Ezra 1 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: DON’T BE AFRAID, JUST TRUST

Jesus and Jairus are interrupted by emissaries from his house. In the Gospel of Mark we read, “’Your daughter is dead’ they said. ‘There is no need to bother the teacher anymore’ (Mark 5:35). But Jesus paid no attention to what they said.” (v. 36). I love that line! It describes the critical principle for seeing the unseen: Ignore what people say. Close your ears. And, if you must, walk away. Ignore the ones who say it’s too late to begin again. Turn a deaf ear toward those who say you aren’t smart enough, fast enough, tall enough, or big enough. Faith sometimes begins by stuffing your ears with cotton.

Jesus turns immediately to Jairus and pleads: “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (v. 36). And Jesus compels Jairus to see the unseen. When Jesus says, “Just believe.” he is imploring, “Don’t be afraid, just trust.” Is he saying the same words to you?

Ezra 1

Cyrus King of Persia: “Build The Temple of God!”

 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the Message of God preached by Jeremiah—God prodded Cyrus king of Persia to make an official announcement throughout his kingdom. He wrote it out as follows:

From Cyrus king of Persia, a Proclamation: God, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also assigned me to build him a Temple of worship in Jerusalem, Judah. Who among you belongs to his people? God be with you! Go to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build The Temple of God, the God of Israel, Jerusalem’s God. Those who stay behind, wherever they happen to live, will support them with silver, gold, tools, and pack animals, along with Freewill-Offerings for The Temple of God in Jerusalem.

5-6 The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone, in fact, God prodded—set out to build The Temple of God in Jerusalem. Their neighbors rallied behind them enthusiastically with silver, gold, tools, pack animals, expensive gifts, and, over and above these, Freewill-Offerings.

7-10 Also, King Cyrus turned over to them all the vessels and utensils from The Temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had hauled from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia put Mithredath the treasurer in charge of the transfer; he provided a full inventory for Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah, including the following:

30 gold dishes

1,000 silver dishes

29 silver pans

30 gold bowls

410 duplicate silver bowls

1,000 miscellaneous items.

11 All told, there were 5,400 gold and silver articles that Sheshbazzar took with him when he brought the exiles back from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Isaiah 26:3–13

You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
5 He humbles those who dwell on high,
    he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground
    and casts it down to the dust.
6 Feet trample it down—
    the feet of the oppressed,
    the footsteps of the poor.

7 The path of the righteous is level;
    you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,[a]
    we wait for you;
your name and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
    in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
    the people of the world learn righteousness.
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked,
    they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
    and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted high,
    but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
    let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, you establish peace for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
13 Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name alone do we honor.

Insight
In calling His people to trust Him instead of trusting in other nations, God proclaimed Himself sovereign over all human history (Isaiah 24–27). God is at work behind the scenes, orchestrating events to the triumphant outcome He planned for the end of time. He’ll judge and punish the wicked and the proud (24:16–23; 25:10–12), but will bless those who humble themselves and trust in Him (25:1–8). Isaiah 26 is a song of praise celebrating the salvation and blessings God will bestow on those who trust, obey, and honor Him (vv. 7–9).

Unbreakable Faith
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

After doctors diagnosed their first-born son with autism, Diane Dokko Kim and her husband grieved facing a lifetime of caring for a cognitively disabled child. In her book Unbroken Faith, she admits to struggling with adjusting their dreams and expectations for their beloved son’s future. Yet through this painful process, they learned that God can handle their anger, doubts, and fears. Now, with their son reaching adulthood, Diane uses her experiences to encourage parents of children with special needs. She tells others about God’s unbreakable promises, limitless power, and loving faithfulness. She assures people that He gives us permission to grieve when we experience the death of a dream, an expectation, a way or a season of life.

In Isaiah 26, the prophet declares that God’s people can trust in the Lord forever, “for the Lord . . . is the Rock eternal” (v. 4). He’s able to sustain us with supernatural peace in every situation (v. 12). Focusing on His unchanging character and crying out to Him during troublesome times revitalizes our hope (v. 15).

When we face any loss, disappointment, or difficult circumstance, God invites us to be honest with Him. He can handle our ever-changing emotions and our questions. He remains with us and refreshes our spirits with enduring hope. Even when we feel like our lives are falling apart, God can make our faith unbreakable. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray
Have you ever struggled with being honest with God when life feels overwhelming? How has God helped you deal with the death of a dream or expectation?

Loving God, please help me believe You can always be trusted with my honest emotions.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Vision and Darkness

When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. —Genesis 15:12

Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light— that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).

Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God…”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Genesis 46-48; Matthew 13:1-30

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
The High Price of Saving Your Life - #8877

Just another day on the subways of New York. That's what Wesley Autrey thought it was going to be as he waited for the next train with his two young daughters. There it was - the light of the approaching subway. Suddenly, a young man near him stumbled off the platform and fell onto the tracks below. Later, that 19-year-old's family said it was because of a recurring medical problem he had. With the subway approaching, Wesley Autrey made his choice. He literally dove on top of the fallen man and rolled him into the drainage trough between the tracks. Then he threw his body on top of the young man, forcing him to stay down. It was too late for the subway to stop. The train ran right over the spot where one man was literally laying his life on the line for another man. The subway missed them by two inches.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The High Price of Saving Your Life."

