Jeremiah 23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DECIDE TO BELIEVE

Belief happens when we place our confidence in God. It is a decision to lean entirely upon the strength of a living and loving Savior. And to the extent that we do, we will have “life in His name.” This is the purpose of the miracles. John the Apostle recounted signs in this promise: that you and I are never, ever alone.

Was this not one of the final promises of Christ? Before he ascended to heaven, he assured his friends, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 ESV). Those words must have meant everything to John. Can you picture the aged apostle as he tells about the day some six decades earlier and a thousand miles removed when Jesus invited him to lay down the fishing net and follow him. John did. You can too. Remember, friend, you are never alone.

Jeremiah 23

An Authentic David-Branch

“Doom to the shepherd-leaders who butcher and scatter my sheep!” God’s Decree. “So here is what I, God, Israel’s God, say to the shepherd-leaders who misled my people: ‘You’ve scattered my sheep. You’ve driven them off. You haven’t kept your eye on them. Well, let me tell you, I’m keeping my eye on you, keeping track of your criminal behavior. I’ll take over and gather what’s left of my sheep, gather them in from all the lands where I’ve driven them. I’ll bring them back where they belong, and they’ll recover and flourish. I’ll set shepherd-leaders over them who will take good care of them. They won’t live in fear or panic anymore. All the lost sheep rounded up!’ God’s Decree.”

5-6 “Time’s coming”—God’s Decree—
    “when I’ll establish a truly righteous David-Branch,
A ruler who knows how to rule justly.
    He’ll make sure of justice and keep people united.
In his time Judah will be secure again
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name they’ll give him:
    ‘God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’

7-8 “So watch for this. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when no one will say, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,’ but, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the descendants of Israel back from the north country and from the other countries where he’d driven them, so that they can live on their own good earth.’”

The “Everything Will Turn Out Fine” Sermon
9 My head is reeling,
    my limbs are limp,
I’m staggering like a drunk,
    seeing double from too much wine—
And all because of God,
    because of his holy words.

10-12 Now for what God says regarding the lying prophets:

“Can you believe it? A country teeming with adulterers!
    faithless, promiscuous idolater-adulterers!
They’re a curse on the land.
    The land’s a wasteland.
Their unfaithfulness
    is turning the country into a cesspool,
Prophets and priests devoted to desecration.
    They have nothing to do with me as their God.
My very own Temple, mind you—
    mud-spattered with their crimes.” God’s Decree.
“But they won’t get by with it.
    They’ll find themselves on a slippery slope,
Careening into the darkness,
    somersaulting into the pitch-black dark.
I’ll make them pay for their crimes.
    It will be the Year of Doom.” God’s Decree.

13-14 “Over in Samaria I saw prophets
    acting like silly fools—shocking!
They preached using that no-god Baal for a text,
    messing with the minds of my people.
And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse—horrible!—
    sex-driven, living a lie,
Subsidizing a culture of wickedness,
    and never giving it a second thought.
They’re as bad as those wretches in old Sodom,
    the degenerates of old Gomorrah.”

15 So here’s the Message to the prophets from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“I’ll cook them a supper of maggoty meat
    with after-dinner drinks of strychnine.
The Jerusalem prophets are behind all this.
    They’re the cause of the godlessness polluting this country.”

16-17 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets.
    It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies.
They make it all up.
    Not a word they speak comes from me.
They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon
    to congregations with no taste for God,
Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon
    to people who are set in their own ways.

18-20 “Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me, the true God?
    bothered to take in what I have to say?
    listened to and then lived out my Word?
Look out! God’s hurricane will be let loose—
    my hurricane blast,
Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops!
    God’s raging anger won’t let up
Until I’ve made a clean sweep,
    completing the job I began.
When the job’s done,
    you’ll see that it’s been well done.

Quit the “God Told Me This” Kind of Talk
21-22 “I never sent these prophets,
    but they ran anyway.
I never spoke to them,
    but they preached away.
If they’d have bothered to sit down and meet with me,
    they’d have preached my Message to my people.
They’d have gotten them back on the right track,
    gotten them out of their evil ruts.

23-24 “Am I not a God near at hand”—God’s Decree—
    “and not a God far off?
Can anyone hide out in a corner
    where I can’t see him?”
        God’s Decree.
“Am I not present everywhere,
    whether seen or unseen?”
        God’s Decree.

25-27 “I know what they’re saying, all these prophets who preach lies using me as their text, saying ‘I had this dream! I had this dream!’ How long do I have to put up with this? Do these prophets give two cents about me as they preach their lies and spew out their grandiose delusions? They swap dreams with one another, feed on each other’s delusive dreams, trying to distract my people from me just as their ancestors were distracted by the no-god Baal.

28-29 “You prophets who do nothing but dream—
    go ahead and tell your silly dreams.
But you prophets who have a message from me—
    tell it truly and faithfully.
What does straw have in common with wheat?
    Nothing else is like God’s Decree.
Isn’t my Message like fire?” God’s Decree.
    “Isn’t it like a sledgehammer busting a rock?

30-31 “I’ve had it with the ‘prophets’ who get all their sermons secondhand from each other. Yes, I’ve had it with them. They make up stuff and then pretend it’s a real sermon.

32 “Oh yes, I’ve had it with the prophets who preach the lies they dream up, spreading them all over the country, ruining the lives of my people with their cheap and reckless lies.

“I never sent these prophets, never authorized a single one of them. They do nothing for this people—nothing!” God’s Decree.

33 “And anyone, including prophets and priests, who asks, ‘What’s God got to say about all this, what’s troubling him?’ tell him, ‘You, you’re the trouble, and I’m getting rid of you.’” God’s Decree.

34 “And if anyone, including prophets and priests, goes around saying glibly ‘God’s Message! God’s Message!’ I’ll punish him and his family.

35-36 “Instead of claiming to know what God says, ask questions of one another, such as ‘How do we understand God in this?’ But don’t go around pretending to know it all, saying ‘God told me this . . . God told me that. . . .’ I don’t want to hear it anymore. Only the person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the Message of the living God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

37-38 “You can ask the prophets, ‘How did God answer you? What did he tell you?’ But don’t pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all. I’m telling you: Quit the ‘God told me this . . . God told me that . . .’ kind of talk.

39-40 “Are you paying attention? You’d better, because I’m about to take you in hand and throw you to the ground, you and this entire city that I gave to your ancestors. I’ve had it with the lot of you. You’re never going to live this down. You’re going down in history as a disgrace.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Matthew 14:1–14

John the Baptist Beheaded

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Insight
In Matthew 14:13, we read, “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” During key moments or times of great challenge, He would seek solitude from the crowds. This was a regular pattern in His earthly experience (v. 23; Mark 1:35; 6:46; Luke 5:16; 6:12). In Matthew 14, the trigger for Jesus’ desire for solitude (“what had happened,” v. 13) was the sordid series of events that resulted in the murder of His forerunner, John the Baptist. Whether He wanted time to grieve John’s death or to seek the comforting presence of the Father, Jesus found value in moments of solitude.

Compassion on the Job
[Jesus] had compassion on them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14

My friend Ellen calculates payroll for an accounting firm. This may sound like a straightforward job, but there are times when employers submit their information later than requested. Ellen often makes up for this by working long hours so employees can receive their money without delay. She does this out of consideration for the families that depend on those funds to buy groceries, purchase medicine, and pay for housing.

Ellen’s compassionate approach to her job points me to Jesus. On earth, He sometimes ministered to people when it was inconvenient for Him. For instance, Christ wanted some alone time after He heard that John the Baptist had been killed, so He boarded a boat in search of an isolated place (Matthew 14:13). Perhaps He needed to grieve for His relative and pray through His sorrow.

