Daniel 11 , Bible reading and daily devotionals.

 
Max Lucado Daily: More Dinghy than Cruise Ship?

Are you more dinghy. . .than cruise ship? Or in my case, more blue jeans than blue blood? Well congratulations, God changes the world with folks like you!

The next time you say, “I don’t think God could use me!”—stop right there!  Satan’s going to try to tell you that God has an IQ requirement.  That he employs only experts and high-powered personalities.  When you hear Satan whispering that lie—hit him with this:  God stampeded the first-century society with swaybacks, not thoroughbreds.  Before Jesus came along, the disciples were loading trucks, coaching soccer, and selling Slurpee drinks at the convenience store!

But what they had going for them was a willingness to take a step when Jesus said, “Follow me.”

So what do you think?  More plumber than executive?  More stand-in than movie star? Yeah—congratulations!  God uses people like you…and me.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  Matthew 16:24?

From Max on Life

Daniel 11

“‘And I, in my turn, have been helping him out as best I can ever since the first year in the reign of Darius the Mede.’

The Kings of the South and the North
2 “‘But now let me tell you the truth of how things stand: Three more kings of Persia will show up, and then a fourth will become richer than all of them. When he senses that he is powerful enough as a result of his wealth, he will go to war against the entire kingdom of Greece.

3-4 “‘Then a powerful king will show up and take over a huge territory and run things just as he pleases. But at the height of his power, with everything seemingly under control, his kingdom will split into four parts, like the four points of the compass. But his heirs won’t get in on it. There will be no continuity with his kingship. Others will tear it to pieces and grab whatever they can get for themselves.

5-6 “‘Next the king of the south will grow strong, but one of his princes will grow stronger than he and rule an even larger territory. After a few years, the two of them will make a pact, and the daughter of the king of the south will marry the king of the north to cement the peace agreement. But her influence will weaken and her child will not survive. She and her servants, her child, and her husband will be betrayed.

6-9 “‘Sometime later a member of the royal family will show up and take over. He will take command of his army and invade the defenses of the king of the north and win a resounding victory. He will load up their tin gods and all the gold and silver trinkets that go with them and cart them off to Egypt. Eventually, the king of the north will recover and invade the country of the king of the south, but unsuccessfully. He will have to retreat.

10 “‘But then his sons will raise a huge army and rush down like a flood, a torrential attack, on the defenses of the south.

11-13 “‘Furious, the king of the south will come out and engage the king of the north and his huge army in battle and rout them. As the corpses are cleared from the field, the king, inflamed with bloodlust, will go on a bloodletting rampage, massacring tens of thousands. But his victory won’t last long, for the king of the north will put together another army bigger than the last one, and after a few years he’ll come back to do battle again with his immense army and endless supplies.

14 “‘In those times, many others will get into the act and go off to fight against the king of the south. Hotheads from your own people, drunk on dreams, will join them. But they’ll sputter out.

15-17 “‘When the king of the north arrives, he’ll build siege works and capture the outpost fortress city. The armies of the south will fall to pieces before him. Not even their famous commando shock troops will slow down the attacker. He’ll march in big as you please, as if he owned the place. He’ll take over that beautiful country, Palestine, and make himself at home in it. Then he’ll proceed to get everything, lock, stock, and barrel, in his control. He’ll cook up a peace treaty and even give his daughter in marriage to the king of the south in a plot to destroy him totally. But the plot will fizzle. It won’t succeed.

18-19 “‘Later, he’ll turn his attention to the coastal regions and capture a bunch of prisoners, but a general will step in and put a stop to his bullying ways. The bully will be bullied! He’ll go back home and tend to his own military affairs. But by then he’ll be washed up and soon will be heard of no more.

20 “‘He will be replaced shortly by a real loser, his rule, reputation, and authority already in shreds. And he won’t last long. He’ll slip out of history quietly, without even a fight.

21-24 “‘His place will be taken by a reject, a man spurned and passed over for advancement. He’ll surprise everyone, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and will seize the kingdom. He’ll come in like a steamroller, flattening the opposition. Even the Prince of the Covenant will be crushed. After negotiating a cease-fire, he’ll betray its terms. With a few henchmen, he’ll take total control. Arbitrarily and impulsively, he’ll invade the richest provinces. He’ll surpass all his ancestors, near and distant, in his rape of the country, grabbing and looting, living with his cronies in corrupt and lavish luxury.

24-26 “‘He will make plans against the fortress cities, but they’ll turn out to be shortsighted. He’ll get a great army together, all charged up to fight the king of the south. The king of the south in response will get his army—an even greater army—in place, ready to fight. But he won’t be able to sustain that intensity for long because of the treacherous intrigue in his own ranks, his court having been honeycombed with vicious plots. His army will be smashed, the battlefield filled with corpses.

27 “‘The two kings, each with evil designs on the other, will sit at the conference table and trade lies. Nothing will come of the treaty, which is nothing but a tissue of lies anyway. But that’s not the end of it. There’s more to this story.

28 “‘The king of the north will go home loaded down with plunder, but his mind will be set on destroying the holy covenant as he passes through the country on his way home.

29-32 “‘One year later he will mount a fresh invasion of the south. But the second invasion won’t compare to the first. When the Roman ships arrive, he will turn tail and go back home. But as he passes through the country, he will be filled with anger at the holy covenant. He will take up with all those who betray the holy covenant, favoring them. The bodyguards surrounding him will march in and desecrate the Sanctuary and citadel. They’ll throw out the daily worship and set up in its place the obscene sacrilege. The king of the north will play up to those who betray the holy covenant, corrupting them even further with his seductive talk, but those who stay courageously loyal to their God will take a strong stand.

33-35 “‘Those who keep their heads on straight will teach the crowds right from wrong by their example. They’ll be put to severe testing for a season: some killed, some burned, some exiled, some robbed. When the testing is intense, they’ll get some help, but not much. Many of the helpers will be halfhearted at best. The testing will refine, cleanse, and purify those who keep their heads on straight and stay true, for there is still more to come.

36-39 “‘Meanwhile, the king of the north will do whatever he pleases. He’ll puff himself up and posture himself as greater than any god. He will even dare to brag and boast in defiance of the God of gods. And he’ll get by with it for a while—until this time of wrathful judgment is completed, for what is decreed must be done. He will have no respect for the gods of his ancestors, not even that popular favorite among women, Adonis. Contemptuous of every god and goddess, the king of the north will puff himself up greater than all of them. He’ll even stoop to despising the God of the holy ones, and in the place where God is worshiped he will put on exhibit, with a lavish show of silver and gold and jewels, a new god that no one has ever heard of. Marching under the banner of a strange god, he will attack the key fortresses. He will promote everyone who falls into line behind this god, putting them in positions of power and paying them off with grants of land.

40-45 “‘In the final wrap-up of this story, the king of the south will confront him. But the king of the north will come at him like a tornado. Unleashing chariots and horses and an armada of ships, he’ll blow away anything in his path. As he enters the beautiful land, people will fall before him like dominoes. Only Edom, Moab, and a few Ammonites will escape. As he reaches out, grabbing country after country, not even Egypt will be exempt. He will confiscate the treasuries of Egyptian gold and silver and other valuables. The Libyans and Ethiopians will fall in with him. Then disturbing reports will come in from the north and east that will throw him into a panic. Towering in rage, he’ll rush to stamp out the threat. But he’ll no sooner have pitched camp between the Mediterranean Sea and the Holy Mountain—all those royal tents!—than he’ll meet his end. And not a soul around who can help!’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, November 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 10:1, 17–20

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Insight
Luke 10:1 tells us that Jesus sent “seventy-two others” ahead of Him. These “others” were in addition to the twelve disciples He sent out in Luke 9:1–6. This means that Jesus sent at least eighty-four people ahead of Him to deliver His message to the people.