Every national newscast used the same word to describe Wesley Autrey that night: hero. He really was. The young man's parents believe he's alive today because of one man who put himself between their son and what would have killed him. Clearly, the rescuer was willing to give his life so someone else could live.

I'm alive today because of a hero who did that for me; except it cost Him His life for me to live. That Rescuer is, of course, Jesus. In all the meetings and creeds and denominations and beliefs, it's easy to miss what Jesus is really all about.

When the blockbuster movie The Passion of the Christ came out, it took millions of people back to before there was a Christianity - to where it was just Christ being beaten and butchered and crucified on a bloody cross. He could have called thousands of angels to rescue Him, but He refused to be rescued because He was rescuing me and you. He was rescuing a world of us who have broken God's laws, who deserve the hell that's the penalty for it.

That's the Jesus that comes knocking on the door of your heart this very day. He's giving you an opportunity to open your life to the only One who can rescue you from the death penalty for your sin. He died so you don't have to. You need to hear what He Himself says about His love for you and the price He paid for you because He does.

He talked about it in John 10, beginning with verse 11, our word for today from the Word of God. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep...I lay down My life...No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord." Wait! Jesus wasn't a victim of religious leaders or Roman executioners. He created those people. He created the tree they nailed Him to. They didn't take His life; He gave His life.

And here's the part you just don't miss. He gave it for you. He put Himself between you and the judgment of Almighty God, and He took it for you. The Bible sums it up in eight powerful words: "Jesus laid down His life for us." You might as well put your name in that verse. "Jesus Christ laid down His life for" (there's your name). Or, "Jesus Christ laid down His life for me."

It doesn't make sense to ignore this Rescuer; to push Him away. On His behalf, I beg you, let Jesus rescue you! He did all He could do so you could live, but it's your move now. He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead, so He's knocking on the door of your heart today. Tell Him, "Jesus, I have no hope but You. I can't just sit here when You gave Your life for me. I'm turning from my sin to embrace You as my Rescuer from my sin." Don't you want this?

At this crossroads moment, this would be a great time for you to see what awaits you at our website. Because the information is there to help you know you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That website is ANewStory.com.

No one's ever loved you like Jesus has. This is the day you could have that love; the day that you finally belong to the One who loves you the most.

1 John 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: BLIND TO THE FUTURE

We are blind. Blind to the future. Just ask Jairus. He is the leader of the synagogue, the most important man in the community. But the Jairus in this Bible story is not the clear-sighted, black-frocked, civic leader. He is instead a blind man begging for a gift. He falls at Jesus’ feet, “saying, ‘My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and live’” (Mark 5:23).

You know, there are times in life when everything you have to offer is nothing compared to what you are asking to receive. The situation is starkly simple: Jairus is blind to the future, and Jesus knows the future. So Jairus asks for help. And Jesus, who loves to give new beginnings, goes to give it. He’ll do the same for you. Do you face an uncertain future?  Ask Jesus to help you.


1 John 3

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, January 18, 2021

 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.

2-3 But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.

4-6 All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward.

7-8 So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil’s ways.

9-10 People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-born to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test.

* * *

11 For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.

12-13 We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don’t be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.

14-15 The way we know we’ve been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go together.

16-17 This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

When We Practice Real Love
18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.

21-24 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
 

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, January 18, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Romans 15:5–13

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[a] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing the praises of your name.”[b]

10 Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”[c]

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
    let all the peoples extol him.”[d]

12 And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
    one who will arise to rule over the nations;
    in him the Gentiles will hope.”[e]

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Insight
Bible scholars agree that the book of Romans was written by the apostle Paul. Early church historians Eusebius, Origen, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria concur. Saul (whose Roman name was Paul) was born in Tarsus, a center of Greek culture and university city in Cilicia on the Mediterranean Sea. Paul received his early training in the Law in Jerusalem under the distinguished rabbi Gamaliel, who was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin (see Acts 5:34–40; 22:3). Before his conversion, Paul watched as Stephen was stoned to death and then took a leading part in the persecution of believers in Jesus (7:58; 9:1–2). Christ dramatically confronted him on the road to Damascus, and Paul was transformed from a zealous persecutor to a zealous preacher of the gospel. He’s attributed with writing thirteen books of the New Testament.

A Legacy of Acceptance
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Romans 15:7

In his book Breaking Down Walls, Glen Kehrein writes about climbing to the roof of his college dorm in Chicago after the assassination of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. “The sound of gunfire bounced eerily back and forth off the large buildings, and soon my rooftop perch provided a near panoramic, yet horrific, view. . . . How in the world did I get from a Wisconsin cornfield to a war zone in the inner city of Chicago in less than two years?” Compelled by his love for Jesus and people whose backgrounds were different from his, Glen lived on Chicago’s West Side and led a ministry there that provided food, clothing, shelter, and other services until his death in 2011.