There was just one problem. Crowds of people tagged along behind Him. This group had various physical needs. It would have been much easier to send the people away, but “when Jesus landed and saw [them], he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (v. 14).

Although it was part of Jesus’ calling to teach people and cure their diseases as He ministered on earth, His empathy affected the way in which He carried out His responsibilities. May God help us to recognize His compassion in our lives and give us the strength to pass it on to others. By:  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced God’s compassion and care? What prevents you from showing God’s love when you carry out your daily responsibilities?

Dear Jesus, thank You for meeting my spiritual and physical needs. Help my thankfulness to overflow in the world so that I can glorify You through caring for other people.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
What To Renounce
We have renounced the hidden things of shame…  —2 Corinthians 4:2

Have you “renounced the hidden things of shame” in your life— the things that your sense of honor or pride will not allow to come into the light? You can easily hide them. Is there a thought in your heart about anyone that you would not like to be brought into the light? Then renounce it as soon as it comes to mind— renounce everything in its entirety until there is no hidden dishonesty or craftiness about you at all. Envy, jealousy, and strife don’t necessarily arise from your old nature of sin, but from the flesh which was used for these kinds of things in the past (see Romans 6:19 and 1 Peter 4:1-3). You must maintain continual watchfulness so that nothing arises in your life that would cause you shame.

“…not walking in craftiness…” (2 Corinthians 4:2). This means not resorting to something simply to make your own point. This is a terrible trap. You know that God will allow you to work in only one way— the way of truth. Then be careful never to catch people through the other way— the way of deceit. If you act deceitfully, God’s blight and ruin will be upon you. What may be craftiness for you, may not be for others— God has called you to a higher standard. Never dull your sense of being your utmost for His highest— your best for His glory. For you, doing certain things would mean craftiness coming into your life for a purpose other than what is the highest and best, and it would dull the motivation that God has given you. Many people have turned back because they are afraid to look at things from God’s perspective. The greatest spiritual crisis comes when a person has to move a little farther on in his faith than the beliefs he has already accepted.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus.  Facing Reality, 34 R

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 22-24; 2 Corinthians 8

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
The Surprising End of a Long Search - #8787

When you go to a church potluck dinner, you never know what kind of luck you're going to have in your pot. Friends of ours were at one of those dinners with their granddaughter, and someone there had baked what they called a Jesus cake. That raises the obvious question, "What is a Jesus cake?" They were told that someone had actually baked a very small plastic baby toy into the cake, and they called it Baby Jesus. (Okay, do not try this at home.) I'm just telling you what happened. If anyone found the baby in their piece of cake, they would win a prize. Well, crazy, but our friends' granddaughter became obsessed with finding the baby - to the point of downing five pieces of cake - the ultimate "sugar high." She was desperately trying to find what she thought was baby Jesus, and she did. And when she found the baby, the little girl said, "Finding Baby Jesus changes everything."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Surprising End of a Long Search."

When my friends told me about their granddaughter's discovery, my first thought was, "Crazy story...cute story." Then I realized that what happened to that little girl was also a picture of what's happened in the lives of so many people I've met - a long search for the prize. Then the end of the search that changes everything - finding Jesus.

Our lives are so much more than just the sum of all our daily activities. Those aren't enough to satisfy the thirst in your soul. We're seekers. Beginning in our teenage years, we're searching for what goes in that hole that's deep in our heart. We want significance. One of the best-selling books a few years ago was entitled "The Purpose-Driven Life." That's a good description of what we're looking for; some great purpose that will drive our life and give it significance...give it meaning. We're looking for the answer to the question, "What's the point of all this?"

We're also on a search for love. We invest pretty heavily in one relationship after another, hoping that this one will pay off in giving us the one love that we'll never lose. But that's the problem with every human love - they either desert you, they disappoint you, they divorce you, or they die on you. So our search for that anchor love goes on. Well, we're looking for security, too; something we know will be there to hang onto when everything else in our life is up for grabs.

So we just keep grabbing another piece of the cake, hoping that what we're looking for is in that slice, and it isn't. Listen to what Jesus says about the end of our lifetime search in John 6:35. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." Wow! Hunger satisfied. Thirst quenched. Search over when you come to Jesus.

Why? Because the God who puts us here is what we've been looking for. We were made for a love relationship with Him. But, according to the Bible, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We were created for God, but we've lived for ourselves. And we've lost Him, and thus the hole in our heart. That restlessness - that lack of peace and fulfillment - that's an echo of another world; the constant reminder that God is missing. Until, in the words of that little girl, "Jesus changes everything."

That's because His death on the cross was the payment that can cancel the sin that stands between us and our God - between you and your God. His resurrection from the dead is the proof that He can deliver on the eternal life that He promises. And this very day, He is, in His words, knocking on the door of your heart. In reality, you don't find Jesus. He finds and comes to you, offering you the opportunity to grab Him like a drowning person would grab their rescuer. At the moment you do that, everything between you and God is erased forever.

Today could be that day for you when your long search finally ends. If you want that, I encourage you to visit our website. There's a brief explanation there exactly how to get started with Jesus this very day. ANewStory.com - that's the address.

You could be very close to the end of your search. You're very close to Jesus. When you find Him, you have found everything your soul has ever longed for.

Hebrews 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOU AREN’T ALONE

Are you convinced that no one cares, that no one can help you, hear you, or heed your call? If you know the feeling, you aren’t alone. I don’t mean you aren’t alone in knowing the feeling. I mean you aren’t alone, my friend. That raw, dark sense of isolation and powerlessness? It’s not here to stay. If you think it’s up to you and you ain’t much, John the apostle has some stories for you to ponder. He interwove a tapestry of miracles that were “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

That’s God’s goal for you: life! Life-giving belief. Abundant, robust, and resilient faith. We find strength beyond our strength. We see solutions beyond our wisdom. Remember, friends, you are never alone.

Hebrews 3

The Centerpiece of All We Believe

So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.

6-11 Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! That’s why the Holy Spirit says,

Today, please listen;
    don’t turn a deaf ear as in “the bitter uprising,”
    that time of wilderness testing!
Even though they watched me at work for forty years,
    your ancestors refused to let me do it my way;
    over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked, oh, so provoked!
    I said, “They’ll never keep their minds on God;
    they refuse to walk down my road.”
Exasperated, I vowed,
    “They’ll never get where they’re going,
    never be able to sit down and rest.”

12-14 So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.

These words keep ringing in our ears:

Today, please listen;
    don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.

15-19 For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? They never got there because they never listened, never believed.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, September 14, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Revelation 21:1–5

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Footnotes
Revelation 21:1 Isaiah 65:17
Revelation 21:4 Isaiah 25:8

Insight
Today’s passage gives us a glimpse of heaven, describing it as a physical place (vv. 1–2). Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us (John 14:2–3), and this promise is fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, the Holy City (Revelation 21:2). While it’s a great comfort that heaven is a perfect place (v. 4), the most important thing is that it’s the dwelling place of God (v. 3). In this final vision of the beginning of eternity (21:1–22:9), John hears Christ declaring, “It is done” (21:6). The New Living Translation renders it, “It is finished!” echoing Christ’s victorious cry from the cross (John 19:30). Sin’s curse will one day be completely removed and reversed (Revelation 21:4–5; see Genesis 3:16–19).

Goodbyes and Hellos
God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 21:3–4

When my brother David suddenly died of cardiac failure, my perspectives on life changed dramatically. Dave was the fourth of seven children, but he was the first of us to pass—and the unexpected nature of that passing gave me much to ponder. It became apparent that as age began to catch up with us, our family’s future was going to be marked more by loss than by gain. It was going to be characterized as much by goodbyes as hellos.