In response to the disciples’ enthusiasm over the demons being subject to them in His name (10:17), Jesus tells of seeing Satan fall from heaven (v. 18). The imagery recalls the words of the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 14:12. He tells of how the postexilic remnant of Israel will taunt Babylon saying, “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” Judaism associated the downfall of Satan with the coming of the Messiah. The subjugation of demons to Jesus’ name and power were proof that He was indeed the Messiah.

Visit ChristianUniversity.org/CA202 to learn more about Jesus as the Messiah.

Leave the Results to God
Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20

Years ago, I was invited to speak to the residents of a university’s fraternity house. They had a reputation for rowdiness so I brought along a friend for support. They were in a celebratory mood, having just won a football championship. At dinner, chaos reigned! Eventually, the president of the house announced: “There are two guys here that want to talk about God.”

I rose on rubbery legs and began to tell them of God’s love, and the room grew still. There was rapt attention. A vigorous and honest Q & A followed. Later, we started a Bible study there, and in subsequent years many received salvation in Jesus.

I recall many days like that when I “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18), but there were other days when it was I who fell—flat on my face.

Luke 10 tells of Jesus’ disciples returning from a mission to report great success. Many had been brought into the kingdom, demons were put to flight, and people were healed. The disciples were pumped! Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” But then He issued a caveat: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (v. 20).

We delight in success. But we may despair when we seem to fail. Keep doing what God has called you to do—and leave the results to Him. He has your name in His book! By:  David H. Roper

Reflect & Pray
Picture your name written on God’s heart. How does that encourage you to carry on when things go well? And when things go wrong?

Thank You, God, when You grant me victory over my enemies, but also help me to be strong when I fail. I’m grateful to be in Your family.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 07, 2020
The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God… —Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, “I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that.” All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, “…but the Spirit Himself makes intercession” in each of our lives (Romans 8:26). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else.  The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 40-42; Hebrews 4

Philemon, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: FROM COMPLAINT TO CONFESSION

Look again at Martha’s words: “Lord, if only, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask” (John 11: 21–22 NLT).  Something moved Martha from complaint to confession. And Jesus responded with a death-defying promise: “Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying…Do you believe this?’” (v. 25).

Martha has had plenty of time to give up on Jesus. Yet now He asks, “Martha, do you believe that I am Lord of all, even of the cemetery?” Martha wasn’t ready to say Jesus could raise the dead. Even so, she gave him a triple tribute: she called him the “the Messiah,” “the Son of God,” and “the one who has come into the world” (John 11:27). She mustered a mustard-seed confession, and that was enough for Jesus. Remember, my friend, you are never alone.

Philemon

I, Paul, am a prisoner for the sake of Christ, here with my brother Timothy. I write this letter to you, Philemon, my good friend and companion in this work—also to our sister Apphia, to Archippus, a real trooper, and to the church that meets in your house. God’s best to you! Christ’s blessings on you!

4-7 Every time your name comes up in my prayers, I say, “Oh, thank you, God!” I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other believers. And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. Friend, you have no idea how good your love makes me feel, doubly so when I see your hospitality to fellow believers.

To Call the Slave Your Friend
8-9 In line with all this I have a favor to ask of you. As Christ’s ambassador and now a prisoner for him, I wouldn’t hesitate to command this if I thought it necessary, but I’d rather make it a personal request.

10-14 While here in jail, I’ve fathered a child, so to speak. And here he is, hand-carrying this letter—Onesimus! He was useless to you before; now he’s useful to both of us. I’m sending him back to you, but it feels like I’m cutting off my right arm in doing so. I wanted in the worst way to keep him here as your stand-in to help out while I’m in jail for the Message. But I didn’t want to do anything behind your back, make you do a good deed that you hadn’t willingly agreed to.

15-16 Maybe it’s all for the best that you lost him for a while. You’re getting him back now for good—and no mere slave this time, but a true Christian brother! That’s what he was to me—he’ll be even more than that to you.

17-20 So if you still consider me a comrade-in-arms, welcome him back as you would me. If he damaged anything or owes you anything, chalk it up to my account. This is my personal signature—Paul—and I stand behind it. (I don’t need to remind you, do I, that you owe your very life to me?) Do me this big favor, friend. You’ll be doing it for Christ, but it will also do my heart good.

21-22 I know you well enough to know you will. You’ll probably go far beyond what I’ve written. And by the way, get a room ready for me. Because of your prayers, I fully expect to be your guest again.

23-25 Epaphras, my cellmate in the cause of Christ, says hello. Also my coworkers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke. All the best to you from the Master, Jesus Christ!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, November 06, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Isaiah 5:1–7

The Song of the Vineyard

I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
    and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
    and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.

3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
    than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
    and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain on it.”

7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

Insight
Isaiah (whose name means “Yahweh is salvation”) had an interesting beginning to his prophetic ministry. In Isaiah 1–5, the prophet pronounces a series of “woes” upon Israel. The Bible Knowledge Commentary tells us that a woe “is an interjection of distress or of a threat voiced in the face of present or coming disaster.” In chapter 6, following the death of King Uzziah, the prophet is ushered into the throne room of the living God, and the scene is so overwhelming that he now declares a woe upon himself. Isaiah says, “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (v. 5). Upon seeing God, Isaiah became deeply aware of his own brokenness, not just the brokenness of the nation.

The Sweetest Harvest
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. John 15:5

When we purchased our home, we inherited an established grapevine. As gardening novices, my family invested considerable time learning how to prune, water, and care for it. When our first harvest came, I popped a grape from the vine into my mouth—only to be disappointed with an unpleasant, sour taste.

The frustration I felt about painstakingly tending a grapevine, only to have a bitter harvest, echoes the tone of Isaiah 5. There we read an allegory of God’s relationship to the nation of Israel. God, pictured as a farmer, had cleared the hillside of debris, planted good vines, built a watchtower for protection, and crafted a press to enjoy the results of His harvest (Isaiah 5:1–2). To the farmer’s dismay, the vineyard, representing Israel, produced sour-tasting grapes of selfishness, injustice, and oppression (v. 7). Eventually, God reluctantly destroyed the vineyard while saving a remnant of vines that someday would produce a good harvest.

In the gospel of John, Jesus revisits the vineyard illustration, saying, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit” (John 15:5). In this parallel imagery, Jesus pictures believers in Him as grapevine branches connected to Him, the main vine. Now, as we remain connected to Jesus through prayerful reliance on His Spirit, we have direct access to the spiritual nourishment that will produce the sweetest fruit of all, love. By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray
How does remaining connected to Jesus produce love in your life? What are the other blessings of being connected to Him?

Jesus, thank You for creating good fruit in my life as I remain connected to You. May Your life flow through me to produce an even greater harvest of love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 06, 2020
Intimate Theology

Do you believe this? —John 11:26

Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do. But— she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s theology had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance— “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ…” (John 11:27).

Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— “Do you believe this?” Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.

To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.

Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, “Do you believe this?” I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 37-39; Hebrews 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 06, 2020
God's Bomb Squad - #8825

I was zipping down the Interstate one day, and I came up behind this big, black truck with bright red letters on it. And then I noticed what it said: County Bomb Squad. Woah! Needless to say, I did not stay real close to that truck! I didn't want to be behind these guys, but I'm actually glad they're around.

I mean, they're in most areas of the country; these men, brave men who go into places where a bomb has been planted. They find it, they carry it away in that big truck (which, by the way, I was speeding to get past as fast as I could), and then they defuse it. Now, actually, God has got a bomb squad. You might be on it, and you might need it.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Bomb Squad."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from Exodus 18, and it's the story of a two-legged time bomb. His name was Moses. He was a man in spiritual leadership about to blow. I know many people in spiritual leadership today who are just as explosive. Maybe you're one; maybe you're near one.

Here's the story: "The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, 'What is this you're doing for the people? Why do you sit alone as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?' Moses answered him, 'Because the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws.' Moses' father-in-law replied, 'What you're doing is not good. (Leave it to a father-in-law, huh?) You and these people who have come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.'" "Boom!" (That's not in the Bible, that part.)

And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, becomes history's first management consultant, and then recommends to him that he appoint many judges that will share in the load so that there will be lots of people doing the work with him.

Now, here's the picture: the leader is burning out. And the people are about to get burned out, because their needs just aren't being met. And his strength to meet those needs is being destroyed.

Now, there are a lot of people who are carrying out God's assignments who are in the same position as Moses - the work's too heavy for them. I know that feeling. Well, remember this: an over-burdened leader is a ticking time bomb. He's going to burn out; the people are going to get burned up and disillusioned.

Now, you may be one of the bombs, or maybe you're one of the bomb squad sent to diffuse it. If you know a leader who is stretched to the max, do what Jethro did here. Tell him what you see. Help him see that he isn't God's only channel. Show him ways that he could give away some of what he's doing. Start by offering to pick up a piece of it yourself.

And if you're a leader with a heavy load, why not listen to the advice that kept Moses able to minister for many years. Give some of your ministry away. Use some time to select and train others. Ask yourself as you look at your life and your leadership, "What could I give away?" Don't be like a television that would only have one channel everything has to come through.

People who think that God can only come through one channel - them, well pretty soon there will be no channel because their screen will go dark. I remember hearing from a pastor friend. He said, "I was liberated by five words somebody shared with me that were spoken by John the Baptist, "I am not the Messiah."

God may have just intercepted you today on this broadcast to just say, "Stop! Get some help, man! Give some of your ministry away. Or He may want you to help diffuse a ticking time bomb; a spiritual leader who's got an overload, by showing them the impossibility of what they're doing, and showing him people who can help, by being one of the people who can help. You could save a ministry by being the one who delicately diffuses an over-burdened Christian leader.

God needs people who will be His bomb squad.

Daniel 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: CRISIS OF DELAY

Yet “[Jesus] stayed where he was for the next two days” (John 11:6 NLT). The crisis of health was exacerbated by the crisis of delay. Days came and went. No Jesus. Lazarus began to fade. No Jesus. Lazarus died. No Jesus. Israel’s rabbinic faith taught that for three days a soul lingered about a body, but on the fourth day it left permanently. Jesus was a day late, or so it seemed. Verses 21-22: “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.’”

Maybe you, like Martha, are disappointed. You told Jesus about the sickness. You waited at the hospital bed. Now death has come. Would you be willing to imitate the faith of Martha? Would you say, Even now, I believe in God? Remember, my friend, you are never alone.

Daniel 10

A Vision of a Big War

In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was made plain to Daniel, whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar. The message was true. It dealt with a big war. He understood the message, the understanding coming by revelation:

2-3 “During those days, I, Daniel, went into mourning over Jerusalem for three weeks. I ate only plain and simple food, no seasoning or meat or wine. I neither bathed nor shaved until the three weeks were up.

4-6 “On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris. I looked up and to my surprise saw a man dressed in linen with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body was hard and glistening, as if sculpted from a precious stone, his face radiant, his eyes bright and penetrating like torches, his arms and feet glistening like polished bronze, and his voice, deep and resonant, sounded like a huge choir of voices.

7-8 “I, Daniel, was the only one to see this. The men who were with me, although they didn’t see it, were overcome with fear and ran off and hid, fearing the worst. Left alone after the appearance, abandoned by my friends, I went weak in the knees, the blood drained from my face.

9-10 “I heard his voice. At the sound of it I fainted, fell flat on the ground, face in the dirt. A hand touched me and pulled me to my hands and knees.

11 “‘Daniel,’ he said, ‘man of quality, listen carefully to my message. And get up on your feet. Stand at attention. I’ve been sent to bring you news.’

“When he had said this, I stood up, but I was still shaking.

12-14 “‘Relax, Daniel,’ he continued, ‘don’t be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I’m here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what’s ahead.’

15-17 “While he was saying all this, I looked at the ground and said nothing. Then I was surprised by something like a human hand that touched my lips. I opened my mouth and started talking to the messenger: ‘When I saw you, master, I was terror-stricken. My knees turned to water. I couldn’t move. How can I, a lowly servant, speak to you, my master? I’m paralyzed. I can hardly breathe!’

18-19 “Then this humanlike figure touched me again and gave me strength. He said, ‘Don’t be afraid, friend. Peace. Everything is going to be all right. Take courage. Be strong.’

“Even as he spoke, courage surged up within me. I said, ‘Go ahead, let my master speak. You’ve given me courage.’

20-21 “He said, ‘Do you know why I’ve come here to you? I now have to go back to fight against the angel-prince of Persia, and when I get him out of the way, the angel-prince of Greece will arrive. But first let me tell you what’s written in The True Book. No one helps me in my fight against these beings except Michael, your angel-prince.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, November 05, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 2:13–25
Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[a]

18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.[b] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Footnotes
John 2:17 Psalm 69:9
John 2:23 Or in him

Insight
The magnificent temple built by Solomon for God (1 Kings 6) was plundered and destroyed in 586 bc. When exiles of Israel returned after the Babylonian captivity (538 bc), the temple was rebuilt under the leadership of Zerubbabel (c. 516 bc). Over the years, however, this rebuilt temple also was ravished and destroyed. In 19 bc Herod the Great initiated the refurbishing of the structure, and it came to be known as Herod’s Temple. Though functional in Jesus’ day (see John 2:13–22), it wasn’t completely finished until ad 64, only to be destroyed again in ad 70 by the Romans.

Destroy This House
Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. John 2:19

In Pontiac, Michigan, a demolition company bulldozed the wrong building. Investigators believe that the owner of a house scheduled to be demolished nailed the numbers of his own address to a neighbor’s house to avoid demolition.

Jesus did the opposite. He was on a mission to let his own “house” be torn down for the sake of others. Imagine the scene and how confused everyone must have been, including Jesus’ own disciples. Picture them eyeing one another as He challenged the religious leaders. “Destroy this temple,” Christ said, “and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). The leaders retorted indignantly, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” (v. 20). But Jesus knew He was referring to the temple of His own body (v. 21). They didn’t.

They didn’t understand He’d come to show that the harm we do to ourselves and to one another would ultimately fall on Him. He would atone for it.

