2 Timothy 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: Christ in You

Proliferating throughout Scripture is an enticing and inviting preposition -the preposition "in." Jesus lives in his children. From Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
God in us! Have we sounded the depth of this promise? With God in you, you have a million resources you didn't have before. Can't stop worrying? Christ can. And he lives within you. Can't forget the past, forgive the jerk, or forsake your bad habits? Christ can! And he lives in you.
Oh to be so full of him that we could say with the apostle Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!"
From In the Manger

2 Timothy 2

Doing Your Best for God

So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It’s the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.

8-13 Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It’s what you’ve heard from me all along. It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now—but God’s Word isn’t in jail! That’s why I stick it out here—so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. This is a sure thing:

If we die with him, we’ll live with him;
If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him;
If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us;
If we give up on him, he does not give up—
    for there’s no way he can be false to himself.

14-18 Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul. Hymenaeus and Philetus are examples, throwing believers off stride and missing the truth by a mile by saying the resurrection is over and done with.

19 Meanwhile, God’s firm foundation is as firm as ever, these sentences engraved on the stones:

god knows who belongs to him.
spurn evil, all you who name god as god.

20-21 In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.

22-26 Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil’s trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, December 05, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Timothy 6:6–10, 17–19

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Insight
Timothy first appears in Scripture in Acts 16:1: “Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.” This brief introduction reveals some reasons why Timothy (which means “honoring God” or “honored by God”) made such an ideal protégé for the apostle. Paul, a Jew who’d embraced God’s call to be the “apostle to the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:8), now would have a young man to assist in the work who had a mixed heritage both ethnically and spiritually. With a Jewish mother and Greek father, Timothy would have grown up with his feet in both of those worlds, each with its own heritage and values. In addition, because it appears that his father wasn’t a believer in Jesus, he’d have been personally exposed to both the faith of his mother and the spiritual need of his father.

The Yard-Sale Christmas
Godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6

A mom felt she’d been overspending on family Christmas gifts, so one year she decided to try something different. For a few months before the holiday, she scrounged through yard sales for inexpensive, used items. She bought more than usual but for far less money. On Christmas Eve, her children excitedly opened gift after gift after gift. The next day there were more! Mom had felt guilty about not getting new gifts so she had additional gifts for Christmas morning. The kids began opening them but quickly complained, “We’re too tired to open any more! You’ve given us so much!” That’s not a typical response from children on a Christmas morning!

God has blessed us with so much, but it seems we’re always looking for more: a bigger house, a better car, a larger bank account, or [fill in the blank]. Paul encouraged Timothy to remind people in his congregation that “we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:7–8).

God has given us our very breath and life—besides providing for our needs. How refreshing it might be to enjoy and be content with His gifts and to say, You’ve given us so much! We don’t need more. “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (v. 6). By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray
What are you thankful to God for today? How might you learn contentment?

Father, You’ve blessed me with so much. Teach me each day to give thanks.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 05, 2020
“The Temple of the Holy Spirit”
…only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. —Genesis 41:40

I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not “set aside the grace of God”— make it ineffective (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To “work out [my] own salvation” (Philippians 2:12) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . .” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” including our thoughts and desires (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.

Paul said, “I beseech you…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Daniel 1-2; 1 John 4

Ezekiel 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: JESUS HAS BEEN HERE

My dad, a man of few words, told my brother and me, “Boys, Christmas is about Jesus.” In one of those bedtime, book-time moments, somewhere between the fairy tales and the monkey with the lunch pail, I thought about what Dad had said. And I began asking the Christmas questions, and I’ve been asking them ever since.

God knows what it’s like to be a human, and when we talk to him about deadlines or tough times he understands. He’s been there. He’s been here. Because of Bethlehem, we have a friend in Jesus. Christmas begins what Easter celebrates. The child in the cradle became the King on the cross. And he doesn’t tell us, “Clean up before you come in.” He offers, “Come in and I’ll clean you up.” It’s not our grip on him that matters, but his grip on us. And his grip is sure.

Ezekiel 17

The Great Tree Is Made Small and the Small Tree Great

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, make a riddle for the house of Israel. Tell them a story. Say, ‘God, the Master, says:

“‘A great eagle
    with a huge wingspan and long feathers,
In full plumage and bright colors,
    came to Lebanon
And took the top off a cedar,
    broke off the top branch,
Took it to a land of traders,
    and set it down in a city of shopkeepers.
Then he took a cutting from the land
    and planted it in good, well-watered soil,
    like a willow on a riverbank.
It sprouted into a flourishing vine,
    low to the ground.
Its branches grew toward the eagle
    and the roots became established—
A vine putting out shoots,
    developing branches.

7-8 “‘There was another great eagle
    with a huge wingspan and thickly feathered.
This vine sent out its roots toward him
    from the place where it was planted.
Its branches reached out to him
    so he could water it
    from a long distance.
It had been planted
    in good, well-watered soil,
And it put out branches and bore fruit,
    and became a noble vine.

9-10 “‘God, the Master, says,
    Will it thrive?
Won’t he just pull it up by the roots
    and leave the grapes to rot
And the branches to shrivel up,
    a withered, dead vine?
It won’t take much strength
    or many hands to pull it up.
Even if it’s transplanted,
    will it thrive?
When the hot east wind strikes it,
    won’t it shrivel up?
Won’t it dry up and blow away
    from the place where it was planted?’”

11-12 God’s Message came to me: “Tell this house of rebels, ‘Do you get it? Do you know what this means?’

12-14 “Tell them, ‘The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took its king and its leaders back to Babylon. He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, making him swear his loyalty. The king of Babylon took all the top leaders into exile to make sure that this kingdom stayed weak—didn’t get any big ideas of itself—and kept the covenant with him so that it would have a future.

15 “‘But he rebelled and sent emissaries to Egypt to recruit horses and a big army. Do you think that’s going to work? Are they going to get by with this? Does anyone break a covenant and get off scot-free?

16-18 “‘As sure as I am the living God, this king who broke his pledge of loyalty and his covenant will die in that country, in Babylon. Pharaoh with his big army—all those soldiers!—won’t lift a finger to fight for him when Babylon sets siege to the city and kills everyone inside. Because he broke his word and broke the covenant, even though he gave his solemn promise, because he went ahead and did all these things anyway, he won’t escape.

19-21 “‘Therefore, God, the Master, says, As sure as I am the living God, because the king despised my oath and broke my covenant, I’ll bring the consequences crashing down on his head. I’ll send out a search party and catch him. I’ll take him to Babylon and have him brought to trial because of his total disregard for me. All his elite soldiers, along with the rest of the army, will be killed in battle, and whoever is left will be scattered to the four winds. Then you’ll realize that I, God, have spoken.

22-24 “‘God, the Master, says, I personally will take a shoot from the top of the towering cedar, a cutting from the crown of the tree, and plant it on a high and towering mountain, on the high mountain of Israel. It will grow, putting out branches and fruit—a majestic cedar. Birds of every sort and kind will live under it. They’ll build nests in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will recognize that I, God, made the great tree small and the small tree great, made the green tree turn dry and the dry tree sprout green branches. I, God, said it—and I did it.’”