Glen’s life mirrors the efforts of believers in Jesus who’ve come to grips with the need to embrace those who are different from themselves. Paul’s teaching and example helped Roman believers see that God’s plan to rescue wayward humanity included Jews and gentiles (Romans 15:8–12). Believers are called to follow His example of acceptance of others (v. 7); prejudice and discord have no place among those called to glorify God with “one mind and one voice” (v. 6). Ask God to help you cross barriers and break down walls and to warmly embrace everyone, regardless of their differences. Let’s strive to leave behind a legacy of acceptance. By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray
How can you be more intentional with people who are different from you? What steps do you need to take to be more in line with Jesus’ embrace of all people?

Father in heaven, help me to represent You and make adjustments in my thinking and actions today as I strive to love others well.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 18, 2021

“It Is the Lord!”

Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" —John 20:28

“Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.

Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life. Disciples Indeed, 387 R

Bible in a Year: Genesis 43-45; Matthew 12:24-50

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 18, 2021

The Music That's Always There - #8876

We were in our seats waiting for the curtain to open on this great, family-oriented stage show. I knew it must be show time, the lights went down, and unobtrusively the live band quietly filed into the orchestra pit. Most people were focused on the stage, but I was fascinated by something I saw going on with the band. One woman in the band had the arm of a fellow band member on her arm. She was obviously leading him to his position at the keyboard. Then I realized with amazement that the keyboardist was blind. He put on his big headphones and, as the curtain opened, he started playing with all his heart. It was awesome!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Music That's Always There."

I'll tell you, it was really inspiring. That musician cannot see, but he can still hear the music! He can still play the music! I hope you can, too, no matter what limitations you're facing right now.

Look at the model Paul and Silas gave us in our word for today from the Word of God in Acts 16, beginning with verse 25. The preceding verses tell us that these two missionaries have been attacked by a crowd, and they were incited by false accusers. The Bible uses these words to describe what Paul and Silas had to go through: they were "stripped," "beaten," "severely flogged," and "thrown into prison." Then the Bible says they were put "in the inner cell" and their feet were "fastened in the stocks." That's enough to beat the song out of anybody.

But according to our word for today from the Word of God, "about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and other prisoners were listening to them." The Bible goes on to report that when an earthquake shook that prison, the jailer himself came running to Paul and Silas for help. He and his whole family came to Christ that night!

There's something very compelling about someone who refuses to be taken down by the worst of circumstances, who can still hear God's "music," who can still play God's "music" no matter what. Now, that "music" is a positive attitude; that quality of "un-sinkability" that the Bible calls...right, JOY! The "music" is conversation that keeps finding things to thank and praise God for instead of things to complain about.

Maybe you're in a season right now where you've been sidelined. You feel set aside, held back or restricted. You're in a situation or maybe you have a condition that's making you very aware that you're really limited. Not all prisons have physical walls do they? It's easy to get frustrated, self-pitying, negative, maybe bitter. But you can choose, as Paul did, to continue instead to enjoy your Lord; to still make His music for others. In fact, people will listen to what you have to say about Jesus because of what you're going through.

Centuries ago, the poet Richard Lovelace wisely observed, "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage." He went on to say, "If I have freedom in my love, and in my soul am free, angels alone, that soar above, enjoy such liberty." Your soul can be free, no matter how imprisoned the rest of you may be.

Paul later said, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8). Yes, he had a lot to handle, but that didn't stop him from hearing God's music - from playing God's music.

No matter how blinding, how deafening, how paralyzing your situation, the music of God is always there for those who choose to hear it.

Ezekiel 48, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: True Courage

Are you timid?  Cautious?  Could you use some courage?  Scripture says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).  "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). If you're in Christ, these promises are not only a source of joy, they are the foundations of true courage!
When God looks at you, he doesn't see you; He sees the One who surrounds you. Failure's not a concern for you; your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous?  In Hebrews 10:22, the writer says, "Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus-let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith."
The point is clear. The Father of Truth will win, and the followers of Truth will be saved. The prize is yours. Applaud the victory!

Ezekiel 48

The Sanctuary of God at the Center

“These are the tribes:

“Dan: one portion, along the northern boundary, following the Hethlon road that turns off to the entrance of Hamath as far as Hazor-enon so that the territory of Damascus lies to the north alongside Hamath, the northern border stretching from east to west.

2 “Asher: one portion, bordering Dan from east to west.

3 “Naphtali: one portion, bordering Asher from east to west.

4 “Manasseh: one portion, bordering Naphtali from east to west.

5 “Ephraim: one portion, bordering Manasseh from east to west.

6 “Reuben: one portion, bordering Ephraim from east to west.

7 “Judah: one portion, bordering Reuben from east to west.

8-9 “Bordering Judah from east to west is the consecrated area that you will set aside as holy: a square approximately seven by seven miles, with the Sanctuary set at the center. The consecrated area reserved for God is to be seven miles long and a little less than three miles wide.

10-12 “This is how it will be parceled out. The priest will get the area measuring seven miles on the north and south boundaries, with a width of a little more than three miles at the east and west boundaries. The Sanctuary of God will be at the center. This is for the consecrated priests, the Zadokites who stayed true in their service to me and didn’t get off track as the Levites did when Israel wandered off the main road. This is their special gift, a gift from the land itself, most holy ground, bordering the section of the Levites.

13-14 “The Levites get a section equal in size to that of the priests, roughly seven by three miles. They are not permitted to sell or trade any of it. It’s the choice part of the land, to say nothing of being holy to God.