None of this was a surprise intellectually—that is just how life works. But this realization was an emotional lightning bolt to the brain. It gave a fresh, new significance to every moment life gives us and every opportunity time allows. And it placed a huge new value on the reality of a future reunion, where no goodbyes will ever be needed.

This ultimate reality is at the heart of what we find in Revelation 21:3–4: “God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Though today we may find ourselves experiencing seasons of long goodbyes, our trust in Christ’s death and resurrection promises an eternity of hellos. By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray
How do you cope with grief and the loss of loved ones? What comfort does it bring to know that you will one day see them again?

Father, I thank You that You’re the living God who gives everlasting life. I pray that You would use our eternal hope to comfort us in our seasons of loss and grief.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 14, 2020
Arguments or Obedience
…the simplicity that is in Christ.  —2 Corinthians 11:3

Simplicity is the secret to seeing things clearly. A saint does not think clearly until a long time passes, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think through spiritual confusion to make things clear; to make things clear, you must obey. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual matters you will only think yourself into further wandering thoughts and more confusion. If there is something in your life upon which God has put His pressure, then obey Him in that matter. Bring all your “arguments and…every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” regarding the matter, and everything will become as clear as daylight to you (2 Corinthians 10:5). Your reasoning capacity will come later, but reasoning is not how we see. We see like children, and when we try to be wise we see nothing (see Matthew 11:25).

Even the very smallest thing that we allow in our lives that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit is completely sufficient to account for spiritual confusion, and spending all of our time thinking about it will still never make it clear. Spiritual confusion can only be conquered through obedience. As soon as we obey, we have discernment. This is humiliating, because when we are confused we know that the reason lies in the state of our mind. But when our natural power of sight is devoted and submitted in obedience to the Holy Spirit, it becomes the very power by which we perceive God’s will, and our entire life is kept in simplicity.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold.  Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 19-21; 2 Corinthians 7

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 14, 2020
Happy Delays - #8786

I was at the end of seven weeks of ministry travel and, believe me, I was really anxious to be home. Delays, of course, are just a part of air travel and I'm used to them, and I'm usually patient with them. But when they announced that the very last leg of my journey home was going to be significantly delayed, that was a test of my patience. Every half hour, they would tell us that they would get another update in another half hour. I knew the plane was there, the crew was there, all those passengers were sure there, but the flight just kept getting postponed. My homing instinct was going crazy.

When we were finally boarded and about to take off, the pilot explained what had been taking so long. He said, "Just before we were going to board you, our mechanics found a problem with two of our tires in a routine maintenance check. We had to replace both tires." Hmm...well, I have actually been on a plane that blew a tire on takeoff one time - a potentially life-threatening situation. So all of a sudden I was surprisingly grateful for the delay that had been so frustrating.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Happy Delays."

Now, there was a very good reason for that particular airline delay. I have to tell you, the airlines don't always have a good reason for their delays, but God always does.

The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk had been waiting a long time, by his reckoning anyway, for God to come through with an answer to his impassioned prayers. Our word for today from the Word of God is the word that God gave to his prophet in that situation and maybe to you right now. In Habakkuk 2:3, the Lord says, "The revelation awaits an appointed time...Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Habakkuk, like us, thought God was already delaying his answer. But God was saying, "It's not time until it's My time, Habakkuk. That's the right time. And it won't be a minute late when it's time. So cooleth your jets even if your flight is delayed considerably longer. It will certainly come, and it will come right on time."

That day when our flight was delayed due to replacing some faulty tires, I couldn't help but reflect on the ways of God over and over in my life. How often has He seemed to be taking forever, delaying the answer I'd been praying for. But in every situation, without exception, there was always a good reason for what seemed like a delay. And, like those mechanics whose work delayed my flight, God isn't always taking time to make it better for us. He's getting a perfect answer ready for you...He's getting you ready for the answer...He's doing it in the time and the way that will most amaze you and those around you. He's doing it in the way it will give Him the greatest glory and you the greatest good. And in the time and the way that will best help you become more like His Son, Jesus.

I told the staff member who was traveling with me on the day of the tire delays, "Do you know what we were just experiencing? That is the answer to all those prayers for our safety that people pray for us every day." (By the way, if you happen to be one of those, thank you, thank you, thank you!) They were praying, and God responded to their prayers by getting bad tires changed on our plane. That's pretty cool!

I can't begin to see all the incredible purposes of God, the unexplainable ways of God, but I can begin to settle down and trust that any delay - that every delay is for my good and for His glory. And when I finally do see some of His reasons for the delay, I will be so grateful that He took His time!

Jeremiah 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God Surrounds Us

God surrounds us like the Pacific surrounds an ocean floor pebble. He is everywhere:  above, below, on all sides. We choose our response—rock or sponge? Resist or receive? Everything within you says, harden your heart. Run from God, resist God, blame God.

But be careful.  Hard hearts never heal.  Spongy ones do! Open every pore of your soul to God’s presence.  Here’s how. Lay claim to the nearness of God. He says in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Grip this promise like the parachute it is. Repeat it over and over until it trumps the voices of fear. The Lord God is with you, and He is mighty to save. Cling to His character.  Quarry from your Bible a list of the deep qualities of God and press them into your heart. He is sovereign. You will get through this!

From You’ll Get Through This

Jeremiah 22

Walking Out on the Covenant of God

God’s orders: “Go to the royal palace and deliver this Message. Say, ‘Listen to what God says, O King of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you and your officials and all the people who go in and out of these palace gates. This is God’s Message: Attend to matters of justice. Set things right between people. Rescue victims from their exploiters. Don’t take advantage of the homeless, the orphans, the widows. Stop the murdering!

4-5 “‘If you obey these commands, then kings who follow in the line of David will continue to go in and out of these palace gates mounted on horses and riding in chariots—they and their officials and the citizens of Judah. But if you don’t obey these commands, then I swear—God’s Decree!—this palace will end up a heap of rubble.’”

6-7 This is God’s verdict on Judah’s royal palace:

“I number you among my favorite places—
    like the lovely hills of Gilead,
    like the soaring peaks of Lebanon.
Yet I swear I’ll turn you into a wasteland,
    as empty as a ghost town.
I’ll hire a demolition crew,
    well-equipped with sledgehammers and wrecking bars,
Pound the country to a pulp
    and burn it all up.

8-9 “Travelers from all over will come through here and say to one another, ‘Why would God do such a thing to this wonderful city?’ They’ll be told, ‘Because they walked out on the covenant of their God, took up with other gods and worshiped them.’”

Building a Fine House but Destroying Lives
10 Don’t weep over dead King Josiah.
    Don’t waste your tears.
Weep for his exiled son:
    He’s gone for good.
    He’ll never see home again.

11-12 For this is God’s Word on Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah: “He’s gone from here, gone for good. He’ll die in the place they’ve taken him to. He’ll never see home again.”

13-17 “Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people,
    who makes a fine house but destroys lives,
Who cheats his workers
    and won’t pay them for their work,
Who says, ‘I’ll build me an elaborate mansion
    with spacious rooms and fancy windows.
I’ll bring in rare and expensive woods
    and the latest in interior decor.’
So, that makes you a king—
    living in a fancy palace?
Your father got along just fine, didn’t he?
    He did what was right and treated people fairly,
And things went well with him.
    He stuck up for the down-and-out,
And things went well for Judah.
    Isn’t this what it means to know me?”
        God’s Decree!
“But you’re blind and brainless.
    All you think about is yourself,
Taking advantage of the weak,
    bulldozing your way, bullying victims.”