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

1 John 3:16–18

 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Insight
In this, the first of John’s three letters, he sets out three distinctive characteristics of Christianity. One is the historical truth of Jesus’ life (1 John 1:1–3). John makes much of the fact that he (and others) personally witnessed the earthly existence and the miracles of Jesus. The second is the call (and motivation) to live in the righteousness Jesus gives us (1:6–2:2). The third characteristic, love, is what John develops beginning in 2:3 and continuing into today’s reading. This love is the “love for the Father” (v. 15) and isn’t for the world or the things in it. When this love compels us, we can’t help but love each other in the way referenced in 3:16–18. Such a love will be a shining witness to the world that doesn’t yet know His love.

Relentless Love
Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Heidi and Jeff came home from an overseas work assignment in a hot climate and settled for several months near family in the state of Michigan—just in time for winter. This would be the first time many of their ten children had seen the natural beauty of snow.

But winter weather in Michigan requires a lot of warm outerwear, including coats, mittens, and boots. For a large family, it would be quite an expensive undertaking just to outfit them for the bitterly cold months ahead. But God provided. First, a neighbor brought over footwear, then snow pants, then hats and gloves. Then, a friend urged others at her church to collect a variety of warm clothes in all twelve sizes for each member of the family. By the time the snow arrived, the family had exactly what they needed.

One of the ways we serve God is by serving those in need. First John 3:16–18 encourages us to help others from the abundance of our own possessions. Serving helps us to be more like Jesus as we begin to love and see people as He does.

God often uses His children to fulfill needs and to answer prayers. And as we serve others, our own hearts are encouraged as we encourage those we serve. As a result, our own faith will grow as God equips us for service in new ways (v. 18). By:  Cindy Hess Kasper

Reflect & Pray
As you notice the numerous needs of people around you, how can you show God’s love in a practical way? How does serving God help your faith to grow?

Father, fill my heart with the willingness to help when I see a need. Help me to give joyfully and serve You with gratitude.

Read Compassion: Learning to Love Like Jesus at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0208.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 04, 2020
The Law of Opposition
To him who overcomes… —Revelation 2:7

Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life.

Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought.

Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.

And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “…but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.

Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 47-48; 1 John 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 04, 2020
The Silent Killer - #8845

Some of the most important real estate in the world is an island - an island you may have heard of. It's called Manhattan. A lot of folks need to get in and out of that island each day to run the business of this country. And since it's an island, needless to say, New York City is a city of bridges.

Remember that old song "London Bridge is Falling Down"? You know what? Some years ago, another New York bridge was falling down. For quite some time a lot of bridges in New York had been showing their age. And a while back, they had to close the Williamsburg Bridge completely, cutting off a major access route to Manhattan.

The reason? Well, inspectors had found serious weakness in certain supports. And the sad part was, it didn't have to be that way. In fact, one engineer was quoted as saying, "If only this bridge had been regularly maintained, we'd be celebrating a bridge's centennial instead of holding its' funeral." And you know what the cause was? Neglect.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Silent Killer."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 2. I'll be reading verse 1 and then we'll drop down to verse 3. "We must pay more careful attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" See, this passage refers to something that is so insidious and so invisible, but so common and easy to fall into. It talks about drifting spiritually; that slow but steady getting away from our first love.

You go from being passionately Christian and following Jesus when you begin, to without even realizing it, becoming professionally Christian; from what was once love to now is duty; from warm to cold. And maybe if you were to take your spiritual temperature, it could be you're drifting. You're not doing anything terribly wrong; you've just drifted from your first passionate love for Him.

Well, ultimately, there's going to be a collapse. Not from rejecting your Lord, but rather from neglecting your Lord. This doesn't say, "How shall we escape if we reject such a great salvation?" It says neglect. Now, that bridge in New York didn't suddenly become unstable. Nobody bombed it, or ran into it, or tried to take it apart. Nobody did anything bad to weaken it. It's what they didn't do. See, bridges give way because of neglect. It's a silent killer of spiritual commitments. You can't stand as a follower of Christ without daily maintenance.

That means a daily checkup as God's Word is allowed to turn its light on your life. I used to think it was a book I was neglecting if I missed my quiet time. It's not a book; it's a person. Remember there was a booklet called "My Heart - Christ's Home"? In it the man is admitting Christ into the various rooms of his life and he'll meet the Lord every morning in the study. Finally, he gets a little busy; forgets one day; comes back after a month of days to grab his briefcase. And as he runs into his study, he sees Jesus and he says, "Lord, what are you doing here?" The Lord says, "Oh, I've been here every day waiting for you."

Have you been neglecting your time with Jesus? You can't see it, but you're being steadily weakened and eroded by what you're not doing. You can't afford another day away. There have been too many already. The alternative is that one day you'll be closed; you'll cave in.

By the way, neglect can have eternal consequences. The verse talked about "neglecting such a great salvation (a great rescue)." It's possible for you to have been around the message of Jesus dying on a cross for your sins and coming back out of His grave. You've heard of this great salvation, this great rescue act on the cross, but somehow you've never acted on it. You've never made personal what He did for you. You've neglected Him, which means hell, not heaven, not because you rejected Him, but you just walked on by. You lost Him through neglect.

Don't let that happen today. Today is the accepted time. "Today," the Bible says, "is the day of salvation," maybe yours. Reach out and grab the Savior you've passed up so many times. Go to our website. I think we can help you get this settled once and for all. That website is ANewStory.com.

Neglect: It's a silent killer of what you can't afford to lose.

Ezekiel 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS

Let the sleigh bells ring! I love Christmas. Let the carolers sing, the more Santas the merrier! I don’t complain about the crowded shops, I don’t grumble at the jam-packed grocery store. Well…it’s Christmas.

I love it because someone will ask the Christmas questions. “What’s the big deal about the baby in the manger? Who was he? What does his birth have to do with me?” The questioner may be a soldier stationed far from home. She may be a young mom who, for the first time, holds a child on Christmas Eve. The Christmas season prompts Christmas questions—and answers. Because of Bethlehem, God is always near us, always for us, always in us. We may forget him, but God will never forget us. He called himself Immanuel – God with us.

Ezekiel 16

Your Beauty Went to Your Head

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her outrageous violations. Say this: ‘The Message of God, the Master, to Jerusalem: You were born and bred among Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

4-5 “‘On the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, you weren’t bathed and cleaned up, you weren’t rubbed with salt, you weren’t wrapped in a baby blanket. No one cared a fig for you. No one did one thing to care for you tenderly in these ways. You were thrown out into a vacant lot and left there, dirty and unwashed—a newborn nobody wanted.

6-7 “‘And then I came by. I saw you all miserable and bloody. Yes, I said to you, lying there helpless and filthy, “Live! Grow up like a plant in the field!” And you did. You grew up. You grew tall and matured as a woman, full-breasted, with flowing hair. But you were naked and vulnerable, fragile and exposed.