God has always known our hearts far better than we do. So He didn’t entrust the fullness of His plans even to those who saw His miracles and believed in Him (vv. 23–25). Then as now He was slowly revealing the love and goodness in Jesus’ words that we couldn’t understand even if He told us. By:  Mart DeHaan

Reflect & Pray
What emotions do you usually associate with Jesus’ “cleansing of the temple”? How can you see something more merciful and compassionate now that you understand what Jesus meant?

Father in heaven, please help me to believe that You're always working in the background doing far more—and much better—than I know or understand.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 05, 2020
Partakers of His Suffering

…but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings… —1 Peter 4:13

If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.

The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”

Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
The Place of Help

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 34-36; Hebrews 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 05, 2020

Orphan No More - #8824

"China's Lost Girls" - that's what they called the National Geographic special that described China's "one child per family" law that had led, at the time, the abandonment of countless baby girls. But the special went on to describe the growing number of American families who wanted one of those little girls, who otherwise would spend her whole life in an orphanage. That came to life some years ago when some close friends started down that year-long process of bringing together an abandoned little girl with an American family. Finally, that long wait was over, and they were on a plane to China. When they got to their hotel room, there was an empty crib. It wasn't empty the next night. No, they were taken to the adoption center where this precious little girl they were adopting was placed in their arms, and that night she fell asleep in her new father's arms. As the family welcomed them at the airport back home, this girl, who only days before had belonged nowhere, was - and always would be - enveloped in love.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Orphan No More."

I couldn't help but see myself in what has happened with that little orphan. I had two loving parents, so I was blessed not to be an orphan physically. But I have been a spiritual orphan without the love that my soul was made for; without the love of the God the Bible calls our "Heavenly Father." We are, in the Bible's words, "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). But, again in God's words in His book, "Your iniquities (that's every wrong thing you have ever done) have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you" (Isaiah 59:2).

Because we're missing the Father we were created for, we really are spiritual orphans. And we've been feeling it all our lives, whether we know the reason or not. Maybe one of these words would describe some of your emotional autobiography: abandoned, rejected, excluded, betrayed, abused, lonely.

Maybe a true sense of belonging has eluded you all these years even though you've done a lot of things in hopes that you would belong. We make a lot of mistakes for love, don't we? And no matter how close our family or friends may be, there's still that unexplainable loneliness deep down inside. It's cosmic loneliness. We're lonely for God. Maybe we're even pretty religious but we're still missing the only love relationship that can satisfy the heart of a spiritual orphan.

My friends went a long way to bring a little girl into their family. God went a long way to bring you into His - all the way from His heaven to hell on a cross. That's where God's Son absorbed all the guilt and all the punishment for every wrong thing you've ever done, so it would never have to keep you from your Heavenly Father again. So, in John 14:18, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus makes this awesome promise: "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." And He has today - where you are right now.

Whatever you're in the middle of, Jesus has come to you today to bring you into His family. But He won't force His love on you. You need to choose it, which means actually recognizing you really are in trouble with God because of your sin, and reaching out to Jesus as the only One who can rescue you from that trouble. Because He's the only One who died for your sin, and then He came back three days later to prove He can give you life that never ends.

This could be your day to finally belong to the very God who made you and who made you for a relationship with Him. It starts when you tell Jesus with all your heart, "I'm Yours." You want that? Well, if you'd like to get more information about beginning this relationship with Him, being sure you belong to Him, please visit our website where many other people have. I think you'll find some real help there in being sure you are ready to experience Jesus for yourself. That website is ANewStory.com.

The Father's arms are open. They're waiting for you. He loves you. He wants you. Come to Him. You'll be an orphan no more.

Daniel 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A MAN NAMED LAZARUS

“A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha…So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, ‘Lord, your dear friend is very sick’” (John 11:1, 3 NLT). Lazarus was a real person with a real problem—he was sick. But he had Someone going for him. Others were fans of Christ; Lazarus was friends with him.

So the sisters of Lazarus simply wrapped their concern in a sentence, and and they left it with Jesus. They did not tell him how to respond. No presumption. A lesson for us perhaps? Christ responded to the crisis of health with a promise of help. “‘Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death.’” (John 11:4 NLT). Lazarus, we learn, will find himself in the valley of death, but he will not stay there. Because Christ was with him. Remember, friends, you are never alone.

Daniel 9

God’s Covenant Commitment

“Darius, son of Ahasuerus, born a Mede, became king over the land of Babylon. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was meditating on the Scriptures that gave, according to the Word of God to the prophet Jeremiah, the number of years that Jerusalem had to lie in ruins, namely, seventy. I turned to the Master God, asking for an answer—praying earnestly, fasting from meals, wearing rough penitential burlap, and kneeling in the ashes. I poured out my heart, baring my soul to God, my God:

4-8 “‘O Master, great and august God. You never waver in your covenant commitment, never give up on those who love you and do what you say. Yet we have sinned in every way imaginable. We’ve done evil things, rebelled, dodged and taken detours around your clearly marked paths. We’ve turned a deaf ear to your servants the prophets, who preached your Word to our kings and leaders, our parents, and all the people in the land. You have done everything right, Master, but all we have to show for our lives is guilt and shame, the whole lot of us—people of Judah, citizens of Jerusalem, Israel at home and Israel in exile in all the places we’ve been banished to because of our betrayal of you. Oh yes, God, we’ve been exposed in our shame, all of us—our kings, leaders, parents—before the whole world. And deservedly so, because of our sin.

9-12 “‘Compassion is our only hope, the compassion of you, the Master, our God, since in our rebellion we’ve forfeited our rights. We paid no attention to you when you told us how to live, the clear teaching that came through your servants the prophets. All of us in Israel ignored what you said. We defied your instructions and did what we pleased. And now we’re paying for it: The solemn curse written out plainly in the revelation to God’s servant Moses is now doing its work among us, the wages of our sin against you. You did to us and our rulers what you said you would do: You brought this catastrophic disaster on us, the worst disaster on record—and in Jerusalem!

13-14 “‘Just as written in God’s revelation to Moses, the catastrophe was total. Nothing was held back. We kept at our sinning, never giving you a second thought, oblivious to your clear warning, and so you had no choice but to let the disaster loose on us in full force. You, our God, had a perfect right to do this since we persistently and defiantly ignored you.

15-17 “‘Master, you are our God, for you delivered your people from the land of Egypt in a show of power—people are still talking about it! We confess that we have sinned, that we have lived bad lives. Following the lines of what you have always done in setting things right, setting people right, please stop being so angry with Jerusalem, your very own city, your holy mountain. We know it’s our fault that this has happened, all because of our sins and our parents’ sins, and now we’re an embarrassment to everyone around us. We’re a blot on the neighborhood. So listen, God, to this determined prayer of your servant. Have mercy on your ruined Sanctuary. Act out of who you are, not out of what we are.

18 “‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope:

19 “‘Master, listen to us!
    Master, forgive us!
    Master, look at us and do something!
    Master, don’t put us off!
    Your city and your people are named after you:
    You have a stake in us!’

Seventy Sevens
20-21 “While I was pouring out my heart, baring my sins and the sins of my people Israel, praying my life out before my God, interceding for the holy mountain of my God—while I was absorbed in this praying, the humanlike Gabriel, the one I had seen in an earlier vision, approached me, flying in like a bird about the time of evening worship.