15-19 “What’s left of the ‘sacred square’—each side measures out at seven miles by a mile and a half—is for ordinary use: the city and its buildings with open country around it, but the city at the center. The north, south, east, and west sides of the city are each about a mile and a half in length. A strip of pasture, one hundred twenty-five yards wide, will border the city on all sides. The remainder of this portion, three miles of countryside to the east and to the west of the sacred precinct, is for farming. It will supply food for the city. Workers from all the tribes of Israel will serve as field hands to farm the land.

20 “This dedicated area, set apart for holy purposes, will be a square, seven miles by seven miles, a ‘holy square,’ which includes the part set aside for the city.

21-22 “The rest of this land, the country stretching east to the Jordan and west to the Mediterranean from the seven-mile sides of the ‘holy square,’ belongs to the prince. His land is sandwiched between the tribal portions north and south, and goes out both east and west from the ‘sacred square’ with its Temple at the center. The land set aside for the Levites on one side and the city on the other is in the middle of the territory assigned to the prince. The ‘sacred square’ is flanked east and west by the prince’s land and bordered on the north and south by the territories of Judah and Benjamin, respectively.

23 “And then the rest of the tribes:

“Benjamin: one portion, stretching from the eastern to the western boundary.

24 “Simeon: one portion, bordering Benjamin from east to west.

25 “Issachar: one portion, bordering Simeon from east to west.

26 “Zebulun: one portion, bordering Issachar from east to west.

27 “Gad: one portion, bordering Zebulun from east to west.

28 “The southern boundary of Gad will run south from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, along the Brook of Egypt and then out to the Great Mediterranean Sea.

29 “This is the land that you are to divide up among the tribes of Israel as their inheritance. These are their portions.” Decree of God, the Master.

* * *

30-31 “These are the gates of the city. On the north side, which is 2,250 yards long (the gates of the city are named after the tribes of Israel), three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, the gate of Levi.

32 “On the east side, measuring 2,250 yards, three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, the gate of Dan.

33 “On the south side, measuring 2,250 yards, three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, the gate of Zebulun.

34 “On the west side, measuring 2,250 yards, three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, the gate of Naphtali.

35 “The four sides of the city measure to a total of nearly six miles.

“From now on the name of the city will be Yahweh-Shammah:

        “God-Is-There.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Revelation 4:4–11

Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God. 6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’[b]

who was, and is, and is to come.”

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.”

Insight
In Revelation 4:8–11, the elders, angels, and four living creatures remind us God is worthy of worship. “The Lord God Almighty” (v. 8) is a term that means “powerful and immovable.” Additionally, God’s eternality and authority are reflected in the reference to Him as the one “who was, and is, and is to come” (v. 8). This indicates that He’s sovereign over time—past, present, and future. The elders show their honor of God by laying down their crowns—their symbols of authority—before Him (v. 10). He’s worthy of the praise of His creation (v. 11).

The Wonderful One
There before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. Revelation 4:2

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion return to Oz with the broomstick that empowered the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard had promised, in return for the broomstick, that he would give the four their deepest desires: a ride home for Dorothy, a brain for the Scarecrow, a heart for the Tin Man, and courage for the Cowardly Lion. But the Wizard stalls and tells them to come back the next day.

While they plead with the Wizard, Dorothy’s dog Toto pulls back the curtain, behind which the Wizard spoke, to reveal that the Wizard isn’t a wizard at all, he’s just a fearful, fidgety man from Nebraska.

It’s said that the author, L. Frank Baum, had a serious problem with God, so he wanted to send the message that only we have the power to solve our problems.

In contrast, the apostle John pulls back the veil to reveal the truly Wonderful One behind the “curtain.” Words fail John (note the repeated use of the preposition like in the passage), but the point is well made: God is seated on His throne, surrounded by a sea of glass (Revelation 4:2, 6). Despite the troubles that plague us here on earth (chs. 2–3), God isn’t pacing the floor and biting His nails. He’s actively at work for our good, so we can experience His peace. By:  David H. Roper

Reflect & Pray
What do you fear today? How does it help you to know that God controls the troubles that surround you? How can you better trust and surrender to Him?

I’m grateful, God, that I can count on You to walk with me through everything. Thank You for Your peace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 17, 2021
The Call of the Natural Life

When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… —Galatians 1:15-16

The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the natural life was stated by the apostle Paul— “When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is, purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles….”

Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed

Bible in a Year: Genesis 41-42; Matthew 12:1-23

Ezekiel 47, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: Doing What Comes Naturally

My child's feelings are hurt, I tell her she's special. My child's injured, I do whatever it takes to make her feel better. My child's afraid, I won't go to sleep until she's secure. I'm not a hero. I'm not unusual. I'm a parent. When a child hurts, a parent does what comes naturally. He helps.
Moments of comfort from a parent. I can tell you they're the sweetest moments in the day. They come naturally, willingly, joyfully. If all that's so true, then why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father comfort me?
Being a father has taught me that when I'm criticized, injured, or afraid, there's a Father who's ready to comfort me. A Father who'll hold me until I'm better. And who won't go to sleep when I'm afraid. Ever! And that's enough.
From The Applause of Heaven

Ezekiel 47

Trees on Both Sides of the River

Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple.