8-14 “‘I came by again and saw you, saw that you were ready for love and a lover. I took care of you, dressed you and protected you. I promised you my love and entered the covenant of marriage with you. I, God, the Master, gave my word. You became mine. I gave you a good bath, washing off all that old blood, and anointed you with aromatic oils. I dressed you in a colorful gown and put leather sandals on your feet. I gave you linen blouses and a fashionable wardrobe of expensive clothing. I adorned you with jewelry: I placed bracelets on your wrists, fitted you out with a necklace, emerald rings, sapphire earrings, and a diamond tiara. You were provided with everything precious and beautiful: with exquisite clothes and elegant food, garnished with honey and oil. You were absolutely stunning. You were a queen! You became world-famous, a legendary beauty brought to perfection by my adornments. Decree of God, the Master.

15-16 “‘But your beauty went to your head and you became a common whore, grabbing anyone coming down the street and taking him into your bed. You took your fine dresses and made “tents” of them, using them as brothels in which you practiced your trade. This kind of thing should never happen, never.

What a Sick Soul!
17-19 “‘And then you took all that fine jewelry I gave you, my gold and my silver, and made pornographic images of them for your brothels. You decorated your beds with fashionable silks and cottons, and perfumed them with my aromatic oils and incense. And then you set out the wonderful foods I provided—the fresh breads and fruits, with fine herbs and spices, which were my gifts to you—and you served them as delicacies in your whorehouses. That’s what happened, says God, the Master.

20-21 “‘And then you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had given birth to as my children, and you killed them, sacrificing them to idols. Wasn’t it bad enough that you had become a whore? And now you’re a murderer, killing my children and sacrificing them to idols.

22 “‘Not once during these years of outrageous obscenities and whorings did you remember your infancy, when you were naked and exposed, a blood-smeared newborn.

23-24 “‘And then to top off all your evil acts, you built your bold brothels in every town square. Doom! Doom to you, says God, the Master! At every major intersection you built your bold brothels and exposed your sluttish sex, spreading your legs for everyone who passed by.

25-27 “‘And then you went international with your whoring. You fornicated with the Egyptians, seeking them out in their sex orgies. The more promiscuous you became, the angrier I got. Finally, I intervened, reduced your borders and turned you over to the rapacity of your enemies. Even the Philistine women—can you believe it?—were shocked at your sluttish life.

28-29 “‘You went on to fornicate with the Assyrians. Your appetite was insatiable. But still you weren’t satisfied. You took on the Babylonians, a country of businessmen, and still you weren’t satisfied.

30-31 “‘What a sick soul! Doing all this stuff—the champion whore! You built your bold brothels at every major intersection, opened up your whorehouses in every neighborhood, but you were different from regular whores in that you wouldn’t accept a fee.

32-34 “‘Wives who are unfaithful to their husbands accept gifts from their lovers. And men commonly pay their whores. But you pay your lovers! You bribe men from all over to come to bed with you! You’re just the opposite of the regular whores who get paid for sex. Instead, you pay men for their favors! You even pervert whoredom!

35-38 “‘Therefore, whore, listen to God’s Message: I, God, the Master, say, Because you’ve been unrestrained in your promiscuity, stripped down for every lover, flaunting your sex, and because of your pornographic idols and all the slaughtered children you offered to them, therefore, because of all this, I’m going to get all your lovers together, all those you’ve used for your own pleasure, the ones you loved and the ones you loathed. I’ll assemble them as a courtroom of spectators around you. In broad daylight I’ll strip you naked before them—they’ll see what you really look like. Then I’ll sentence you to the punishment for an adulterous woman and a murderous woman. I’ll give you a taste of my wrath!

39-41 “‘I’ll gather all your lovers around you and turn you over to them. They’ll tear down your bold brothels and sex shrines. They’ll rip off your clothes, take your jewels, and leave you naked and exposed. Then they’ll call for a mass meeting. The mob will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. They’ll burn down your houses. A massive judgment—with all the women watching!

41-42 “‘I’ll have put a full stop to your whoring life—no more paying lovers to come to your bed! By then my anger will be played out. My jealousy will subside.

43 “‘Because you didn’t remember what happened when you were young but made me angry with all this behavior, I’ll make you pay for your waywardness. Didn’t you just exponentially compound your outrageous obscenities with all your sluttish ways?

44-45 “‘Everyone who likes to use proverbs will use this one: “Like mother, like daughter.” You’re the daughter of your mother, who couldn’t stand her husband and children. And you’re a true sister of your sisters, who couldn’t stand their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46-48 “‘Your older sister is Samaria. She lived to the north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister is Sodom, who lived to the south of you with her daughters. Haven’t you lived just like they did? Haven’t you engaged in outrageous obscenities just like they did? In fact, it didn’t take you long to catch up and pass them! As sure as I am the living God!—Decree of God, the Master—your sister Sodom and her daughters never even came close to what you and your daughters have done.

49-50 “‘The sin of your sister Sodom was this: She lived with her daughters in the lap of luxury—proud, gluttonous, and lazy. They ignored the oppressed and the poor. They put on airs and lived obscene lives. And you know what happened: I did away with them.

51-52 “‘And Samaria. Samaria didn’t sin half as much as you. You’ve committed far more obscenities than she ever did. Why, you make your two sisters look good in comparison with what you’ve done! Face it, your sisters look mighty good compared with you. Because you’ve outsinned them so completely, you’ve actually made them look righteous. Aren’t you ashamed? But you’re going to have to live with it. What a reputation to carry into history: outsinning your two sisters!

53-58 “‘But I’m going to reverse their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters. And—get this—your fortunes right along with them! Still, you’re going to have to live with your shame. And by facing and accepting your shame, you’re going to provide some comfort to your two sisters. Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will become what they were before, and you will become what you were before. Remember the days when you were putting on airs, acting so high and mighty, looking down on sister Sodom? That was before your evil ways were exposed. And now you’re the butt of contempt, despised by the Edomite women, the Philistine women, and everybody else around. But you have to face it, to accept the shame of your obscene and vile life. Decree of God, the Master.

59-63 “‘God, the Master, says, I’ll do to you just as you have already done, you who have treated my oath with contempt and broken the covenant. All the same, I’ll remember the covenant I made with you when you were young and I’ll make a new covenant with you that will last forever. You’ll remember your sorry past and be properly contrite when you receive back your sisters, both the older and the younger. I’ll give them to you as daughters, but not as participants in your covenant. I’ll firmly establish my covenant with you and you’ll know that I am God. You’ll remember your past life and face the shame of it, but when I make atonement for you, make everything right after all you’ve done, it will leave you speechless.’” Decree of God, the Master.

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

1 Chronicles 29:11–19

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
    and praise your glorious name.

14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”

Insight
When everything had been collected for the building of the temple, David offered a prayer of praise to God (1 Chronicles 29:10–19). In his prayer, he proclaims God’s greatness and majesty (vv. 10–13). He then focuses on the generosity of God’s people and acknowledges that ultimately everything comes from Him and the people are giving back what belongs to Him (vv. 14–17). Looking to the future, David acknowledges that the God who was with their ancestors is also with them. He asks God to keep the hearts of the people faithful and loyal and to give Solomon “whole-hearted devotion” (v. 19).