22-23 “He stood before me and said, ‘Daniel, I have come to make things plain to you. You had no sooner started your prayer when the answer was given. And now I’m here to deliver the answer to you. You are much loved! So listen carefully to the answer, the plain meaning of what is revealed:

24 “‘Seventy sevens are set for your people and for your holy city to throttle rebellion, stop sin, wipe out crime, set things right forever, confirm what the prophet saw, and anoint The Holy of Holies.

25-26 “‘Here is what you must understand: From the time the word goes out to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Anointed Leader, there will be seven sevens. The rebuilding will take sixty-two sevens, including building streets and digging a moat. Those will be rough times. After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed Leader will be killed—the end of him. The city and Sanctuary will be laid in ruins by the army of the newly arriving leader. The end will come in a rush, like a flood. War will rage right up to the end, desolation the order of the day.

27 “‘Then for one seven, he will forge many and strong alliances, but halfway through the seven he will banish worship and prayers. At the place of worship, a desecrating obscenity will be set up and remain until finally the desecrator himself is decisively destroyed.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, November 04, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Proverbs 30:24–31

“Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
25 Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;
26 hyraxes are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
27 locusts have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
28 a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

29 “There are three things that are stately in their stride,
    four that move with stately bearing:
30 a lion, mighty among beasts,
    who retreats before nothing;
31 a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
    and a king secure against revolt.[a]

Footnotes
Proverbs 30:31 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.

Insight
Proverbs 30 is a collection of the sayings of “Agur son of Jakeh” (Proverbs 30:1). We don’t know who Agur or his father were, but they may have been from the tribe of Massa, who were descendants of Ishmael and settled in northern Arabia (Genesis 25:13–14; 1 Chronicles 1:29–31). If Agur and Jakeh were Massaites, the collection of Agur’s sayings in Proverbs 30 is an example of the multicultural character of Hebrew Wisdom Literature, adopted and shaped for Israelite theology.

One reason that the book of Proverbs sometimes “borrows” material from other cultures is because Wisdom Literature often drew lessons from the surrounding world and experiences of life. Such observations are universal and reflect the design of God’s good creation. Proverbs 30 contains observations from nature and social relationships that offer implicit lessons for wise living.

Relaxing with Purpose
Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise. Proverbs 30:24

Ramesh loves to tell others about Jesus. He boldly speaks with coworkers, and one weekend each month returns to his village to evangelize from house to house. His enthusiasm is contagious—especially since he’s learned the value of taking time to rest and relax.

Ramesh used to spend every weekend and most evenings proclaiming the gospel. His wife and children missed him when he was out, and they found him exhausting when he was around. He needed to make every minute and conversation count. He couldn’t enjoy games or small talk. Ramesh was wound too tight.

He was awakened to his imbalance by the honest words of his wife, the counsel of friends, and somewhat obscure passages of Scripture. Proverbs 30 mentions trivial things, such as ants, roosters, and locusts. It marvels how “a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces” (v. 28).

Ramesh wondered how something so mundane made it into the Bible. Observing lizards required significant downtime. Someone saw a lizard darting around the palace and thought that’s interesting, and paused to watch some more. Perhaps God included it in His Word to remind us to balance work with rest. We need hours to daydream about lizards, catch one with our kids, and simply relax with family and friends. May God give us wisdom to know when to work, serve, and relax! By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray
How are you balancing work and rest? Would those closest to you say that you love them? Why or why not?

Jesus, Your love frees me for productive work and meaningful rest.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 04, 2020
The Authority of Truth
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. —James 4:8

It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.

When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me…” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 32-33; Hebrews 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 04, 2020
Garbage Picker Vision - #8823

You never knew when my wife was going to have one of her attacks. No, it wasn't a medical condition; it used to happen as we were driving through our neighborhood on garbage night. Suddenly she'd go, "Stop! Wait!" And I'd say, "What's the matter?" And she'd say, "Look at that chair." Actually it was the remains of a chair, broken, pretty gross I thought. And then she'd say, "Hey, let's take it." I think there's a name for that. Garbage picking, right? Yeah.

Well, of course, my sons were in the back seat. They'd just roll their eyes and go, "Oh, no, Mom. Please, please don't do this to us." Well, the only compromise we ever worked out is that she would allow us to come back after it was dark when no one could see us. That was merciful. Do this by cover of night.

Now, a couple of weeks later, and this happened many times, I'd come in the house and say, "Hey, that's a beautiful chair! Where'd you get that? Where'd you get the money for it?" And she'd say, "There wasn't any money. Remember that chair we got out of the garbage?" Well, yeah, my wife was a garbage picker, but she could look at some old piece of furniture and she could see something the rest of us just don't see.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Garbage Picker Vision."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 1, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 40 early in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. "Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two men who had heard what John the Baptist had said and who had followed Jesus. Now, the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah (that is, the Christ).' And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas (which, when translated, is Peter).'"

Now, maybe you know that that's the word for rock. Honestly, I don't think that's what other people saw when they saw Peter. They saw Simon, they saw kind of a flaky, erratic kind of guy. You know, they'd go through the neighborhood and say, "Well, Peter's a... you know, he's kind of unpredictable, you never know what he's going to say. He puts his foot in his mouth." But when Jesus looked at him, He saw a rock.

I was privileged to be married to someone who could see past what was broken and ugly. That's why we stopped for things other people had thrown away. She would see what it could be and she made it into something beautiful and useful. See, that was the wonderful vision Jesus saw through His eyes when He looked at people. Some people saw John, the son of thunder, but Jesus said, "I'm going to make him the apostle of love." Some people saw Mary Magdalene, a demon possessed perhaps prostitute, but Jesus said, "I see a loyal, devoted follower of Christ here."

See, a lot of people saw in Zacchaeus garbage, greed, and dishonesty, but Jesus saw the potential of a man who could be a "somebody" by giving instead of taking. And He looks at you like that. Maybe others can only see what's broken in you, ugly in you, but He sees what you can be. He sees what you're created to be. He wants us to develop that "garbage picker" vision like He has too.

To be a parent who can look past the garbage that your child might be giving out and see what he could be. Tell them about their potential, not just their problems. To see in a friend or a leader or a helper someone who could be more than they are. Don't just say, "You're a mess." Say, "Do you know what? You're better than this, man. I see in you a treasure that God created. I see under that mask a sensitive person, an insightful person, I see a leader, I see a listener, I see a potential fighter for what's right. Whatever potential God gives you to see in them, tell them.

Somewhere near you is an assignment with a name; someone waiting for another person to see the Peter, the rock, in them. Stop for someone that others might be walking past or even throwing away or trashing. Pick them up and patiently build them into all they were meant to be.

Daniel 8 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: OUR VISION MATTERS TO JESUS

“Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him” (John 9:38). The story begins with a blind man seen by Christ, and it ends with a was-blind man worshiping Christ. Is this not the desire of Jesus for us all? Apart from Christ we are blind. We cannot see our purpose, we cannot see the future, we cannot see Jesus. But he sees us, from head to foot.

If God tested your spiritual vision, would you pass it? Can you see the meaning of life? Have you caught a vision for eternity? Most of all, can you see God’s great love for you? The hand you sense on your face is his. The voice you hear is his. Our vision matters to Jesus, and He will do whatever it takes to help us see how to see. Remember, my friend, you are never alone.