3-5 He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through.

6-7 He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?”

Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river.

8-10 He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En Gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean.

11 “The swamps and marshes won’t become fresh. They’ll stay salty.

12 “But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

Divide Up This Land
13-14 A Message from God, the Master: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide up the inheritance of the land for the twelve tribes of Israel, with Joseph getting two parcels. It is to be divided up equally. I swore in a solemn oath to give it to your ancestors, swore that this land would be your inheritance.

15-17 “These are the boundaries of the land:

“The northern boundary runs from the Great Mediterranean Sea along the Hethlon road to where you turn off to the entrance of Hamath, Zedad, Berothah, and Sibraim, which lies between the territory of Damascus and the territory of Hamath, and on to Hazor-hatticon on the border of Hauran. The boundary runs from the Sea to Hazor-enon, with the territories of Damascus and Hamath to the north. That is the northern boundary.

18 “The eastern boundary runs between Damascus and Hauran, down along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel to the Eastern Sea as far as Tamar. This is the eastern boundary.

19 “The southern boundary runs west from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, along the Brook of Egypt, and out to the Great Mediterranean Sea. This is the southern boundary.

20 “The western boundary is formed by the Great Mediterranean Sea north to where the road turns east toward the entrance to Hamath. This is the western boundary.

21-23 “Divide up this land among the twelve tribes of Israel. Divide it up as your inheritance, and include in it the resident aliens who have made themselves at home among you and now have children. Treat them as if they were born there, just like yourselves. They also get an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the resident alien lives, there he gets his inheritance. Decree of God, the Master.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Samuel 17:32, 41–47

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

Insight
Goliath considered it an insult to have David fight him because David was “little more than a boy” (1 Samuel 17:42)—“a youth” (esv)—while he was a battle-seasoned warrior (v. 33). David, the eighth and the “youngest” (16:11; 17:12, 14, Hebrew haqqa?an) of Jesse’s sons, was consistently looked down upon, even by his own family (17:28). Haqqa?an can mean “smallest in size” as well as youngest. To serve in the army, an Israelite male needed to be at least twenty years old (Numbers 1:3). Three of his older brothers were in Saul’s army at this time (1 Samuel 17:13). Assuming the remaining four brothers were one year apart in age, scholars estimate David would be about fourteen to fifteen years old when he fought Goliath.

Mighty
[Goliath] looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy. 1 Samuel 17:42

Baby Saybie, born as a “micro-preemie” at 23 weeks, weighed only 8.6 ounces. Doctors doubted Saybie would live and told her parents they’d likely have only an hour with their daughter. However, Saybie kept fighting. A pink card near her crib declared “Tiny but Mighty.” After five months in the hospital, Saybie miraculously went home as a healthy five-pound baby. And she took a world record with her: the world’s tiniest surviving baby.

It’s powerful to hear stories of those who beat the odds. The Bible tells one of these stories. David, a shepherd boy, volunteered to fight Goliath—a mammoth warrior who defamed God and threatened Israel. King Saul thought David was ridiculous: “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth” (1 Samuel 17:33). And when the boy David stepped onto the battlefield, Goliath “looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy” (v. 42). However, David didn’t step into battle alone. He came “in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel” (v. 45). And when the day was done, a victorious David stood above a dead Goliath.

No matter how enormous the problem, when God is with us there’s nothing that we need to fear. With His strength, we’re also mighty. By:  Winn Collier


Reflect & Pray
When do you feel small and insignificant? How can you see God present with you and strengthening you despite insurmountable odds?

God, I feel tiny today. Left to myself, there’s no way forward. But I trust You to be with me and guide me. I’m trusting in Your strength.  

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 16, 2021
The Voice of the Nature of God

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah 6:8

When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.

The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t.  Conformed to His Image, 357 R

Bible in a Year: Genesis 39-40; Matthew 11

1 John 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GIVE YOUR FEARS TO YOUR FATHER

How did Jesus endure the terror of the crucifixion? He went first to the Father with his fears. He modeled the words of Psalm 56:3: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” Do the same with yours. And be honest; do what Jesus did. Open your heart. And be specific; Jesus was. “Take this cup,” he prayed. Share the details. God has plenty of time, he has plenty of compassion, he doesn’t think your fears are foolish or silly. He knows how you feel, and he knows what you need.

In the case of Christ God did not take away the cross, but he took away the fear. Who’s to say he won’t take away your fear? Please, don’t measure the size of the mountain; talk to the One who can move it. Hope is just a look away. Now, what were you looking at?


1 John 2

 I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.

The Only Way to Know We’re in Him
2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.

4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.

7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness fading away and the True Light already blazing!

9-11 Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

Loving the World
12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.

13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.

15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

Antichrists Everywhere You Look
18 Children, time is just about up. You heard that Antichrist is coming. Well, they’re all over the place, antichrists everywhere you look. That’s how we know that we’re close to the end.

19 They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colors, showed they never did belong.

20-21 But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it. I haven’t been writing this to tell you something you don’t know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn’t breed lies.

22-23 So who is lying here? It’s the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that’s who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son. No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well.

24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!

26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.

Live Deeply in Christ
28 And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.