18-19 This is God’s epitaph on Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
    “Doom to this man!
Nobody will shed tears over him,
    ‘Poor, poor brother!’
Nobody will shed tears over him,
    ‘Poor, poor master!’
They’ll give him a donkey’s funeral,
    drag him out of the city and dump him.

You’ve Made a Total Mess of Your Life
20-23 “People of Jerusalem, climb a Lebanon peak and weep,
    climb a Bashan mountain and wail,
Climb the Abarim ridge and cry—
    you’ve made a total mess of your life.
I spoke to you when everything was going your way.
    You said, ‘I’m not interested.’
You’ve been that way as long as I’ve known you,
    never listened to a thing I said.
All your leaders will be blown away,
    all your friends end up in exile,
And you’ll find yourself in the gutter,
    disgraced by your evil life.
You big-city people thought you were so important,
    thought you were ‘king of the mountain’!
You’re soon going to be doubled up in pain,
    pain worse than the pangs of childbirth.

24-26 “As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—“even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, I’d pull you off and give you to those who are out to kill you, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, and then throw you, both you and your mother, into a foreign country, far from your place of birth. There you’ll both die.

27 “You’ll be homesick, desperately homesick, but you’ll never get home again.”

28-30 Is Jehoiachin a leaky bucket,
    a rusted-out pail good for nothing?
Why else would he be thrown away, he and his children,
    thrown away to a foreign place?
O land, land, land,
    listen to God’s Message!
This is God’s verdict:
“Write this man off as if he were childless,
    a man who will never amount to anything.
Nothing will ever come of his life.
    He’s the end of the line, the last of the kings.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, September 13, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Genesis 4:8–16
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[a] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so[b]; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,[c] east of Eden.

Footnotes
Genesis 4:8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have “Let’s go out to the field.”
Genesis 4:15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well
Genesis 4:16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14).

Insight
Genesis 2 describes how God placed Adam and Eve in the garden to work it and take care of it. In turn, the garden would take care of them by providing them with all the food they’d need. However, sin disrupted this mutual relationship between humanity and the earth. When Adam and Eve sinned, one of the consequences was that the earth wouldn’t be as fruitful for them as it had once been. “[The earth] will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field” (Genesis 3:18).

A broken relationship with the ground was also a consequence for Cain when God punished him for killing Abel. God said the ground wouldn’t produce anything for him (4:12). Cain splattered the ground with his brother’s blood and the ground became barren for him.

Friendly Fin
Am I my brother’s keeper? Genesis 4:9

A marine biologist was swimming near the Cook Islands in the South Pacific when a 50,000-pound humpback whale suddenly appeared and tucked her under its fin. The woman thought her life was over. But after swimming slowly in circles, the whale let her go. It’s then that the biologist saw a tiger shark leaving the area. The woman believes the whale had been protecting her—keeping her from danger.

In a world of danger, we’re called to watch out for others. But you might ask yourself, Should I really be expected to be responsible for someone else? Or in Cain’s words: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). The rest of the Old Testament resounds with the thunderous response: Yes! Just as Adam was to care for the garden, so Cain was to care for Abel. Israel was to keep watch over the vulnerable and care for the needy. Yet they did the opposite—exploiting the people, oppressing the poor, and abdicating the calling to love their neighbors as themselves (Isaiah 3:14–15).

Yet, in the Cain and Abel story, God continued to watch over Cain, even after he was sent away (Genesis 4:15–16). God did for Cain what Cain should have done for Abel. It’s a beautiful foreshadowing of what God in Jesus would come to do for us. Jesus keeps us in His care, and He empowers us to go and do likewise for others. By:  Glenn Packiam

Reflect & Pray
Who has God entrusted to your care? How have you embraced that responsibility? How have you tried to evade or avoid it?

Compassionate God, thank You for Your care for me. You keep me and watch over me. Help me to do the same for others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, September 13, 2020
After Surrender— Then What?
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4

True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.

Surrender for Deliverance. “Come to Me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— “Come to Me.” And it is a voluntary coming.

Surrender for Devotion. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, “If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me.” And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Philippians 4:19).

Surrender for Death. “…another will gird you…” (John 21:18; also see John 21:19). Have you learned what it means to be girded for death? Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again. True surrender is a matter of being “united together [with Jesus] in the likeness of His death” (Romans 6:5) until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.

And after you surrender— then what? Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy.  Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 16-18; 2 Corinthians 6

Jeremiah 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: We Don't Know Enough
God is the One who judges. We don't know enough! We condemn a man for stumbling this morning, but we didn't see the blows he took yesterday. We judge a woman for the limp in her walk but cannot see the tack in her shoe. Only one who has followed yesterday's steps can be their judge. Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. How can you dismiss a soul until God's work is complete? Philippians 1:6 says, "God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again."
Be careful! A stammering shepherd in this generation may be the mighty Moses of the next.  Don't call Noah a fool. You may be asking him for a lift. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:5, "Do not judge before the right time; wait until the Lord comes."
From In the Grip of Grace

Jeremiah 13

People Who Do Only What They Want to Do

God told me, “Go and buy yourself some linen shorts. Put them on and keep them on. Don’t even take them off to wash them.” So I bought the shorts as God directed and put them on.

3-5 Then God told me, “Take the shorts that you bought and go straight to Perath and hide them there in a crack in the rock.” So I did what God told me and hid them at Perath.

6-7 Next, after quite a long time, God told me, “Go back to Perath and get the linen shorts I told you to hide there.” So I went back to Perath and dug them out of the place where I had hidden them. The shorts by then had rotted and were worthless.

8-11 God explained, “This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won’t obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They’re going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care”—God’s Decree—“so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.

12 “And then tell them this, ‘God’s Message, personal from the God of Israel: Every wine jug should be full of wine.’

“And they’ll say, ‘Of course. We know that. Every wine jug should be full of wine!’

13-14 “Then you’ll say, ‘This is what God says: Watch closely. I’m going to fill every person who lives in this country—the kings who rule from David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, the citizens of Jerusalem—with wine that will make them drunk. And then I’ll smash them, smash the wine-filled jugs—old and young alike. Nothing will stop me. Not an ounce of pity or mercy or compassion will slow me down. Every last drunken jug of them will be smashed!’”

The Light You Always Took for Granted
15-17 Then I said, Listen. Listen carefully: Don’t stay stuck in your ways!
    It’s God’s Message we’re dealing with here.
Let your lives glow bright before God
    before he turns out the lights,
Before you trip and fall
    on the dark mountain paths.
The light you always took for granted will go out
    and the world will turn black.
If you people won’t listen,
    I’ll go off by myself and weep over you,
Weep because of your stubborn arrogance,
    bitter, bitter tears,
Rivers of tears from my eyes,
    because God’s sheep will end up in exile.

18-19 Tell the king and the queen-mother,
    “Come down off your high horses.
Your dazzling crowns
    will tumble off your heads.”
The villages in the Negev will be surrounded,
    everyone trapped,
And Judah dragged off to exile,
    the whole country dragged to oblivion.

20-22 Look, look, Jerusalem!
    Look at the enemies coming out of the north!
What will become of your flocks of people,
    the beautiful flocks in your care?
How are you going to feel when the people
    you’ve played up to, looked up to all these years
Now look down on you? You didn’t expect this?
    Surprise! The pain of a woman having a baby!
Do I hear you saying,
    “What’s going on here? Why me?”
The answer’s simple: You’re guilty,
    hugely guilty.
Your guilt has your life endangered,
    your guilt has you writhing in pain.

23 Can an African change skin?
    Can a leopard get rid of its spots?
So what are the odds on you doing good,
    you who are so long-practiced in evil?