The Privilege of Prayer
Give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees. 1 Chronicles 29:19

Country artist Chris Stapleton’s deeply personal song, “Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore,” was inspired by his own father’s prayers for him. The poignant lyrics reveal the reason his father’s prayers ended: not disillusionment or weariness, but his own death. Stapleton imagines that now, instead of speaking with Jesus in prayer, his dad is walking and talking face-to-face with Jesus.

Stapleton’s recollection of his father’s prayers for him brings to mind a biblical father’s prayer for his son. As King David’s life ebbed away, he made preparations for his son Solomon to take over as the next king of Israel.

After assembling the nation together to anoint Solomon, David led the people in prayer, as he’d done many times before. As David recounted God’s faithfulness to Israel, he prayed for the people to remain loyal to Him. Then he included a personal prayer specifically for his son, asking God to “give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees” (1 Chronicles 29:19).

We too have the remarkable privilege to faithfully pray for the people God has placed in our lives. Our example of faithfulness can make an indelible impact that will remain even after we’re gone. Just as God continued to work out the answers to David’s prayers for Solomon and Israel after he was gone, so too the impact of our prayers outlives us. By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray
How have someone’s prayers made a significant impact on your life? How might you encourage others with your prayers?

Heavenly Father, I bring my loved ones before You and ask that You would work out Your plans in their lives.

Read Talking with My Father: Jesus Teaches on Prayer at DiscoverySeries.org/HP171.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 03, 2020
“Not by Might nor by Power”

My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power… —1 Corinthians 2:4

If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality. Take care to see while you proclaim your knowledge of the way of salvation, that you yourself are rooted and grounded by faith in God. Never rely on the clearness of your presentation, but as you give your explanation make sure that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God’s redemptive power, and He will create His own life in people.

Once you are rooted in reality, nothing can shake you. If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith. But nothing can ever change God or the reality of redemption. Base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God Himself. Once you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you will never be moved again. That is the meaning of sanctification. God disapproves of our human efforts to cling to the concept that sanctification is merely an experience, while forgetting that even our sanctification must also be sanctified (see John 17:19). I must deliberately give my sanctified life to God for His service, so that He can use me as His hands and His feet.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance. Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 45-46; 1 John 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 03, 2020
The Can't Chant - #8844

Our oldest grandson was just two years old and really excited about the new book I just bought him. We kept it at our house for his granddad to read to him. It's one of the all-time kids' bestsellers - you know - "The Little Engine That Could"? If so, then you remember the four words that carried that engine up and over the mountain no one thought he could climb. Remember? If you know them, say them with me, "I think I can." That's right. That part where the engine says those words over and over is my favorite part to read always to grandchildren, and obviously, it was their favorite part, too, including his. When I showed Jordan the cover of the book, he started his breathless, two-year-old version of the little engine's classic chant, "I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...I think I can." You know what? I was hoping he'd be saying that for a long time.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Can't Chant."

Sadly, a lot of us grew up with a slightly different voice inside, "I think I can't...I think I can't." I call it the "can't chant." Maybe you've been cut down in the past, put down, beaten down. And the way you were treated convinced you that you were inadequate, incompetent and you've never really had much confidence.

So when it comes to you making a difference with your life, you think you can't. When it comes to living for Jesus or doing something for God or being what your family needs, the old "can't chant" echoes in your heart. Coming to Christ gave you hope that you don't have to be what you've always been, that you don't have to fall down where you've always fallen down, and that you can hang on instead of giving up. But then the "can't chant" starts in again, doesn't it. And in spite of the promises of God and the power of Christ in your life, you often end up defeated and discouraged, saying, "I think I can't."

Here's the truth - it's in Philippians 4:13, our familiar word for today from the Word of God. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Now if you put a period after "everything," this statement is wrong - "I can do everything." You can't. If it's up to your resources, your strength, your ability, then the "can't chant" is probably right. But what blows the lid off your limitations is the rest of the verse - "through Christ who gives me strength." Paul amplifies this in 2 Corinthians 3:5 when he says, "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God."

So what the Bible is calling you to is not some belief, or some "inner strength" of yours that's going to do it. It's confidence in Christ's strength in you...which knows not the word "can't."

One of the most dramatic moments of the 2000 Olympic Games was Laura Wilkinson's incredible gold-medal win in the ten-meter platform diving event. Six months before, she had broken three bones in her right foot, so she missed months of training. She was a long shot to medal beside the usually dominant Chinese divers. With only three dives to go, she was back in fifth place. But her next dives were literally perfect, and she became the first American to win the gold in that event in 36 years.

Here's what she said on TV for all the world to hear: "The whole time I knew it was virtually impossible for me to win. But I remembered that 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' That's always been a favorite verse of mine, but this time it really meant something." She said, "It became real. I really was trying to do something that I can't do, but God was with me."

So as you're facing something right now that you "can't do," would you say that until you believe it - "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." It's not about what you can do. It's about what Christ can do!

2 Timothy 1 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily:  KEEP THE POWER SUPPLY OPEN

The Holy Spirit is not enthusiasm, compassion, or bravado. He might stimulate such emotions, but he himself is a person. He determines itineraries (Acts 16:6), distributes spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-11), he comforts (John 16:7). Jesus promised, “He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). Occasional guest? No sir. The Holy Spirit is a year-round resident in the hearts of his children.

As God’s story becomes our story, his power becomes our power. Well then why do we suffer from power failures? We turn to him to get us started, and then continue in our own strength. The same hand that pushed back the rock from the tomb can shove away your doubt. The same power that stirred the heart of Christ can stir your flagging faith. The same strength that put Satan on his heels can—and will—defeat Satan in your life. Just keep the power supply open.

2 Timothy 1

 I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God’s plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus. I write this to you, Timothy, the son I love so much. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!

To Be Bold with God’s Gifts
3-4 Every time I say your name in prayer—which is practically all the time—I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors. I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.

5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.

11-12 This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.

13-14 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.

15-18 I’m sure you know by now that everyone in the province of Asia deserted me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes. But God bless Onesiphorus and his family! Many’s the time I’ve been refreshed in that house. And he wasn’t embarrassed a bit that I was in jail. The first thing he did when he got to Rome was look me up. May God on the Last Day treat him as well as he treated me. And then there was all the help he provided in Ephesus—but you know that better than I.

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

Isaiah 7:10–14

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[a] a sign: The virgin[b] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[c] will call him Immanuel.[d]

Footnotes
Isaiah 7:14 The Hebrew is plural.
Isaiah 7:14 Or young woman
Isaiah 7:14 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls son, and he or son, and they
Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God with us.

Insight
The book of Isaiah is the second most referenced Old Testament book (after Psalms) in the New Testament, with about sixty-six direct quotations and 348 allusions to it. While Isaiah 7:14 finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus (Matthew 1:22–23), some scholars believe the prophecy was first fulfilled at the time of Isaiah. Around 734 bc, an Israel-Syria military alliance attacked Judah. Isaiah 7:14 is a promise and a sign given to the faithless King Ahaz of Judah that God would destroy this alliance. The sign tells of two events. First, a specific “virgin” (Hebrew ?almâ, meaning “young woman of marriageable age”) would conceive and bear a son to be called Immanuel. Second, the threat from this enemy alliance would end before the child was weaned (vv. 15–16). According to this view, this sign was fulfilled in 2 Kings 16:7–9 within two years after it was given (732 bc).