29 Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, January 15, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

John 14:1–7

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Read full chapter
Footnotes
John 14:1 Or Believe in God
John 14:7 Some manuscripts If you really knew me, you would know

Insight
Before going to the cross, Jesus began His final teaching time with His disciples with these words of peace: “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). He knew what was coming and how troubling it would be for them. In addition to speaking of His return, Jesus also promised the coming of the Holy Spirit (vv. 15–31); a life of fruitfulness when connected to Him, the vine (ch. 15); and encouragement for upcoming challenges (ch. 16). Then, after describing the joys and struggles of living for Christ in a world that doesn’t know Him, Jesus closed His message the way it began—with words of comfort and encouragement: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (16:33). His victory secures our peace.

All Roads?
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:6

“Don’t get on the expressway!” That text came from my daughter one day as I was leaving work. The highway home had become a virtual parking lot. I began trying alternate routes, but after experiencing gridlock on other roads, I gave up. The trip home would have to wait till later in the day, so I drove in the opposite direction to an athletic event my granddaughter was involved in.

Discovering that no roads would lead me home made me think about people who say that all roads lead to an eternal relationship with God. Some believe the road of kindness and good behavior will get you there. Others choose the road of doing religious things.

Relying on those roads, however, leads to a dead end. There’s only one road to take to God’s eternal presence. Jesus clarified this when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He was revealing that He was going to die to open the way for us to enter His Father’s house—to His presence and the real life He provides for today and eternity.

Skip the blocked highways that don’t lead to God’s presence. Instead, trust Jesus as Savior, for “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (3:36). And for those who already believe in Him, rest in the way He’s provided. By:  Dave Branon

Reflect & Pray
Why is it vital to know that only Jesus can save us? Why are we prone to try to add to what it takes to be welcomed into His family?

Dear God, I want to trust You for eternity. Thank You for the salvation found in Jesus alone.

Read about the difference between relationship with Jesus and religion at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0215.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 15, 2021
Do You Walk In White?

We were buried with Him…that just as Christ was raised from the dead…even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4

No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral” — the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection— a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.

Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).

Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ‘white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”

“This is the will of God, your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Genesis 36-38; Matthew 10:21-42

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 15, 2021

One Permanent In a World of Temporary - #8875

I thought I was going to gag on the smell. I was a little guy, my mother used to drag me with her to the beauty parlor where she got her hair done. I'm not sure what chemicals they used back then, but I obviously must have done something horrendous for my mother to subject her precious little boy to nasal torture. And I wasn't sure what was going on when they put this hood-like machine on my mother's head. For all I knew, it was some kind of mechanical brain-sucker. I didn't know what was going on. Well, Mom used to come away with what they called a "permanent." Now, today, the chemicals don't reek like they did back then, and they've abbreviated the name of all that curly hair to "perm" - short for permanent, which they're not. They weren't when it stunk getting it done; they're not today when the process is much nicer. Let's get real here, perms should be called temps. They don't last.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Permanent in a World of Temporary."

Actually, it's pretty hard to think of anything in our world that's truly permanent. Our wedding vows promise we'll be together "'til death do us part." But for more and more couples, that marriage doesn't last anywhere near that long. And if it does, it still isn't permanent. Because death "do us part." Death took my Mom, my Dad, my brother, many friends, coworkers, young people we've worked with, contemporaries of mine, and my wife. Even there, they were "temps" in my life, not "perms."

We've all lived long enough to know that there are so many ways we can lose a love that we've cherished and that we were counting on, through death or divorce, a breakup or a conflict. Either we change or they change. We leave or they leave. And once again, another life-anchor is gone.

But there's something deep inside us that tells us that we're made for something more than this - a relationship and a love that we can't lose. Many of us have lost a lot trying to find that love; we've given things we can't get back, we've made mistakes that have left scars, all for love.

That voice inside you - that need inside you - that longs for one relationship you cannot lose doesn't have to keep looking, doesn't have to keep losing. There is a love you were made for. There's a person who can fill the hole in your heart. He's the one the Bible says "you were made by and made for" (Colossians 1:16). It's Jesus, God's one and only Son. Here's what the Bible says about the love that He offers you: "Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). Well, there it is. That's the love you can't lose; the love that will never lose you.

And it's in "Christ Jesus our Lord". Why? Because we're living away from that love. Not by God's choice, but ours. Actually, by thousands of choices in our life where we've chosen to do things our way instead of God's way. There's a name for that. It's called sin. And sin makes me "god" because it says, "I'm doing this, God, no matter what You say." According to the Bible, it's punishable by eternal separation from God - a horrific spiritual death penalty. Which Jesus paid for you when He absorbed all our sin and all our hell when He died on the cross. And then He came back from His grave to prove He could deliver eternal life.

So it's Jesus. He is the love you've been looking for. He's the relationship you tried to find in so many relationships that turned out to not be the answer. And Romans 10:11, our word for today from the Word of God, promises that "anyone who believes in Him will not be disappointed." He will not let you down. Your relationship with Him begins when you surrender the steering wheel of your life to the One who should have been driving all along and say, "Jesus, you're my only hope. I'm yours."

Look, you ready for that? Let me invite you to our website as soon as you can get there today. It's really there to help you get started with Jesus. It's ANewStory.com.

This is a love you were made for, and this is the love where you'll finally be safe.