Daniel 8

A Vision of a Ram and a Billy Goat

“In King Belshazzar’s third year as king, another vision came to me, Daniel. This was now the second vision.

2-4 “In the vision, I saw myself in Susa, the capital city of the province Elam, standing at the Ulai Canal. Looking around, I was surprised to see a ram also standing at the gate. The ram had two huge horns, one bigger than the other, but the bigger horn was the last to appear. I watched as the ram charged: first west, then north, then south. No beast could stand up to him. He did just as he pleased, strutting as if he were king of the beasts.

5-7 “While I was watching this, wondering what it all meant, I saw a billy goat with an immense horn in the middle of its forehead come up out of the west and fly across the whole country, not once touching the ground. The billy goat approached the double-horned ram that I had earlier seen standing at the gate and, enraged, charged it viciously. I watched as, mad with rage, it charged the ram and hit it so hard that it broke off its two horns. The ram didn’t stand a chance against it. The billy goat knocked the ram to the ground and stomped all over it. Nothing could have saved the ram from the goat.

8-12 “Then the billy goat swelled to an enormous size. At the height of its power its immense horn broke off and four other big horns sprouted in its place, pointing to the four points of the compass. And then from one of these big horns another horn sprouted. It started small, but then grew to an enormous size, facing south and east—toward lovely Palestine. The horn grew tall, reaching to the stars, the heavenly army, and threw some of the stars to the earth and stomped on them. It even dared to challenge the power of God, Prince of the Celestial Army! And then it threw out daily worship and desecrated the Sanctuary. As judgment against their sin, the holy people of God got the same treatment as the daily worship. The horn cast God’s Truth aside. High-handed, it took over everything and everyone.

13 “Then I overheard two holy angels talking. One asked, ‘How long is what we see here going to last—the abolishing of daily worship, this devastating judgment against sin, the kicking around of God’s holy people and the Sanctuary?’

14 “The other answered, ‘Over the course of 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning. Then the Sanctuary will be set right again.’

15 “While I, Daniel, was trying to make sense of what I was seeing, suddenly there was a humanlike figure standing before me.

16-17 “Then I heard a man’s voice from over by the Ulai Canal calling out, ‘Gabriel, tell this man what is going on. Explain the vision to him.’ He came up to me, but when he got close I became terrified and fell facedown on the ground.

17-18 “He said, ‘Understand that this vision has to do with the time of the end.’ As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But he picked me up and put me on my feet.

19 “And then he continued, ‘I want to tell you what is going to happen as the judgment days of wrath wind down, for there is going to be an end to all this.

20-22 “‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power.

23-26 “‘As their kingdoms cool down
    and rebellions heat up,
A king will show up,
    hard-faced, a master trickster.
His power will swell enormously.
    He’ll talk big, high-handedly,
Doing whatever he pleases,
    knocking off heroes and holy ones left and right.
He’ll plot and scheme to make crime flourish—
    and oh, how it will flourish!
He’ll think he’s invincible
    and get rid of anyone who gets in his way.
But when he takes on the Prince of all princes,
    he’ll be smashed to bits—
    but not by human hands.
This vision of the 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning,
    is accurate but confidential.
Keep it to yourself.
    It refers to the far future.’

27 “I, Daniel, walked around in a daze, unwell for days. Then I got a grip on myself and went back to work taking care of the king’s affairs. But I continued to be upset by the vision. I couldn’t make sense of it.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, November 03, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Insight
Psalm 1:1 uses two literary devices: synthetic parallelism and tricolon. In synthetic parallelism, the second line restates or builds on the first line. A tricolon uses three parallel phrases or words in quick succession without interruption.

In three statements (tricolon) that build on one another (synthetic parallelism), the opening statement of the psalter describes what the blessed person doesn’t do: he doesn’t “walk in step with the wicked,” “stand in the way that sinners take,” or “sit in the company of mockers.” To walk with someone is to be associated with them, but not as intimately as standing or sitting with them. Mockers are the culmination of the list because they not only participate in evil themselves but mock those who pursue righteousness.

In contrast, verse 2 describes what the blessed do: they’re consumed with the law of God and meditate on it day and night. The phrase “day and night” depicts totality. The blessed can think of nothing other than God’s instructions.

The Tree Whisperer
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season. Psalm 1:3

Some call him the “tree whisperer.” Tony Rinaudo is, in fact, World Vision Australia’s tree maker. He’s a missionary and agronomist engaged in a thirty-year effort to share Jesus by combating deforestation across Africa’s Sahel, south of the Sahara.

Realizing stunted “shrubs” were actually dormant trees, Rinaudo started pruning, tending, and watering them. His work inspired hundreds of thousands of farmers to save their failing farms by restoring nearby forests, reversing soil erosion. Farmers in Niger, for example, have doubled their crops and their income, providing food for an additional 2.5 million people per year.

In John 15, Jesus, the creator of agriculture, referred to similar farming tactics when He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (vv. 1–2).

Without the daily tending of God, our souls grow barren and dry. When we delight in His law, however, meditating on it day and night, we are “like a tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3). Our leaves will “not wither” and “whatever [we] do prospers” (v. 3). Pruned and planted in Him, we’re evergreen—revived and thriving. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray
Where and how do you sense your soul being tended by God? What do you do to “delight” in Scripture?

O Gardener God, I yield my stunted places to Your pruning and watering, surrendering my dry places to grow green and revived in You.

To learn more about growing spiritually, visit Odb.org/Courses/spiritual-life-basics.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 03, 2020
A Bondservant of Jesus

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me… —Galatians 2:20

These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, “…for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). That is what makes a strong saint.

Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ….”

The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.

One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be.  Conformed to His Image, 354 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 30-31; Philemon

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 03, 2020
The Deepest Cry of the Human Heart - #8822

In 1963, the United States Supreme Court outlawed prayer in America's public schools. One of the plaintiffs in that case was America's best-known and most visible atheist at the time, Madalyn Murray O'Hair. Over the years, she was a vocal proponent of atheism and an aggressive campaigner against religion in public life. Then one day she vanished, leaving her sports car in an airport parking lot and $500,000 missing from the American Atheists Association bank account. The Internal Revenue Service seized Mrs. O'Hair's home to pay her creditors and some back taxes, and one of the items at auction was her diaries. And one entry said, "The whole idiotic hopelessness of human relations descends upon me. Tonight, I cried and cried, but even then feeling nothing." Then I was really struck by four words that Madalyn Murray O'Hair reportedly wrote at least half a dozen times over the years, "Somebody, somewhere, love me."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Deepest Cry of the Human Heart."

I don't know about you, but that cry for love in Mrs. O'Hair's diary touches something inside me. In a way, her cry is the cry of every human heart, "Somebody, somewhere, love me." And for many who do believe in God, there is still that awful vacuum. It's possible to believe in God, to do God's things, and still miss the deep experience of His love. And without that love, the emptiness and loneliness in our heart is never satisfied, no matter how many human loves we experience.

Well, you're probably nowhere near an atheist. It could be that you've invested a lot in good things that could easily become other gods: your career, your children, your projects, maybe your friends, your charity work, even your spiritual pursuits. But the deep, aching sense of aloneness doesn't go away. Every earth-love has ultimately either failed you or failed to satisfy you. So, after all these years, your heart is still whispering, maybe even shouting, "Somebody, somewhere, love me."

