
17 I will sacrifice a thank offeringi to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vowsj to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtsk of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.l
Praise the Lord.
Insight
We don’t know who penned this psalm, but we readily identify with the writer’s humanity. A life-threatening ordeal—perhaps some disease or an event in battle—had brought the author face to face with death and closer to God as a consequence. “The cords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came over me” (Psalm 116:3). This terror prompted the author to call on the Almighty: “Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’ ” (v. 4). Yet ultimately, death isn’t to be feared. The most quoted section of the psalm is, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (v. 15). Might the motivation for this declaration have been the death of the writer’s God-fearing mother? For in the very next line the psalmist says, “I serve you just as my mother did” (v. 16).
Precious Departure
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Psalm 116:15
Sculptor Liz Shepherd’s 2018 exhibition The Wait was described by a Boston Globe correspondent as “evok[ing] the precious, exposed, and transcendent in life.” Inspired by the time Shepherd spent at her dying father’s bedside, the exhibition attempts to convey yearning, the emptiness of loss, and the fragile sense that loved ones are just out of reach.
The idea that death is precious might seem counterintuitive; however, the psalmist declares, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15). God treasures the death of His people, for in their passing He welcomes them home.
Who are these faithful servants (“saints” nkjv) of God? According to the psalmist, they are those who serve God in gratitude for His deliverance, who call on His name, and who honor the words they speak before Him (Psalm 116:16–18). Such actions represent deliberate choices to walk with God, accept the freedom He offers, and cultivate a relationship with Him.
In so doing, we find ourselves in the company of Jesus, who is “chosen by God and precious to him . . . . For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame’ ” (1 Peter 2:4–6). When our trust is in God, our departure from this life is precious in His sight. By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
How does your perception of death compare with God’s view of the passing of His people? To what extent is your perception influenced by what the Bible says about death?
Dear God, help me to trust You even in the challenges and losses of life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 27, 2020
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Character
Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place… —Revelation 4:1
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, “Friend, come up even higher.” There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…?” (Genesis 18:17). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
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
Bible in a Year: Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 27, 2020
Why "More" is Never Enough - #8665
There was this little song from a children's TV show. It goes, "One of these things is not like the other; one of these things doesn't belong." That's how I look in the middle of twenty or thirty professional football players. That's where I've ended up a number of times when I've spoken for NFL chapel services. Every professional football team actually has a chapel meeting before their game. Often, I was invited to join the players for the team meal after the chapel. Of course, their game day meal was this massive buffet, designed to help them power up for this grueling afternoon they have ahead. After one chapel, I had the privilege of visiting for some time with one of the players who had actually played in three Super Bowls and had been named the Most Valuable Player in one of them. I said, "So you have three Super Bowl rings?" He said, "Yep, but it's still not enough. I've got ten fingers. I won't be happy until I've got a Super Bowl ring on all of them!" Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why 'More' is Never Enough."
Here's a man who has won one of the most coveted prizes in professional sports - three times! But it's not enough? I remember hearing the story of one player who had just experienced the fulfillment of his lifelong dream. He played on a national champion college football team. The morning after, his team and his name were all over the front pages, announcing they had won the championship. But he said he couldn't get over this deep feeling of depression that morning. And here were his words: He had everything he'd been living for, "Now what?"
John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in American history was asked by a reporter once, "How much money is enough money?" He smiled and answered simply, "A little bit more." It's true, isn't it? Whatever we've looked for in our life, there never seems to be enough of it to satisfy our restless heart. If you're still climbing whatever is your own "Mt. Happiness," you figure you're not satisfied because you're not there yet. But the people who are already at the top of that mountain are saying, "I'm here and I don't have it. Now what?"
Thousands of years ago, King Solomon, the richest and most sought after man of his time, reached this conclusion, recorded in the Bible in Ecclesiastes 1, "There is nothing new under the sun...I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." That says it, doesn't it - chasing the wind.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11, our word for today from the Word of God, Solomon actually puts his finger on why happiness is so elusive: He says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." And that's it! We're made for something that will last forever, and nothing that doesn't last forever could ever fill the hole in our hearts. In fact, we were made for a personal relationship with God, the only One who's big enough to fill that hole because that hole was made for Him. The Bible describes our hearts as being "like the tossing sea, which cannot rest...there is no peace," it says (Isaiah 57:20-21).
But we haven't made our Creator the center of our lives. We've marginalized Him. We've minimized Him. We've pushed Him to the edges of our life, and we've confining Him to a little compartment marked "religion." We're lonely for God. We're away from God; so far away that it took the death of God's only Son to bridge the gap between us.
Our self-run lives (and the Bible calls that sin) place us under the death penalty for all rebels against God. But the death of Jesus Christ on that cross, and His resurrection from the dead three days later, was to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done and to open the door to love and life that will never end, and for that eternity you were made for.
The Bible bottom lines what Jesus did for you on the cross in these words: "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5). The Bible says you can be, "complete in Him." Don't you want that finally? If you're tired of
searching and you're ready to place your total trust in Jesus to forgive your sin, to bring you to God, tell Him that right now, "Jesus, beginning right now, I'm Yours."
Get to our website. It's there literally to help you at this crossroads. The website is ANewStory.com. Your heart's been looking for home for a long time. Guess what? Today home has come looking for you.
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