24-27 “I’ll blow these people away—
    like wind-blown leaves.
You have it coming to you.
    I’ve measured it out precisely.”
        God’s Decree.
“It’s because you forgot me
    and embraced the Big Lie,
    that so-called god Baal.
I’m the one who will rip off your clothes,
    expose and shame you before the watching world.
Your obsessions with gods, gods, and more gods,
    your goddess affairs, your god-adulteries.
Gods on the hills, gods in the fields—
    every time I look you’re off with another god.
O Jerusalem, what a sordid life!
    Is there any hope for you!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, September 12, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Thessalonians 5:12–28

Final Instructions

 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Insight
Today’s passage is drawn from Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica in Macedonia. Thessalonica was an important city strategically located on the Ignatian Way, an important Roman highway. It was also situated on the Aegean Sea, which added to its status as a city of commerce. Acts 17:1–9 describes Paul’s ministry there. For three Sabbaths, he taught about Jesus in the city’s synagogue. As a result, some Jews, many Greeks, and several women turned to Jesus (v. 4). However, others started a riot, and Paul and his coworker Silas had to flee the city (vv. 5–10). Paul begins 1 Thessalonians with affirmation and prayer, and throughout we see his concern for these new believers.

Day of Encouragement
We urge you, brothers and sisters, . . . encourage the disheartened. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

First responders show dedication and courage daily by being on the front lines when disasters occur. In the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001 when thousands of people were killed or injured, more than four hundred emergency workers also lost their lives. In honor of first responders, the US Senate designated September 12 as the National Day of Encouragement.

While it may seem unique that a government would declare a national day of encouragement, the apostle Paul certainly thought this was needed for the growth of a church. He commended the young church in Thessalonica, a city in Macedonia, to “encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). Although they were going through persecution, Paul encouraged the believers to “always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else” (v. 15). He knew that as humans, they would be prone to despair, selfishness, and conflict. But he also knew they would not be able to uplift one another without God’s help and strength.

Things are no different today. We all need to be uplifted, and we need to do the same for those around us. Yet we can’t do it in our own strength. That’s why Paul’s encouragement that “the one who calls you [Jesus] is faithful, and he will do it” is so reassuring (v. 24). With His help, we can encourage one another every day.   By:  Estera Pirosca Escobar

Reflect & Pray
How can a word of encouragement keep despair away? Who can you encourage today?

Jesus, thank You for the encouragement You give me each day. Show me who I need to encourage as well.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, September 12, 2020
Going Through Spiritual Confusion
Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask." —Matthew 20:22

There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.

The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember— He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?

The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father— as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. “Everyone who asks receives…” (Luke 11:10). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.

The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8). “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.  The Place of Help, 1051 L

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 13-15; 2 Corinthians 5

Jeremiah 49, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOU HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE

Satan and the Son of God stood on the southeastern wall of the temple, more than a hundred feet above the Kidron Valley, and Satan told Jesus to jump into the arms of God. Jesus refused, not because God wouldn’t catch him. He refused because he didn’t have anything to prove to anyone, much less the Devil.

Neither do you. In church, of all places, Satan will do with you what he did with Jesus. He will urge you to do tricks…to impress others with your service, make a show of your faith, or call attention to your good deeds. Satan loves to turn church assemblies into Las Vegas presentations where people show off their abilities rather than boast in God’s. Don’t be suckered!  You don’t have anything to prove.

Jeremiah 49

You’re a Broken-Down Has-Been

 God’s Message on the Ammonites:

“Doesn’t Israel have any children,
    no one to step into her inheritance?
So why is the god Milcom taking over Gad’s land,
    his followers moving into its towns?
But not for long! The time’s coming”
    —God’s Decree—
“When I’ll fill the ears of Rabbah, Ammon’s big city,
    with battle cries.
She’ll end up a pile of rubble,
    all her towns burned to the ground.
Then Israel will kick out the invaders.
    I, God, say so, and it will be so.
Wail Heshbon, Ai is in ruins.
    Villages of Rabbah, wring your hands!
Dress in mourning, weep buckets of tears.
    Go into hysterics, run around in circles!
Your god Milcom will be hauled off to exile,
    and all his priests and managers right with him.
Why do you brag of your once-famous strength?
    You’re a broken-down has-been, a castoff
Who fondles his trophies and dreams of glory days
    and vainly thinks, ‘No one can lay a hand on me.’
Well, think again. I’ll face you with terror from all sides.”
    Word of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“You’ll be stampeded headlong,
    with no one to round up the runaways.
Still, the time will come
    when I will make things right with Ammon.” God’s Decree.

Strutting Across the Stage of History
7-11 The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on Edom:

“Is there nobody wise left in famous Teman?
    no one with a sense of reality?
Has their wisdom gone wormy and rotten?
    Run for your lives! Get out while you can!
Find a good place to hide,
    you who live in Dedan!
I’m bringing doom to Esau.
    It’s time to settle accounts.
When harvesters work your fields,
    don’t they leave gleanings?
When burglars break into your house,
    don’t they take only what they want?
But I’ll strip Esau clean.
    I’ll search out every nook and cranny.
I’ll destroy everything connected with him,
    children and relatives and neighbors.
There’ll be no one left who will be able to say,
    ‘I’ll take care of your orphans.
    Your widows can depend on me.’”

12-13 Indeed. God says, “I tell you, if there are people who have to drink the cup of God’s wrath even though they don’t deserve it, why would you think you’d get off? You won’t get off. You’ll drink it. Oh yes, you’ll drink every drop. And as for Bozrah, your capital, I swear by all that I am”—God’s Decree—“that that city will end up a pile of charred ruins, a stinking garbage dump, an obscenity—and all her daughter-cities with her.”

14 I’ve just heard the latest from God.
    He’s sent an envoy to the nations:
“Muster your troops and attack Edom.
    Present arms! Go to war!”

15-16 “Ah, Edom, I’m dropping you to last place among nations,
    the bottom of the heap, kicked around.
You think you’re so great—
    strutting across the stage of history,
Living high in the impregnable rocks,
    acting like king of the mountain.
You think you’re above it all, don’t you,
    like an eagle in its aerie?
Well, you’re headed for a fall.
    I’ll bring you crashing to the ground.” God’s Decree.

17-18 “Edom will end up trash. Stinking, despicable trash. A wonder of the world in reverse. She’ll join Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors in the sewers of history.” God says so.

“No one will live there,
    no mortal soul move in there.

19 “Watch this: Like a lion coming up
    from the thick jungle of the Jordan
Looking for prey in the mountain pastures,
    I will come upon Edom and pounce.
I’ll take my pick of the flock—and who’s to stop me?
    The shepherds of Edom are helpless before me.”

20-22 So, listen to this plan that God has worked out against Edom, the blueprint of what he’s prepared for those who live in Teman:

“Believe it or not, the young, the vulnerable—
    mere lambs and kids—will be dragged off.
Believe it or not, the flock
    in shock, helpless to help, will watch it happen.
The very earth will shudder because of their cries,
    cries of anguish heard at the distant Red Sea.
Look! An eagle soars, swoops down,
    spreads its wings over Bozrah.
Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,
    like a woman giving birth to a baby.”

The Blood Will Drain from the Face of Damascus
23-27 The Message on Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad will be in shock
    when they hear the bad news.
Their hearts will melt in fear
    as they pace back and forth in worry.
The blood will drain from the face of Damascus
    as she turns to flee.
Hysterical, she’ll fall to pieces,
    disabled, like a woman in childbirth.
And now how lonely—bereft, abandoned!
    The once famous city, the once happy city.
Her bright young men dead in the streets,
    her brave warriors silent as death.
On that day”—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
    “I’ll start a fire at the wall of Damascus
    that will burn down all of Ben-hadad’s forts.”