Christmas Presence
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son. Isaiah 7:14

“No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.” Those words from Phillips Brooks’ much-loved hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” point to the very heart of Christmas. Jesus came into our broken world to rescue us from our sin and give all who would put their faith in Him a new and vital relationship with God.

In a letter to a friend decades after he wrote the hymn, Brooks poignantly described the outcome of this relationship in his own life: “I cannot tell you how personal this grows to me. He is here. He knows me and I know Him. It is no figure of speech. It is the realest thing in the world, and every day makes it realer. And one wonders with delight what it will grow to as the years go on.”

Brooks’ calm assurance of God’s presence in his life reflects one of the names of Jesus prophesied by Isaiah: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The gospel of Matthew gives us the meaning of the Hebrew name Immanuel: “God with us” (1:23).

God drew near to us through Jesus so we could know Him personally and be with Him forever. His loving presence with us is the greatest gift of all. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray
What does it mean to you that God loves you so much He wants to be with you always? How will you draw near to Him today?

Loving God, thank You for giving Yourself to me through Your life on earth, death on the cross, and resurrection. Please help me to live for You today and forever!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 02, 2020
Christian Perfection
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect… —Philippians 3:12

It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary— that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God’s standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 02, 2020
A Big Platform For a Big Performance - #8843

It was the largest cooperative effort ever among the churches of this county where we were about to do a community-wide outreach. It's something that we did call the full-scale mobilization of God's people, a Make a Difference Week in an area to reach lost people with what we call "non-religious" evangelism. One of the outreaches, the youth event, was especially targeted to reach lost young people. One main attraction was going to be a concert by one of America's best-known contemporary bands. And the committee for that youth event was a little overwhelmed when they saw the size of the stage this group was going to need. But they went to work like beavers, and they busily rose to the challenge of constructing a very big stage for a very big event. When you walked into the gym the afternoon of the outreach, you might well ask, "What's all this for?" Answer: a big platform for a big event, which turned out to be the biggest youth event anyone could ever remember in that county! An event where, praise God, hundreds of young people began a relationship with Jesus Christ!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Big Platform For a Big Performance."

God might be building a big platform in your life right now. Oh, it doesn't look like a platform. It looks like a big problem, a big threat, a big pain! But actually it's a big platform on which God is about to give a great big performance!

There's a great example of how that works in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Kings 18:36-37. Elijah is up against something huge; he is confronting 450 prophets of the god Baal who much of his culture worships. It's a showdown with the odds being 450 to 1. A sacrifice has been laid on the altar on Mt. Carmel and Elijah lays down a challenge to see whose God, Jehovah or Baal, will consume that sacrifice with fire from heaven. Then Elijah builds a bigger platform for God by drenching the sacrifice, the altar, and the whole area with water.

Then the Bible says, "At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: 'O Lord, let it be known today that you are God in Israel. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You are turning their hearts back again.' Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and it also licked up the water in the trench."

Whew! I love that! There was something here so big only God could do it. And this huge challenge provided a huge platform for God to show up with a huge performance of His power. That huge challenge may be facing you right now - God didn't bring it or allow it to hurt you. It's there to provide a stage on which He can show up for you in a way that you and those you know will never forget.

Elijah here shows us a powerful way to pray: that God will answer in whatever way will let everyone know that He is God. If you're facing a need so great that only God could meet it - a problem so impossible only God could solve it; something so big only God could do it - well, get ready for God to show up big-time! And pray as Elijah did - not just for the situation, but for God to do this in the way that will give Him the greatest glory and you and the people around you the biggest view of His greatness and His love. I love the prayer of Moses when he said, "Show us Your glory."

The bigger the challenge becomes, the bigger the platform for your God to do His amazing thing - maybe something bigger than you've ever seen Him do before!

Ezekiel 15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily:YOU WILL OVERCOME

God’s word to Joshua is God’s word to us: “Be strong and of good courage” (Joshua 1:6). Do not cower before your woes. Take the land God has given to you to possess. “And the Lord said to Joshua: ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor’” (Joshua 6:2). God did not say, “Joshua, take the city.” God said, “Joshua, receive the city I have taken.” Joshua did not go forth hoping to win; he knew that God had already won.

The same can be said about you and your challenge. God says, “Receive the blessing of my victory.” You see, the question is not will you overcome? It is when will you overcome? Life will always bring challenges, but God will always give strength to face them.

Ezekiel 15

Used as Fuel for the Fire

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, how would you compare the wood of a vine with the branches of any tree you’d find in the forest? Is vine wood ever used to make anything? Is it used to make pegs to hang things from?

4 “I don’t think so. At best it’s good for fuel. Look at it: A flimsy piece of vine, thrown in the fire and then rescued—the ends burned off and the middle charred. Now is it good for anything?

5 “Hardly. When it was whole it wasn’t good for anything. Half-burned is no improvement. What’s it good for?

6-8 “So here’s the Message of God, the Master: Like the wood of the vine I selected from among the trees of the forest and used as fuel for the fire, just so I’ll treat those who live in Jerusalem. I am dead set against them. Even though at one time they got out of the fire charred, the fire’s going to burn them up. When I take my stand against them, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll turn this country into a wilderness because they’ve been faithless.” Decree of God, the Master.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, December 01, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Job 2:11–13

When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Insight
Although the book of Job doesn’t contain the oldest recorded events in the Bible (see Genesis 1), it’s considered by some scholars to be the earliest written book of the Bible. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says an early date of about 2,000 bc is possible for many reasons: The length of Job’s life (about 210 years), his wealth measured in livestock, the absence of any mention of the Mosaic laws and traditions, and the patriarchal name for God (El Shaddai or God the Almighty) being used more than thirty times (though only seventeen times in the rest of the Old Testament). These facts suggest an early date for Job’s writing. This book resonates with people universally because of its candor in struggling with the problem of suffering.

Being There
They sat on the ground with [Job] for seven days and seven nights. Job 2:13

When Jen, a theme park employee, saw Ralph collapse in tears on the ground, she rushed to help. Ralph, a young boy with autism, was sobbing because the ride he’d waited all day to enjoy had broken down. Instead of hurrying him to his feet or simply urging him to feel better, Jen got down onto the ground with Ralph, validating his feelings and allowing him the time to cry.

Jen’s actions are a beautiful example of how we can come alongside those who are grieving or suffering. The Bible tells of Job’s crippling grief after the loss of his home, his herds (his income), his health, and the simultaneous deaths of his ten children. When Job’s friends learned of his pain, they “set out from their homes . . . [to go] comfort him” (Job 2:11). Job sat on the ground in mourning. When they arrived, his friends sat down with him—for seven days—saying nothing because they saw the depth of his suffering.