Ezekiel 46 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK

Jesus said, “Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering” (Luke 22:42). Jesus could have confided in his disciples, he could have assembled a prayer meeting, but when he faced fear he went first to his Father. Oh, how we tend to go everywhere else. First to the bar, to the counselor, to the self-help book, or to the friend next door. Not Jesus — the first one to hear his fear was his Father in heaven.

A millennium earlier David was urging the fear-filled to do the same: “I will fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4). How could David make such a claim? Because he knew where to look. Rather than turn to the other sheep, David turned to the Shepherd. Rather than stare at the problems, he stared at the rod and staff. Because he knew where to look David was able to say, “I will fear no evil.”

Ezekiel 46

 “‘Message from God, the Master: The gate of the inside courtyard on the east is to be shut on the six working days, but open on the Sabbath. It is also to be open on the New Moon. The prince will enter through the entrance area of the gate complex and stand at the gateposts as the priests present his burnt offerings and peace offerings while he worships there on the porch. He will then leave, but the gate won’t be shut until evening. On Sabbaths and New Moons, the people are to worship before God at the outside entrance to that gate complex.

4-5 “‘The prince supplies for God the burnt offering for the Sabbath—six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram. The grain offering to go with the ram is about five and a half gallons plus a gallon of oil, and a handful of grain for each lamb.

6-7 “‘At the New Moon he is to supply a bull calf, six lambs, and a ram, all without blemish. He will also supply five and a half gallons of grain offering and a gallon of oil for both ram and bull, and a handful of grain offering for each lamb.

8 “‘When the prince enters, he will go through the entrance vestibule of the gate complex and leave the same way.

9-10 “‘But when the people of the land come to worship God at the commanded feasts, those who enter through the north gate will exit from the south gate, and those who enter through the south gate will exit from the north gate. You don’t exit the gate through which you enter, but through the opposite gate. The prince is to be there, mingling with them, going in and out with them.

11 “‘At the festivals and the commanded feasts, the appropriate grain offering is five and a half gallons, with a gallon of oil for the bull and ram and a handful of grain for each lamb.

12 “‘When the prince brings a freewill offering to God, whether a burnt offering or a peace offering, the east gate is to be opened for him. He offers his burnt or peace offering the same as he does on the Sabbath. Then he leaves, and after he is out, the gate is shut.

13-15 “‘Every morning you are to bring a yearling lamb unblemished for a burnt offering to God. Also, every morning bring a grain offering of about a gallon of grain with a quart or so of oil to moisten it. Presenting this grain offering to God is standard procedure. The lamb, the grain offering, and the oil for the burnt offering are a regular daily ritual.

16-18 “‘A Message from God, the Master: If the prince deeds a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it stays in the family. But if he deeds a gift from his inheritance to a servant, the servant keeps it only until the year of liberation (the Jubilee year). After that, it comes back to the prince. His inheritance is only for his sons. It stays in the family. The prince must not take the inheritance from any of the people, dispossessing them of their land. He can give his sons only what he himself owns. None of my people are to be run off their land.’”

19-20 Then the man brought me through the north gate into the holy chambers assigned to the priests and showed me a back room to the west. He said, “This is the kitchen where the priests will cook the guilt offering and sin offering and bake the grain offering so that they won’t have to do it in the outside courtyard and endanger the unprepared people out there with The Holy.”

21-23 He proceeded to take me to the outside courtyard and around to each of its four corners. In each corner I observed another court. In each of the four corners of the outside courtyard were smaller courts sixty by forty-five feet, each the same size. On the inside walls of the courts was a stone shelf, and beneath the shelves, hearths for cooking.

24 He said, “These are the kitchens where those who serve in the Temple will cook the sacrifices of the people.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Psalm 138

Of David.
1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
    and will praise your name
    for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
    that it surpasses your fame.
3 When I called, you answered me;
    you greatly emboldened me.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
    when they hear what you have decreed.
5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for the glory of the Lord is great.

6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
    though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
    with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
    your love, Lord, endures forever—
    do not abandon the works of your hands.

Insight
In Psalm 138:4–5, David calls the kings of the earth to praise God. The surrounding verses explain the reasons he issues this call: God is loving and faithful and answers those who call (vv. 1–3); He’s kind and compassionate to “the lowly”; He saves those who are oppressed (vv. 6–8).

David’s call to the kings of the earth in verses 4–5 could be considered a hopeful calling. In the days of the Old Testament, kings (outside of Israel) didn’t praise God. They were, more often than not, rebellious and resistant to Him (see Psalms 2 and 48). In Revelation, however, David’s hope is fulfilled as the kings of the earth bring their riches to the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24).

Our Compassionate God
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes. Psalm 138:7

The winter night was cold when someone threw a large stone through a Jewish child’s bedroom window. A star of David had been displayed in the window, along with a menorah to celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. In the child’s town of Billings, Montana, thousands of people—many of them believers in Jesus—responded to the hateful act with compassion. Choosing to identify with the hurt and fear of their Jewish neighbors, they pasted pictures of menorahs in their own windows.

As believers in Jesus, we too receive great compassion. Our Savior humbled Himself to live among us (John 1:14), identifying with us. On our behalf, He, “being in very nature God . . . made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:6–7). Then, feeling as we feel and weeping as we weep, He died on a cross, sacrificing His life to save ours.