Find a Safe Place to Hide
28-33 The Message on Kedar and the sheikdoms of Hazor who were attacked by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is God’s Message:

“On your feet! Attack Kedar!
    Plunder the Bedouin nomads from the east.
    Grab their blankets and pots and pans.
Steal their camels.
    Traumatize them, shouting, ‘Terror! Death! Doom!
Danger everywhere!’
    Oh, run for your lives,
You nomads from Hazor.” God’s Decree.
    “Find a safe place to hide.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
    has plans to wipe you out,
    to go after you with a vengeance:
‘After them,’ he says. ‘Go after these relaxed nomads
    who live free and easy in the desert,
Who live in the open with no doors to lock,
    who live off by themselves.’
Their camels are there for the taking,
    their herds and flocks, easy picking.
I’ll scatter them to the four winds,
    these defenseless nomads on the fringes of the desert.
I’ll bring terror from every direction.
    They won’t know what hit them.” God’s Decree.
“Jackals will take over the camps of Hazor,
    camps abandoned to wind and sand.
No one will live there,
    no mortal soul move in there.”

The Winds Will Blow Away Elam
34-39 God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah on Elam at the outset of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says:

“Watch this! I’ll break Elam’s bow,
    her weapon of choice, across my knee.
Then I’ll let four winds loose on Elam,
    winds from the four corners of earth.
I’ll blow them away in all directions,
    landing homeless Elamites in every country on earth.
They’ll live in constant fear and terror
    among enemies who want to kill them.
I’ll bring doom on them,
    my anger-fueled doom.
I’ll set murderous hounds on their heels
    until there’s nothing left of them.
And then I’ll set up my throne in Elam,
    having thrown out the king and his henchmen.
But the time will come when I make
    everything right for Elam again.” God’s Decree.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, September 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Exodus 3:1–10
Moses and the Burning Bush

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Exodus 3:6 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see Acts 7:32) fathers

Insight
God’s call to Moses on the mountain is representative of how God often works, for a season of training in the wilderness is often His instrument of equipping for ministry. Joseph served in a wilderness of slavery before becoming God’s instrument of rescue. Both Elijah and Paul spent time in the wilderness. Even Jesus Himself spent forty days in the wilderness before starting His public ministry.

Fire in the Desert
I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. Exodus 3:10

While riding in the Chihuahuan Desert in the late 1800s, Jim White spotted a strange cloud of smoke spiraling skyward. Suspecting a wildfire, the young cowboy rode toward the source, only to learn that the “smoke” was a vast swarm of bats spilling from a hole in the ground. White had come across New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns, an immense and spectacular system of caves.

As Moses was tending sheep in a Middle Eastern desert, he too saw an odd sight that grabbed his attention—a flaming bush that didn’t burn up (Exodus 3:2). When God Himself spoke from the bush, Moses realized he had come to something far grander than it had first appeared. He told Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham” (v. 6). God was about to lead an enslaved people to freedom and show them their true identity as His children (v. 10).

More than six hundred years earlier, God had made this promise to Abraham: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). The flight of the Israelites from Egypt was but one step in that blessing—God’s plan to rescue His creation through the Messiah, Abraham’s descendant.

Today we can enjoy the benefits of that blessing, for God offers this rescue to everyone. Christ came to die for the sins of the whole world. By faith in Him, we too become children of the living God. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray
What surprising things have helped you learn about God? How are you living in the knowledge that you are one of His children?

Thank You, Father, for making Yourself accessible to me despite Your great power, holiness, and overwhelming presence.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 11, 2020
Missionary Weapons (2)
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. —John 13:14

Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.

The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.

Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.

Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield— you will be killed while trying to do it.

We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.” But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 10-12; 2 Corinthians 4

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 11, 2020
When Only Blood Could Do It - #8785

He's a noted surgeon who wants to make a difference in the world. So once a year, he dedicates a month to going to Central America to do volunteer medical work. Well, I heard on the news he was in an emergency medical clinic one year performing urgent surgery on a young boy in a really remote location. The boy started losing blood faster than expected, and he clearly needed blood. The problem was he had a rare blood type that only 2% of the population carries. And this village clinic certainly didn't have anything that rare. In that critical moment, the doctor suddenly put down his scalpel and went to another room - where he gave blood. He, too, had that rare blood. The boy got the blood he needed, the surgeon returned to finish the operation, and that boy came through just fine.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Only Blood Could Do It."

A boy's life hanging in the balance; his only hope - blood given by the only one who had what it took to save him. Boy, do I understand that. Mine was once a life hanging in the balance, and my only hope was the gift of someone's blood - the only One who had the blood that could meet my need.

Some have called Him the Great Physician. Many call Him Savior. We all call Him Jesus. And my only hope of escaping the spiritual death penalty for the sins of my life was blood - His blood; the blood of the only Man who had no sin of His own to pay for - God's one and only Son. No matter what religion you are, no matter how religious or spiritual you are, His blood is your only hope, too.

All of our theories, all our systems for getting to God and getting to heaven are, at best, guesswork. Only God can tell us what it takes to get to Him; to be forgiven of the sin that makes it impossible for Him to have a relationship with us. And God does tell us in Hebrews 9:22, "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Sin carries this eternal death penalty of being separated from our God now and forever. And a death penalty can't be paid by doing nice things. Someone has to die; and someone did. Hebrews 9:26, our word for today from the Word of God, says of Christ: "Now He has appeared once for all...to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Incredibly, Jesus said to God the Father, "Let Me die so Ron doesn't have to." You could put your name there. "Father, let Me die so (your name) doesn't have to."

If you get to the end of your life and you find out that you have missed heaven, that your eternal destination turned out to be hell, don't blame God. He gave His only Son to die for you so you would not have to go there. If a rescuer extends his hand and you don't grab his hand, don't blame the rescuer. In this case, the Rescuer is God's Son, reaching for you. He didn't just donate blood so you could be saved. He poured out His life-blood, dying for you. It's the blood of Jesus that could cover every sin of your life. It is because of that blood shed for you that God is willing to say to you today, "You are forgiven. You are clean. You are Mine forever." You can see why what you do with Jesus is the decisive choice of your life. God will never forget what you do with His Son, because He gave His Son for you.

This is a spiritual rescue we're talking about. And your only hope is to grab the hand of God's rescuer, Jesus, with all the faith you've got. That step will trigger a cleansing miracle of God. In the Bible's words, "The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Every sin you've ever committed, erased from God's book forever today, if you will tell Jesus you are His from this day on - that His blood, shed for you, is your only hope.

Our website has a brief explanation of just how to begin this life-giving relationship with Jesus. Please go there soon today. It's ANewStory.com.

There's an old hymn that says it pretty powerfully: "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Your blood was shed for me. And that You bid me come to Thee. O Lamb of God, I come."

Hebrews 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: THE WISE BUILDER

Obedience leads to blessing.  Disobedience leads to trouble!  Remember Jesus’ parable about the two builders who each built a house?  One built on cheap, easy-to-access-sand.  The other built on costly, difficult-to-reach rock.  The second construction project demanded more time and expense, but when the spring rains turned the creek into a gulley washer…guess which builder enjoyed a blessing and which experienced trouble?

According to Jesus, the wise builder is “whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them” (Matthew 7:24).  The difference between the two was not knowledge and ignorance but obedience and disobedience.  Security comes as we put God’s precepts into practice.  We’re only as strong as our obedience.

Hebrews 2

It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off. If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him. All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy Spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.

The Salvation Pioneer
5-9 God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here. It says in Scripture,

What is man and woman that you bother with them;
    why take a second look their way?
You made them not quite as high as angels,
    bright with Eden’s dawn light;
Then you put them in charge
    of your entire handcrafted world.