In their humanness, Job’s friends later offered Job insensitive advice. But for the first seven days, they gave him the wordless and tender gift of presence. We may not understand someone’s grief, but we don’t need to understand in order to love them well by simply being with them. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray
Who has been with you in difficult times? Who needs your presence today?

God, I thank You for being with me always—in good times and bad. Help me to offer that gift of presence to those You put in my path.

To learn more about helping hurting people, visit ChristianUniversity.org/CC205.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 01, 2020
The Law and the Gospel
Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10

The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!

We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 40-41; 2 Peter 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 01, 2020
Reasons To Quit; Finishing the Race - #8842

The Los Angeles Marathon had been over about a week, but there was still one participant left - Bob Wieland. He finally crossed the finish line even though he has no legs. He lost his legs in Vietnam. But that didn't stop him from entering and finishing the Los Angeles Marathon, making every step with his arms and his hands. He's finished other marathons before this one. And Bob Wieland even crossed America on his hands. It took him three years to do it!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Reasons To Quit; Finishing the Race."

That's Bob Wieland, with so many reasons to quit, he finishes his race. Which is what God is asking you and me to do. Your "race" is any track that God has set you on in your life. And you may have started well, but it's gotten really hard now . There are more and more reasons to quit. But in the words of Galatians 6:9, God says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

There's an enlightening picture of our race in Genesis 12, beginning with verse 1. It's our word for today from the Word of God. This story of Abram is the story of a man who started well, faltered, and got back on track. It might be a story you find yourself in. The race starts - yours and Abram's - with what I call the faith obedience. In the Bible's words: "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.' So Abram left, as the Lord had told him."

God directed Abram to leave his comfort zone, his "knowns" for the great unknown of a "land I will show you." The greatness of what Abram's life will become begins with a faith obedience; doing what God's directing him to do, not because he can see where it's going, but because he trusts the One who is leading him. Every great work of God begins that way. It may well be that you've had a time like that. You started on a race for your Lord with a risky obedience; which, by the way, is an oxymoron. There's really no such thing as a risky obedience when it's Jesus you're obeying. There's only a risky disobedience.

Abram left behind him a trail of altars. When the Lord appeared to him at Shechem, it says, "he built an altar there to the Lord." You've had those altar times when God was closest and His will was the clearest. Think about it. But unfortunately, the faith obedience was followed by the famine detour. Genesis 12 says, "there was a famine...and Abram went down to Egypt." A hard time hit and Abram's faith literally went south. Maybe yours has, too. In Egypt, Abram made compromises that were disgusting and unthinkable. Maybe some kind of "famine" has hit your life and your search for answers, for relief, or for security has taken you right out of the will of God.

But the race isn't over. Abram finishes with the full circle recovery. He returns from his detour and goes "where he had first built an altar. There he called on the name of the Lord." He went back to the point of his original surrender. That's how you get back on track, back in the race you've wandered from. In your heart, you go back to the time when God seemed so close and His will seemed so clear. And at that original altar, you surrender to Him again. Stop doubting in the darkness what God so clearly told you in the light.

When that paraplegic marathon participant crossed the finish line in a race he had every reason to quit, he explained it this way: "This was not natural; this was supernatural. It was only done by the grace of God." You know what? That's how you'll finish the race you started!

Ezekiel 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD WILL HELP

When you feel helpless, where can you turn?  I suggest you turn to one of Jesus’ most intriguing teachings about prayer!

Luke tells the story of a persistent neighbor looking to borrow bread at midnight (Luke 11:5 -13).  Imagine it’s you ringing the doorbell.  The door opens. “What are you doing here?” he asks. “A friend of mine has arrived for a visit, and I’ve nothing for him to eat,” you answer. The homeowner grumbles but finally takes you to his pantry.  And, as a result, your surprise guest doesn’t have to go to bed hungry.  All because you spoke up on behalf of someone else.

This is intercessory prayer at its purest.  This prayer gets God’s attention. If your cranky and disgruntled neighbor will help you out, how much more will God do?

Ezekiel 14
Idols in Their Hearts

Some of the leaders of Israel approached me and sat down with me. God’s Message came to me: “Son of Man, these people have installed idols in their hearts. They have embraced the wickedness that will ruin them. Why should I even bother with their prayers? Therefore tell them, ‘The Message of God, the Master: All in Israel who install idols in their hearts and embrace the wickedness that will ruin them and still have the gall to come to a prophet, be on notice: I, God, will step in and personally answer them as they come dragging along their mob of idols. I am ready to go to work on the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom have left me for their idols.’

6-8 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel: ‘God, the Master, says, Repent! Turn your backs on your no-god idols. Turn your backs on all your outrageous obscenities. To every last person from the house of Israel, including any of the resident aliens who live in Israel—all who turn their backs on me and embrace idols, who install the wickedness that will ruin them at the center of their lives and then have the gall to go to the prophet to ask me questions—I, God, will step in and give the answer myself. I’ll oppose those people to their faces, make an example of them—a warning lesson—and get rid of them so you will realize that I am God.

9-11 “‘If a prophet is deceived and tells these idolaters the lies they want to hear, I, God, get blamed for those lies. He won’t get by with it. I’ll grab him by the scruff of the neck and get him out of there. They’ll be equally guilty, the prophet and the one who goes to the prophet, so that the house of Israel will never again wander off my paths and make themselves filthy in their rebellions, but will rather be my people, just as I am their God. Decree of God, the Master.’”

12-14 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, when a country sins against me by living faithlessly and I reach out and destroy its food supply by bringing on a famine, wiping out humans and animals alike, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job—the Big Three—were alive at the time, it wouldn’t do the population any good. Their righteousness would only save their own lives.” Decree of God, the Master.

15-16 “Or, if I make wild animals go through the country so that everyone has to leave and the country becomes wilderness and no one dares enter it anymore because of the wild animals, even if these three men were living there, as sure as I am the living God, neither their sons nor daughters would be rescued, but only those three, and the country would revert to wilderness.

17-18 “Or, if I bring war on that country and give the order, ‘Let the killing begin!’ leaving both people and animals dead, even if those three men were alive at the time, as sure as I am the living God, neither sons nor daughters would be rescued, but only these three.

19-20 “Or, if I visit a deadly disease on that country, pouring out my lethal anger, killing both people and animals, and Noah, Daniel, and Job happened to be alive at the time, as sure as I am the living God, not a son, not a daughter, would be rescued. Only these three would be delivered because of their righteousness.

21-23 “Now then, that’s the picture,” says God, the Master, “once I’ve sent my four catastrophic judgments on Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, disease—to kill off people and animals alike. But look! Believe it or not, there’ll be survivors. Some of their sons and daughters will be brought out. When they come out to you and their salvation is right in your face, you’ll see for yourself the life they’ve been saved from. You’ll know that this severe judgment I brought on Jerusalem was worth it, that it had to be. Yes, when you see in detail the kind of lives they’ve been living, you’ll feel much better. You’ll see the reason behind all that I’ve done in Jerusalem.” Decree of God, the Master.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, November 30, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Malachi 1:8–14

When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.

9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty.

“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.