Our word for today from the Word of God describes the only love that can ever truly satisfy this deepest cry of the human heart. It's found in Romans 8:38-39. "Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." There it is...unloseable love, unconditional love, unmeasurable love.

God wants you to experience that love more than you can imagine, so much that He sacrificed the One He loves the most for you. That's His one and only Son, Jesus. The reason we're missing that love is because we've pushed God out of our lives with our sin. We've lived "my way" instead of God's way, over and over again. And that's left us separated from God and from His love with a death penalty on our heads. But God just lavished His love on you by sending Jesus to actually die in your place.

But you're still missing this love that your heart wants so much until you respond to it by placing all your trust in Jesus Christ to remove that sin-barrier and give you eternal life that only He can give. You're that close to finally making ultimate love your own. Because He's alive today. He walked out of His grave under His own power.

If you want to begin this personal love relationship with Jesus, the most important thing is that you tell Him that right now in words maybe something like this. "Jesus, I was made by You and for You. I've lived for me. I know that's sin. I know I deserve the penalty for it. You didn't deserve the penalty, but You took it. You loved me so much You died for me in my place. And today I'm loving You back. I'm giving myself to You."

If you're feeling that you want this, go to our website. It's called ANewStory.com. There you'll find all the information that will help you be sure that you've got this settled.

See, Jesus is the "Somebody, somewhere" that your heart's been lonely for. And you don't have to live one more day without His love.

Titus 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: JESUS WILL FIND YOU

Turns out the formerly blind man wasn’t the only blind person in Jerusalem. The religious leaders had the openness of a locked bank vault. A bona fide miracle had occurred, but did they seek to meet the One who caused it? They saw nothing but themselves and their religion. And because the leaders refused to see, “They cast him out” (John 9:34).

The was-blind man found himself kicked out of the temple with no one to defend him. “When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man” (v. 35 NLT). You see Christ was not about to leave the man unprotected. You can expect him to do the same for you. Others may disown you. Your family may reject you. The religious establishment may dismiss you. But Jesus Christ? He will find you; He will guide you. Remember, friends, you are never alone.

Titus 3

He Put Our Lives Together

Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God’s people should be bighearted and courteous.

3-8 It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.

8-11 I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone. Stay away from mindless, pointless quarreling over genealogies and fine print in the law code. That gets you nowhere. Warn a quarrelsome person once or twice, but then be done with him. It’s obvious that such a person is out of line, rebellious against God. By persisting in divisiveness he cuts himself off.

12-13 As soon as I send either Artemas or Tychicus to you, come immediately and meet me in Nicopolis. I’ve decided to spend the winter there. Give Zenas the lawyer and Apollos a hearty send-off. Take good care of them.

14 Our people have to learn to be diligent in their work so that all necessities are met (especially among the needy) and they don’t end up with nothing to show for their lives.

15 All here want to be remembered to you. Say hello to our friends in the faith. Grace to all of you.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, November 02, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Kings 18:25–27, 30-38

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”

 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs[a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

Insight
Ancient Near Eastern culture was predominantly polytheistic, with many gods or deities believed to coexist in a hierarchy, each with different powers. Baal was seen as a god of fertility and storms and was depicted as a warrior carrying a thunderbolt. The gods were also viewed as having human characteristics, such as needing sleep or going on journeys, which could make it difficult to get their attention. Elijah, therefore, taunts the prophets of Baal with their own beliefs—mocking their seeming inability to get their god's attention—before demonstrating Yahweh’s supreme power in realms they’d claimed were Baal’s (fire, lightning, and storms).

God Hears Everything
Let it be known today that you are God. 1 Kings 18:36

One of the longest-recorded postal delays in history lasted eighty-nine years. In 2008 a homeowner in the UK received an invitation to a party originally mailed in 1919 to a former resident of her address. The note was placed in her mailbox via the Royal Mail, but the reason behind its long delay remains a mystery.

Even the best human efforts at communication sometimes let us down, but Scripture makes clear that God never fails to hear His faithful people. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah demonstrated the striking contrast between the pagan god Baal and Jehovah God. In a showdown to demonstrate who the true God was, after Baal’s prophets had prayed for hours, Elijah taunted them: “Shout louder! . . . Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened” (v. 27). Then Elijah prayed for Jehovah to answer so that His people might return to faith, and God’s power was clearly displayed.

While our prayers may not always be answered as immediately as Elijah’s was, we can be assured that God hears them (Psalm 34:17). The Bible reminds us that He treasures our prayers so much that He keeps them before Him in “golden bowls,” like precious incense (Revelation 5:8). God will answer every prayer in His own perfect wisdom and way. There are no lost letters in heaven. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray
What does it mean to you that God cares enough to listen to your prayers? How will you thank Him for His faithfulness to hear you today?

Father, how amazing You are to always hear my prayers! I praise You because my prayers are precious to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 02, 2020
Obedience or Independence?

If you love Me, keep My commandments. —John 14:15

Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 27-29; Titus 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 02, 2020
Steering Your Children Where They Need to Be - #8821

Well after years of being City Boy, living in the country. Yeah, and boy, I learned a lot from the Country Girl I married. One day I was sitting on the front porch, just peacefully reading my Bible, and I noticed that a calf from across the road had decided the grass was greener on the our side of the road. Somehow, he had picked his way across the bars of the cattle guard, wandered down the road and was slowly munching his way toward our yard. Now, we agreed we really didn't want him in our yard all day while we were at the office. He'd probably eat the flowers. He'd probably fertilize our lawn in a way we didn't want it fertilized. My wife stuck her head out the door and said, "Just yell at him; scare him back across the cattle guard and into his pasture." OK, I yelled at the calf. He didn't move. My wife said, "You'll probably have to chase him, too." Oh, she saved that for later! Oh great! Here goes City Boy running down the road (you want to try to picture this?), waving his arms and yelling at a cow. Hey, it worked! The calf went running back down the road, across the cattle guard, and back where he was supposed to be. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact what I said to him, "Burgers to go, boy!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Steering Your Children Where They Need to Be."

By the way, if you're wondering if there was any pun intended in that word "steering" - don't be silly. Now, I've got to tell you this. I saw something enlightening in what that youngster responded to (I mean that young cow), and what he didn't respond to. Something that might help you get a child of yours where they're supposed to be.

First, our word for today from the Word of God. It's those familiar and powerful words in Proverbs 22:6 - "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Wow! Let's put that together with a verse that follows in Proverbs 23:13, "Do not withhold discipline from a child."

Okay, back to Mr. Wandering Calf for a minute. I tried words on him; they didn't work. I had to follow through with actions that supported my words. And I had to be consistent until he got back to where he was supposed to be. Now children aren't calves, but some of the principles of directing their behavior have some things in common. When God tells you to "train" your child, to "discipline" your child, He's talking about much more than just saying the words. You can tell, you can yell, you can nag, but words alone don't direct a child to the right choices. You have to follow through with actions!

And I don't mean some uncontrolled anger or some unfair or brutal punishment that is in no way proportionate to the crime. That just diminishes your authority in their eyes and actually puts them in the position of controlling you. No, your child needs to experience fair and logical consequences for going where they shouldn't go, or doing what they shouldn't do, or saying what they shouldn't say. Set the boundaries and set the penalties in advance, not in the middle of the crisis. Explain the why for the boundaries. That's the "words" part of training them.