When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don’t see it yet, don’t see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made “not quite as high as angels,” and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory “bright with Eden’s dawn light.” In that death, by God’s grace, he fully experienced death in every person’s place.

10-13 It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family, saying,

I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know about you;
I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.

Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,

Even I live by placing my trust in God.

And yet again,

I’m here with the children God gave me.

14-15 Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.

16-18 It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

2 Corinthians 3:17–18

 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Insight
When Paul writes about “unveiled faces” (2 Corinthians 3:18), we must understand his words in the context of Exodus 33 and 34. After his first ascent of Mount Sinai, Moses had earnestly asked God to see His glory. God agreed, and then instructed Moses to climb Sinai again (see Exodus 33:18–34:3). Upon his return from the mountain, Moses’ face shone with the glory of being in the presence of God. It was too much for the people, and he covered his face with a veil (34:29–35). In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul compares the glory of the old covenant (the giving of the law) as visibly demonstrated in Moses’ face, with the glory of the new covenant (the giving and ministry of the Holy Spirit). Through the work of Jesus (vv. 13–15), God’s Holy Spirit brings us freedom to consider His glory with “unveiled faces,” and we’re “transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (v. 18).


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Missionary Weapons (1)
When you were under the fig tree, I saw you. —John 1:48

Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, “If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion”? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.

A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private “fig-tree” life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.

Are you saying, “But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready”? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.

God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.
Biblical Psychology

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 8-9; 2 Corinthians 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Your Total Upgrade - #8784

Okay, it's no secret. I am technically challenged. When it comes to computers, I know just the basics, you know, just enough to get by. Even I know enough to appreciate some things God provided for our ministry, like new computers that worked much faster than our old ones. We were able to upgrade some of our software. And the new software had capabilities that made a lot of things possible that weren't possible before. When it comes to the computers that make such a difference in our lives, a software upgrade can take you to a whole new level.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Total Upgrade."

Long before computers and software and hardware, God's been in the business of upgrading the central processing system of people's lives. It's called your mind. He talks about it in our word for today from the Word of God in the familiar and defining words of Romans 12:1-2. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will."

God calls us here to surrender ourselves completely to the One who gave Himself completely for us. That commitment is going to mean marching to the beat of a different drummer from the one we've marched to all our lives. Without surrendering to Jesus, we follow "the pattern of this world." We base our choices and our values on what our culture says, what our family says, what our environment says, or what our feelings tell us. But God wants to "transform" us, to liberate us from being puppets of our culture, or our surroundings, or our background.

We're not just talking about keeping a few rules or some superficial transformation on the outside. No, God doesn't just shave caterpillars, He transforms them into butterflies - substantial transformation, not just superficial change. God literally wants to upgrade your whole outlook on life by a process He calls "the renewing of your mind."

In a way, it's like upgrading your computer or your software. Now that Christ is in your life, He wants to install some new attitudes about who you are, who you can be because you belong to Jesus. He wants to enable you to see your family through His eyes as He sees them, the problem people in your life as He sees them, and the events of your life as He sees them. This is the exciting process that takes you from the old you to being what the Bible calls "a new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you'll work with Him on this "computer upgrade" in your mind, you'll find yourself instinctively choosing His will each day, which puts you right in the middle of the plans for which you were created.

Pretty exciting stuff, huh? How does it happen? By immersing yourself in God's way of thinking. It's called the Bible! If you want your mind renewed, you need to be in His Word every opportunity you get. That's where you develop, if I can put it this way, "God-think"; thinking like God does about something. You need to make opportunities to be in His Word! And make your time with Him in His book the non-negotiable of your daily schedule. Each new day is a new challenge to live His way and to think His way. So each new day, you need to begin by installing His software, by bathing your mind with His thoughts - with His perspective.

Commit yourself to the aggressive study of God's words in the Bible. Examine every situation, examine every relationship, and every decision in light of what God says. Day-by-day, you will experience that awesome miracle that God describes as "the renewing of your mind."

Jeremiah 48, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: RISK BELIEVING IN GOD

When forced to stand at the crossroads of belief and unbelief, God’s people choose belief! God’s people risk believing!  Nowhere is this better exemplified than in Joshua’s story. You could argue that the central message of the book of Joshua is this headline:  “God keeps his promises.  Trust him.”

Three times Joshua declares God did what he said he would do!  1) “The LORD gave all He had sworn to give.”  2) “The LORD gave rest according to all He had sworn to their fathers.”  3) “Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken.  All came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45). Learn from Joshua.  Take a risk. Believe in God. He will do what he has said he will do.

Jeremiah 48

Get Out While You Can!

The Message on Moab from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel:

“Doom to Nebo! Leveled to the ground!
    Kiriathaim demeaned and defeated,
The mighty fortress reduced to a molehill,
    Moab’s glory—dust and ashes.
Conspirators plot Heshbon’s doom:
    ‘Come, let’s wipe Moab off the map.’
Dungface Dimon will loudly lament,
    as killing follows killing.
Listen! A cry out of Horonaim:
    ‘Disaster—doom and more doom!’
Moab will be shattered.
    Her cries will be heard clear down in Zoar.
Up the ascent of Luhith
    climbers weep,
And down the descent from Horonaim,
    cries of loss and devastation.
Oh, run for your lives! Get out while you can!
    Survive by your wits in the wild!
You trusted in thick walls and big money, yes?
    But it won’t help you now.
Your big god Chemosh will be hauled off,
    his priests and managers with him.
A wrecker will wreck every city.
    Not a city will survive.
The valley fields will be ruined,
    the plateau pastures destroyed, just as I told you.
Cover the land of Moab with salt.
    Make sure nothing ever grows here again.
Her towns will all be ghost towns.
    Nobody will ever live here again.
Sloppy work in God’s name is cursed,
    and cursed all halfhearted use of the sword.

11-17 “Moab has always taken it easy—
    lazy as a dog in the sun,
Never had to work for a living,
    never faced any trouble,
Never had to grow up,
    never once worked up a sweat.
But those days are a thing of the past.
    I’ll put him to work at hard labor.
That will wake him up to the world of hard knocks.
    That will smash his illusions.
Moab will be as ashamed of god Chemosh
    as Israel was ashamed of her Bethel calf-gods,
    the calf-gods she thought were so great.
For how long do you think you’ll be saying, ‘We’re tough.
    We can beat anyone anywhere’?
The destruction of Moab has already begun.
    Her choice young soldiers are lying dead right now.”
The King’s Decree—
    his full name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“Yes. Moab’s doom is on countdown,
    disaster targeted and launched.
Weep for Moab, friends and neighbors,
    all who know how famous he’s been.
Lament, ‘His mighty scepter snapped in two like a toothpick,
    that magnificent royal staff!’

18-20 “Come down from your high horse, pampered beauty of Dibon.
    Sit in dog dung.
The destroyer of Moab will come against you.
    He’ll wreck your safe, secure houses.
Stand on the roadside,
    pampered women of Aroer.
Interview the refugees who are running away.
    Ask them, ‘What’s happened? And why?’
Moab will be an embarrassing memory, nothing left of the place.
    Wail and weep your eyes out!
Tell the bad news along the Arnon river.
    Tell the world that Moab is no more.

21-24 “My judgment will come to the plateau cities: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath; on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim; on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon; on Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of Moab, far and near.

25 “Moab’s link to power is severed.
    Moab’s arm is broken.” God’s Decree.

The Sheer Nothingness of Moab
26-27 “Turn Moab into a drunken sot, drunk on the wine of my wrath, a dung-faced drunk, filling the country with vomit—Moab a falling-down drunk, a joke in bad taste. Wasn’t it you, Moab, who made crude jokes over Israel? And when they were caught in bad company, didn’t you cluck and gossip and snicker?