Insight
Malachi confronted the people of Israel for their lack of respect and honor for God. This was demonstrated by their disregard for the purity of their sacrifices. They brought sacrifices that were blind, lame, and sick (1:8). In contrast, God required that the sacrifices brought to Him be without defect (see Leviticus 1:3, 10; 3:1, 6; 4:3, 23, 28, 32). God gave good gifts to the Israelites, and He expected they’d offer good gifts to Him in return. Offering a defective sacrifice was a sign of disrespect; they were performing a ritual rather than honoring God from the heart.

Giving Our Best
He will purify . . . and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness. Malachi 3:3

We stared at the piles of donated shoes as we entered a local homeless shelter. The director had invited our youth group to help sort through the heaps of used footwear. We spent the morning searching for matches and lining them up in rows across the concrete floor. At the end of the day, we threw away more than half of the shoes because they were too damaged for others to use. Though the shelter couldn’t stop people from giving poor quality items, they refused to distribute shoes that were in bad condition.

The Israelites struggled with giving God their damaged goods too. When He spoke through the prophet Malachi, He rebuked the Israelites for sacrificing blind, lame, or diseased animals when they had strong animals to offer (Malachi 1:6–8). He announced His displeasure (v. 10), affirmed His worthiness, and reprimanded the Israelites for keeping the best for themselves (v. 14). But God also promised to send the Messiah, whose love and grace would transform their hearts and ignite their desire to bring offerings that would be pleasing to Him (3:1–4).

At times, it can be tempting to give God our leftovers. We praise Him and expect Him to give us His all, yet we offer Him our crumbs. When we consider all God has done, we can rejoice in celebrating His worthiness and giving Him our very best. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray
Why are you sometimes tempted to give God your leftovers or damaged goods? In what ways will you give Him your best today?

Mighty God, please help me place You first and give You my best.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 30, 2020
“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… —1 Corinthians 15:10

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them. Shade of His Hand, 1216 L

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 37-39; 2 Peter 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 30, 2020
Waiting For the Sunrise - #8841

One vacation morning, my wife and I woke up real early for some reason - so we decided to make the most of that pre-dawn time. We went out to the porch of the mountain cabin we were in and we just sat there to watch the sunrise. It was awesome! We watched the eastern sky slowly brighten over the mountains, and it turned the sky these beautiful shades of pink and yellow. It took a while for the old sun to rise. I mean, we were waiting for almost an hour as the sky gradually got brighter. At last, there was this brighter spot over one particular peak, and then suddenly there it was - the sun crested the mountain. And even though we had to wait a while for the sun to come up, wow! Man, when it did, it totally cleared the mountain and it began ascending the sky in less than two minutes! Literally, as it rose, everything seemed to come to life across the valley. It's incredible to watch how God begins a day!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting For the Sunrise."

You know, we can learn a lot about the ways of God in our lives by just watching how He starts each new day. That's especially important if it's been dark in your life for a while. It's been a long night, huh? You've been waiting a long time for light to break through. But remember how God operates - a long wait, maybe a few signs of a little brightening, and then a sudden, dramatic breakthrough.

The divine modus operandi is vividly illustrated in our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 12:11. God's ancient people have been waiting for God to come through with their promised deliverance from their slavery in Egypt. But before it gets better, it gets worse. The request to Pharaoh only leads to them being oppressed even more. Then there's a series of ten plagues, nine of which do not change their lives. It's been a long, long night. Like you maybe, they've been waiting for the sunrise for a long time.

Then comes the night of the first Passover, the night God will change Pharaoh's heart with the last plague. Here are the Lord's instructions to His people about the Passover: "This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat in haste." After all this waiting, God says, "Hey, be ready to go at a moment's notice."

Here's what happened: "During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'Up! Leave My people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you requested. Take your flocks and herds...and go.' The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country." Pharaoh and his people are literally urging their labor force, the Jews, to leave their country! And the Egyptians even give the Jews silver and gold and clothes - they finance the exodus! It was a long wait, and then a sudden and blazing sunrise, and a dramatic difference.

God may have you right in the middle of that kind of impending miracle at this moment. Except right now it looks like it's going to be dark forever. Don't let the length of the wait make you give up on the sunrise. Don't ever assume there's not enough time left for the answer to come.

Have you ever seen a sunrise? You're going to see one in your life - when God has everything ready. And when it comes, it may very well come very fast. And that sunrise will illuminate everything. It will change everything! And, believe me, that sunrise? It's worth waiting for.

1 Timothy 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Declare His Glory · November 29

Look around. People thrash about in seas of guilt, anger, despair. Life isn’t working.  We’re drowning fast. But God can rescue us. And only one message matters.  His!  We need to see God’s glory.

Make no mistake.  God has no ego problem. He doesn’t reveal His glory for His good. We need to witness it for ours. We need a strong hand to pull us into a safe boat. And once aboard, what becomes our priority?

Simple. Promote God. We declare, “Hey, strong boat over here!  Able pilot! He can pull you out!”

1 Chronicles 16:24 says, “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” If we boast at all, we boast in the Lord!

Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”

Declare His glory!

From When God Whispers Your Name

1 Timothy 6

Whoever is a slave must make the best of it, giving respect to his master so that outsiders don’t blame God and our teaching for his behavior. Slaves with Christian masters all the more so—their masters are really their beloved brothers!

The Lust for Money
2-5 These are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there’s an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck.

6-8 A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.

9-10 But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

Running Hard
11-12 But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

13-16 I’m charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn’t give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don’t slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He’ll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

17-19 Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

20-21 And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith.

Overwhelming grace keep you!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, November 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Isaiah 25:1–9

Praise to the Lord

Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
    you have done wonderful things,
    things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
    the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
    cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
    a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
    and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
    is like a storm driving against a wall
5     and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
    as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8     he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
    from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

9 In that day they will say,

“Surely this is our God;
    we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
    let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Insight
Isaiah 25:6–8 announces a great feast accompanied by the promise of God’s redemption of the earth from the dark cloud of death that hangs over it. The mountain mentioned in verse 6 refers to Mount Zion, on which Jerusalem stands. The promise of the great feast on that mountain shows the centrality of Israel for God’s purposes. But the promise of the feast for “all peoples” shows that Israel doesn’t exhaust the extent of God’s blessings (v. 6). In fact, it’s the means through which God will bless all nations—seen especially through Israel’s king who comes to Zion (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1–5).

Sweet Again
On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples. Isaiah 25:6

Russian wedding customs are filled with beauty and significance. One such custom takes place during the reception as the toastmaster proposes a toast in honor of the couple. Everyone takes a sip from their raised glass and then shouts, “Gor’ko! Gor’ko!” meaning “Bitter! Bitter!” When the guests shout that word, the newlyweds must rise and kiss each other in order to make the drink sweet again.

Isaiah prophesies that the bitter drink of desolation, ruin, and the curse upon the earth (ch. 24) will give way to the sweet hope of a new heaven and new earth (ch. 25). God will prepare a feast of rich foods and the finest and sweetest of drinks. It will be a banquet of continual blessing, fruitfulness, and provision for all people (25:6). There’s more. Under the sovereign reign of the righteous King, death is swallowed up, bitter tears are wiped away, and the shroud of disgrace is removed (vv. 7–8). And His people will rejoice because the One they trusted in and waited for will bring salvation and turn the bitter cup of life sweet again (v. 9).