But then you need to consistently and lovingly enforce those consequences. You need to respond as soon as they wander outside the fence before it's a crisis; before it's a showdown, and every time they wander outside the fence. It 's hard to stop and follow through early and follow through every time, but if you do it consistently for a while, eventually you'll have a child who knows that boundary is real and it's not smart to go beyond it. Your boundary will become their boundary. Consistent discipline is a short-term sacrifice to reap some long-term peace and you have to model what you're teaching with your life.

For wandering calves, for wandering children, it takes more than words to steer them back where they're supposed to be. You have to follow through with actions and pursue it until they go the right way.

Daniel 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: He Gives Us What We Need

One morning Denalyn was with me in the car.  "I'm about to remind you why you married me," I told her as we drew near to the intersection.  "See that long line of cars?  See that humdrum of humanity?  It's not for me…hang on!"  I swerved from the six-lane onto the one-lane and shared with my sweetheart my secret expressway to freedom.
"What do you think?" I asked, awaiting her worship.
"I think you broke the law,"  she responded.
"What?" I asked incredulously.
"You just went the wrong way on a one-way street!" she answered.
I did.  She was right.  I had missed the "do not enter" sign.
Before coming to Christ, we all had our share of shortcuts. What we consider shortcuts God sees as disasters. He doesn't give laws for our pleasure.  He gives them for our protection. He knows what we need!
 from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Daniel 7

A Vision of Four Animals

In the first year of the reign of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream. What he saw as he slept in his bed terrified him—a real nightmare. Then he wrote out his dream:

2-3 “In my dream that night I saw the four winds of heaven whipping up a great storm on the sea. Four huge animals, each different from the others, ascended out of the sea.

4 “The first animal looked like a lion, but it had the wings of an eagle. While I watched, its wings were pulled off. It was then pulled erect so that it was standing on two feet like a man. Then a human heart was placed in it.

5 “Then I saw a second animal that looked like a bear. It lurched from side to side, holding three ribs in its jaws. It was told, ‘Attack! Devour! Fill your belly!’

6 “Next I saw another animal. This one looked like a panther. It had four birdlike wings on its back. This animal had four heads and was made to rule.

7 “After that, a fourth animal appeared in my dream. This one was a grisly horror—hideous. It had huge iron teeth. It crunched and swallowed its victims. Anything left over, it trampled into the ground. It was different from the other animals—this one was a real monster. It had ten horns.

8 “As I was staring at the horns and trying to figure out what they meant, another horn sprouted up, a little horn. Three of the original horns were pulled out to make room for it. There were human eyes in this little horn, and a big mouth speaking arrogantly.

9-10 “As I was watching all this,

“Thrones were set in place
    and The Old One sat down.
His robes were white as snow,
    his hair was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    its wheels blazing.
A river of fire
    poured out of the throne.
Thousands upon thousands served him,
    tens of thousands attended him.
The courtroom was called to order,
    and the books were opened.

11-13 “I kept watching. The little horn was speaking arrogantly. Then, as I watched, the monster was killed and its body cremated in a roaring fire. The other animals lived on for a limited time, but they didn’t really do anything, had no power to rule. My dream continued.

13-14 “I saw a human form, a son of man,
    arriving in a whirl of clouds.
He came to The Old One
    and was presented to him.
He was given power to rule—all the glory of royalty.
    Everyone—race, color, and creed—had to serve him.
His rule would be forever, never ending.
    His kingly rule would never be replaced.

15-16 “But as for me, Daniel, I was disturbed. All these dream-visions had me agitated. So I went up to one of those standing by and asked him the meaning of all this. And he told me, interpreting the dream for me:

17-18 “‘These four huge animals,’ he said, ‘mean that four kingdoms will appear on earth. But eventually the holy people of the High God will be given the kingdom and have it ever after—yes, forever and ever.’

19-22 “But I wanted to know more. I was curious about the fourth animal, the one so different from the others, the hideous monster with the iron teeth and the bronze claws, gulping down what it ripped to pieces and trampling the leftovers into the dirt. And I wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that sprouted up while three of the original horns were removed. This new horn had eyes and a big mouth and spoke arrogantly, dominating the other horns. I watched as this horn was making war on God’s holy people and getting the best of them. But then The Old One intervened and decided things in favor of the people of the High God. In the end, God’s holy people took over the kingdom.

23-25 “The bystander continued, telling me this: ‘The fourth animal is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from the first three kingdoms, a monster kingdom that will chew up everyone in sight and spit them out. The ten horns are ten kings, one after another, that will come from this kingdom. But then another king will arrive. He will be different from the earlier kings. He will begin by toppling three kings. Then he will blaspheme the High God, persecute the followers of the High God, and try to get rid of sacred worship and moral practice. God’s holy people will be persecuted by him for a time, two times, half a time.

26-27 “‘But when the court comes to order, the horn will be stripped of its power and totally destroyed. Then the royal rule and the authority and the glory of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the people of the High God. Their royal rule will last forever. All other rulers will serve and obey them.’

28 “And there it ended. I, Daniel, was in shock. I was like a man who had seen a ghost. But I kept it all to myself.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, November 01, 2020

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Matthew 10:37–42

 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Insight
Each of the gospel writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had a definite plan for how to tell the story of Jesus. Each had a different audience and wanted to reach that audience in the most accessible way. In writing to a primarily Jewish audience, Matthew builds his witness around five major teaching blocks, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5–7) and ending with the Olivet Discourse (chs. 24–25), with three others in between (chs. 10, 13, 18). Some scholars suggest this would have resonated with a Jewish audience because the five discourses of Jesus would parallel the five books of Moses (Torah) and the five sections into which the psalms are divided. Additionally, Matthew relies heavily on the Old Testament Scriptures, quoting them around fifty times and alluding to them another seventy-five times.

Even a Taco
If anyone gives even a cup of cold water . . . that person will certainly not lose their reward.
Matthew 10:42

Ashton and Austin Samuelson graduated from a Christian college with a strong desire to serve Jesus. However, neither felt called to a traditional ministry in the church. But what about ministry in the world? Absolutely. They blended their burden to end childhood hunger with their God-given entrepreneurial skills, and in 2014 launched a restaurant that serves tacos. But this isn’t just any restaurant. The Samuelsons operate from a buy-one-give-one philosophy. For every meal bought, they donate money to provide a meal specifically designed to meet the nutritional needs of malnourished children. So far, they’ve made contributions in more than sixty countries. Their goal is to be a part of ending childhood hunger—one taco at a time.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 10 are not cryptic. They are astoundingly clear: devotion is evidenced by actions, not words (vv. 37–42). One of those actions is giving to the “little ones.” For the Samuelsons, that focus is giving to children. But take note, the “little ones” isn’t a phrase limited to chronological age. Christ is calling us to give to any who are of “little account” in the eyes of this world: the poor, the sick, the prisoner, the refugee, those disadvantaged in any way. And give what? Well, Jesus says “even a cup of cold water” (v. 42). If something as small and simple as a cup of cold water classifies, then a taco surely fits right in line too. By:  John Blase

Reflect & Pray
Who in your life are little in the eyes of the world? What’s something small you can do today to serve these “little ones”?

Jesus, give me eyes to see and ears to hear today, so that I can serve, even in a small way, the least of these who cross my path.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 01, 2020
“You Are Not Your Own”

Do you not know that…you are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19

There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.

The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 24-26; Titus 2