28 “Leave town! Leave! Look for a home in the cliffs,
    you who grew up in Moab.
Try living like a dove
    who nests high in the river gorge.

29-33 “We’ve all heard of Moab’s pride,
    that legendary pride,
The strutting, bullying, puffed-up pride,
    the insufferable arrogance.
I know”—God’s Decree—“his rooster-crowing pride,
    the inflated claims, the sheer nothingness of Moab.
But I will weep for Moab,
    yes, I will mourn for the people of Moab.
    I will even mourn for the people of Kir-heres.
I’ll weep for the grapevines of Sibmah
    and join Jazer in her weeping—
Grapevines that once reached the Dead Sea
    with tendrils as far as Jazer.
Your summer fruit and your bursting grapes
    will be looted by brutal plunderers,
Lush Moab stripped
    of song and laughter.
And yes, I’ll shut down the winepresses,
    stop all the shouts and hurrahs of harvest.

34 “Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, and the people in Jahaz will hear the cries. They will hear them all the way from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.

35 “I will put a stop in Moab”—God’s Decree—“to all hiking to the high places to offer burnt sacrifices to the gods.

36 “My heart moans for Moab, for the men of Kir-heres, like soft flute sounds carried by the wind. They’ve lost it all. They’ve got nothing.

37 “Everywhere you look are signs of mourning:
    heads shaved, beards cut,
Hands scratched and bleeding,
    clothes ripped and torn.

38 “In every house in Moab there’ll be loud lamentation, on every street in Moab, loud lamentation. As with a pottery jug that no one wants, I’ll smash Moab to bits.” God’s Decree.

39 “Moab ruined!
    Moab shamed and ashamed to be seen!
Moab a cruel joke!
    The stark horror of Moab!”

40-42 God’s verdict on Moab. Indeed!

“Look! An eagle is about to swoop down
    and spread its wings over Moab.
The towns will be captured,
    the fortresses taken.
Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,
    like a woman giving birth to a baby.
There’ll be nothing left of Moab, nothing at all,
    because of his defiant arrogance against me.

43-44 “Terror and pit and trap
    are what you have facing you, Moab.” God’s Decree.
“A man running in terror
    will fall into a trap.
A man climbing out of a pit
    will be caught in a trap.
This is my agenda for Moab
    on doomsday.” God’s Decree.

45-47 “On the outskirts of Heshbon,
    refugees will pull up short, worn out.
Fire will flame high from Heshbon,
    a firestorm raging from the capital of Sihon’s kingdom.
It will burn off Moab’s eyebrows,
    will scorch the skull of the braggarts.
That’s all for you, Moab!
    You worshipers of Chemosh will be finished off!
Your sons will be trucked off to prison camps;
    your daughters will be herded into exile.
But yet there’s a day that’s coming
    when I’ll put things right in Moab.
    “For now, that’s the judgment on Moab.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Proverbs 7:1–5

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

My son, keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

Insight
In Proverbs 7:1–5, Solomon warns his son (or sons, as v. 24 notes) to obey his words. He uses the illustration of an adulterous woman leading a man astray to explain the importance of obedience and describes the danger of this woman’s house as “a highway to the grave” (v. 27).

To keep Solomon’s commands and avoid the seductive woman, the reader is told to “bind them [the commands] on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart” (v. 3). This metaphor implies the need for external action (the physicality of fingers) and internal character change (the character of the heart). The reference to wisdom as a “sister” in verse 4 uses a word that generally means a close or intimate female relative. Depending on the context, it can sometimes refer to a wife or bride. Both suggest an intimate connection and emphasize the importance of adhering to this advice.

Printed on Our Hearts
Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:3

When Johannes Gutenberg combined the printing press with moveable type in 1450, he ushered in the era of mass communications in the West, spreading learning into new social realms. Literacy increased across the globe and new ideas produced rapid transformations in social and religious contexts. Gutenberg produced the first-ever printed version of the Bible. Prior to this, Bibles were painstakingly hand-copied, taking scribes up to a year to produce.

For centuries since, the printing press has provided people like you and me the privilege of direct access to Scripture. While we also have electronic versions available to us, many of us often hold a physical Bible in our hands because of his invention. What was once inaccessible given the sheer cost and time to have a Bible copied is readily at our fingertips today.

Having access to God’s truth is an amazing privilege. The writer of Proverbs indicates we should treat His instructions to us in the Scriptures as something to be cherished, as “the apple of [our] eye” (Proverbs 7:2) and to write His words of wisdom on “the tablet of [our] heart” (v. 3). As we seek to understand the Bible and live according to its wisdom, we, like scribes, are drawing God’s truth from our “fingers” down into our hearts, to be taken with us wherever we go. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray
How has having Scripture stored in your heart benefitted you? How can you begin to internalize more of God’s wisdom?

Loving God, help me to know Your Word intimately that I might live in the way You desire.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
Do It Yourself (2)
…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… —2 Corinthians 10:5

Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “…I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ….” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself…” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.

Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.

We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind….” (Romans 12:2).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.
The Place of Help

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 6-7; 2 Corinthians 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
How to Break a Log Jam - #8783

Up in Maine, where the roads run out, it's logging country. Now, the loggers will tell you that once you get a tree down, the next challenge is getting that big, old log where it's supposed to go to the mill. The answer? Well, you're not going to carry it there probably. So, you use natural power. They float those logs right down the river, until of course; well, sometimes too many logs decide to have a meeting in one place. You know what they call that. Right! We call it that in many parts of our life. They call it a log jam. Suddenly nothing's moving. The answer? Explosive power. Dynamite breaks that jam, gets things moving again. Of course, that's kind of how real life log jams are, too. It takes something explosive to get them going.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Break a Log Jam."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Samuel 9. I'll be reading from verse 21. Now, in order to get the context of this, understand that we are approaching the time when Israel is about to get it's first ever king. Saul has been God's choice for that. And Samuel is God's representative to let Saul know that. Unfortunately, even though Saul's got the ability, and he's been selected by God, he doesn't seem to have the heart for the challenge. That's the one obstacle. When he's given the news that he's God's choice, Saul answers, "But am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?" He said, "Man, look, I come from a dinky tribe. Nobody's ever heard of us. They don't respect us. I think you've got the wrong man for the job."

Then comes the message from God, and then the change that takes place in 1 Samuel 10:9. The log jam is broken. "As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart." I love those words. "And all these signs were fulfilled that day." Did you get that? There's the dynamite that breaks the human log jam. God changed Saul's heart. Samuel didn't change his heart. Circumstances didn't change his heart. The signs that God put in front of him didn't change his heart. But God changed his heart. Sometimes the only way a situation will move is if someone's heart changes. And maybe you can think of that someone right now.

Sounds like a situation you're in maybe. And you can't change a heart. A changed heart is an act of God. I'll bet there's a changed heart needed in someone you know, maybe it's your boss. Maybe it's your folks, your son, your daughter. It could be your husband or your wife. Maybe there's someone who's attacking you unjustly. Or someone who desperately needs Christ, and seems so close to Him. Maybe there's just a log jam right now, and there can't be any more progress until something changes - actually, until someone changes. You've done all you could do. You have planned, you've worked, you've tried to persuade, you've done your homework.

But the real issue is someone's heart. Well, you have a powerful weapon to break the log jam - fervent, passionate, consistent prayer that God will do what only God can do - change that person's heart like He did Saul's and like He has millions of hearts throughout the years. That weapon right now is within your reach...prayer is within your reach right now. It's the one we so often fail to use though. We try everything else to change the situation.

You want to get things moving? Then reach for the dynamite. Light the fuse called prayer. Then stand back and watch the awesome power of God, who is the changer of people's hearts.