One day, we’ll be together with Jesus at the wedding supper of the Lamb. When He welcomes His bride (the church) home, the promise of Isaiah 25 will be fulfilled. The life once bitter will be made sweet again. By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray
What makes you long for God to make what is bitter sweet again? While you wait for Jesus’ return, what are some things you can do to make others’ bitter experience sweet again?

God, as I witness and experience so much pain, suffering, ruin, and death, sometimes it’s difficult to believe You’ll make what is bitter sweet again. Help me to put my hope in You, the One who’s promised to give me beauty for ashes and joy for mourning.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 29, 2020
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
He will glorify Me… —John 16:14

The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with “the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, “That is the work of God Almighty!” Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.

The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!

Jesus said, “…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come,…He will glorify Me…” (John 16:13-14). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.

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: Ezekiel 35-36; 2 Peter 1

Ezekiel 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Declaration of Truth

As our high priest, Jesus offers our prayers to God. His prayers are always heard. John 16:23 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you." The phrase, "In Jesus' name" is not an empty motto or talisman. It is a declaration of truth!  The cancer is not in charge, Jesus is. The grumpy neighbor doesn't rule the world; Jesus, you do! Just speak the word, Jesus.
Since God works, prayer works. Since you matter to God, your prayers matter in heaven. And on the occasions you can't find the words to say, pull out this "pocket prayer." "Father, you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen!"
From Before Amen

Ezekiel 13

People Who Love Listening to Lies

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, preach against the prophets of Israel who are making things up out of their own heads and calling it ‘prophesying.’

2-6 “Preach to them the real thing. Tell them, ‘Listen to God’s Message!’ God, the Master, pronounces doom on the empty-headed prophets who do their own thing and know nothing of what’s going on! Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals scavenging through the ruins. They haven’t lifted a finger to repair the defenses of the city and have risked nothing to help Israel stand on God’s Day of Judgment. All they do is fantasize comforting illusions and preach lying sermons. They say ‘God says . . .’ when God hasn’t so much as breathed in their direction. And yet they stand around thinking that something they said is going to happen.

7-9 “Haven’t you fantasized sheer nonsense? Aren’t your sermons tissues of lies, saying ‘God says . . .’ when I’ve done nothing of the kind? Therefore—and this is the Message of God, the Master, remember—I’m dead set against prophets who substitute illusions for visions and use sermons to tell lies. I’m going to ban them from the council of my people, remove them from membership in Israel, and outlaw them from the land of Israel. Then you’ll realize that I am God, the Master.

10-12 “The fact is that they’ve lied to my people. They’ve said, ‘No problem; everything’s just fine,’ when things are not at all fine. When people build a wall, they’re right behind them slapping on whitewash. Tell those who are slapping on the whitewash, ‘When a torrent of rain comes and the hailstones crash down and the hurricane sweeps in and the wall collapses, what’s the good of the whitewash that you slapped on so liberally, making it look so good?’

13-14 “And that’s exactly what will happen. I, God, the Master, say so: ‘I’ll let the hurricane of my wrath loose, a torrent of my hailstone-anger. I’ll make that wall you’ve slapped with whitewash collapse. I’ll level it to the ground so that only the foundation stones will be left. And in the ruin you’ll all die. You’ll realize then that I am God.

15-16 “‘I’ll dump my wrath on that wall, all of it, and on those who plastered it with whitewash. I will say to them, There is no wall, and those who did such a good job of whitewashing it wasted their time, those prophets of Israel who preached to Jerusalem and announced all their visions telling us things were just fine when they weren’t at all fine. Decree of God, the Master.’

17-19 “And the women prophets—son of man, take your stand against the women prophets who make up stuff out of their own minds. Oppose them. Say ‘Doom’ to the women who sew magic bracelets and head scarves to suit every taste, devices to trap souls. Say, ‘Will you kill the souls of my people, use living souls to make yourselves rich and popular? You have profaned me among my people just to get ahead yourselves, used me to make yourselves look good—killing souls who should never have died and coddling souls who shouldn’t live. You’ve lied to people who love listening to lies.’

20-21 “Therefore God says, ‘I am against all the devices and techniques you use to hunt down souls. I’ll rip them out of your hands. I’ll free the souls you’re trying to catch. I’ll rip your magic bracelets and scarves to shreds and deliver my people from your influence so they’ll no longer be victimized by you. That’s how you’ll come to realize that I am God.

22-23 “‘Because you’ve confounded and confused good people, unsuspecting and innocent people, with your lies, and because you’ve made it easy for others to persist in evil so that it wouldn’t even dawn on them to turn to me so I could save them, as of now you’re finished. No more delusion-mongering from you, no more sermonic lies. I’m going to rescue my people from your clutches. And you’ll realize that I am God.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Psalm 139:7–16

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

Insight
Responding to the threat of his enemies who are intent on killing him (Psalm 139:19–22), David turns his thoughts to God and meditates on who He is. The poet is perplexed by God’s omniscience—His knowledge of everything about him (vv. 1–6). He’s assured by God’s omnipresence—that He’s ever-present and will never forsake him (vv. 7–12). And he’s overwhelmed by His omnipotence—He’s the all-powerful Creator who created him (vv. 13–18). David speaks of a God who’s always present to guide him, provide for him, and protect him. There’s no place where he’s outside of God’s providential presence and care (vv. 7–12). Therefore, he’s committed to living a blameless life (vv. 23–24), for “everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13).

Breath and Brevity
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16

Mom, my sisters, and I waited by Dad’s bed as his breaths became shallower and less and less frequent—until they were no more. Dad was a few days shy of eighty-nine when he slipped quietly into the life beyond where God awaited him. His departure left us with a void where he once resided and only memories and mementos to remind us of him. Yet we have the hope that one day we’ll be reunited.

We have that hope because we believe Dad is with God, who knows and loves him. When Dad breathed his first breath, God was there breathing breath into his lungs (Isaiah 42:5). Yet even before his first and with every breath in between, God was intimately involved in each detail of Dad’s life, just as He is in yours and mine. It was God who wonderfully designed and “knit” him together in the womb (Psalm 139:13–14). And when Dad breathed his last breath, God’s Spirit was there, holding him in love and carrying him to be with Him (vv. 7–10).

The same is true for all of God’s children. Every moment of our brief life on earth is known by Him (vv. 1–4). We’re precious to Him. With each day remaining and in anticipation of the life beyond, let’s join with “everything that has breath” to praise Him. “Praise the Lord”! (150:6). By:  Alyson Kieda

Reflect & Pray
How does knowing that God is intimately involved in your life give you hope? How can you use your breath to praise Him?

Loving God, thank You for creating me and giving me breath—and for giving me hope. In the sorrow and losses of life, help me to cling to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 28, 2020
The Riches of the Destitute

…being justified freely by His grace… —Romans 3:24

The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 33-34; 1 Peter 5