Nothing we struggle with is beyond our Savior’s concern. If someone “throws rocks” at our lives, He comforts us. If life brings disappointments, He walks with us through despair. “Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar” (Psalm 138:6). In our troubles, He preserves us, stretching out His hand against both “the anger of [our] foes” (v. 7) and our own deepest fears. Thank You, God, for Your compassionate love. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray
In what areas of your life do you need God’s compassion? How can you show His care and love to others?

O God, I thank You for understanding my struggles and comforting me with loving care. Remind me always to share Your compassion with others.

Learn to love like Jesus at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0208.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Called By God

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." —Isaiah 6:8

God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”

Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R

Bible in a Year: Genesis 33-35; Matthew 10:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Filled With the Good Stuff - #8874

Okay, so the glass says "Coke" on it. But the label would be wrong. See, the glass is filled with water; which of course, would be much healthier for me. Now there's no way I could put any Coke in that glass. No, you see, you can't put any other liquid in it because there's no room for anything but water because it's full. Aren't you glad you tuned in for that science lesson?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Filled With the Good Stuff."

Now, my glass filled with water? That would actually be a picture of one of the most powerful prayers you can pray for yourself or for someone you care about. In fact, it's such a good prayer that it's one of the relatively few that God thought should be in the Bible so we all could read it. The basic thrust in this prayer is repeated several times as Paul tells us what he prayed for when he prayed for the important people in his life.

We get to actually eavesdrop on the prayer of one of the most powerful Christ-followers in history in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Colossians 1:9 where Paul says, "Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to+ - okay, here it comes - "fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding."

Then he goes on to say that if that happens, the folks he's praying for will live a life that pleases God in every way, they will bear fruit in their work, they will grow in knowing God, and they'll get really strong with supernatural power. But what births all that good stuff in one of your "prayees" is that they get filled with the knowledge of God's will. That's what starts this whole ball rolling.

Which brings us to this glass I was talking about, filled with water, which would mean there's no room for anything else in it. This prayer asks that you - or someone you're praying for - will be taken over with the sense of exactly what God wants done in each situation, in each decision. So filled with His will, with what He wants, that it pushes out every other viewpoint, every other perspective, every other voice. What God wants done starts to dominate the heart and the mind and the emotions of a person who is "filled with the knowledge of his will."

That's what is so powerful about this prayer. It's why it was a focal point of the great Apostle Paul's praying. Ultimately, this God's will fill up is an answer to prayer. But there are some things you can do to create the environment of clear, unmistakable direction from God. First, want it badly. Are you interested in God's viewpoint just to see if you want to do what He says? Or are you desperate to get God's leading on what you should do, and you will do it no matter what it is? Remember, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in Him and He will bring it to pass" (Psalm 37:5 KJV).

Secondly, approach it neutrally. Don't pray to be filled with God's will if you're all full of your will. Give God a blank piece of paper, not a contract that you'd like Him to sign. One other step that prepares you for a God's will fill up - act responsively. When you get God's leading, do it before you change your mind. Obedience isn't just agreeing with what God wants - it's doing it. And until God fills you with the knowledge of His will on this matter, don't move. When He does fill your heart, don't wait. By the way, don't forget that the unfolding of God's will is usually just the next step, not the whole plan. It's like take a step, see a step. See, that keeps you close to Him day by day, waiting to see the next step.

Well, get used to asking God for this for you, for someone you love, that they will be "filled with the knowledge of His will." That's a great way to pray!

Ezekiel 45 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

The Bible that I carried as a child contained a picture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He seemed peaceful, yet one reading of the Gospels disrupts that image. Mark says, “Jesus fell to the ground” (Mark 14:35). According to Luke, Jesus was “full of pain” (Luke 22:44). What do we do with this image of Jesus?

Simple — we read it when we feel the same. We read it when we feel afraid. For isn’t it likely that fear was one of the emotions Jesus felt? He saw something in the future so fierce, so foreboding that he begged for a change of plans: “Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering” (Luke 22:42). How remarkable that Jesus felt such fear, but how kind that he told us about it. We see no mask of strength, but we do hear a request for strength. And the fact that he prayed invites us to do the same.

Ezekiel 45

Sacred Space for God

“When you divide up the inheritance of the land, you must set aside part of the land as sacred space for God: approximately seven miles long by six miles wide, all of it holy ground. Within this rectangle, reserve a seven-hundred-fifty-foot square for the Sanctuary with a seventy-five-foot buffer zone surrounding it. Mark off within the sacred reserve a section seven miles long by three miles wide. The Sanctuary with its Holy of Holies will be placed there. This is where the priests will live, those who lead worship in the Sanctuary and serve God there. Their houses will be there along with The Holy Place.

5 “To the north of the sacred reserve, an area roughly seven miles long and two and a quarter miles wide will be set aside as land for the villages of the Levites who administer the affairs of worship in the Sanctuary.

6 “To the south of the sacred reserve, measure off a section seven miles long and about a mile and a half wide for the city itself, an area held in common by the whole family of Israel.

7-8 “The prince gets the land abutting the seven-mile east and west borders of the central sacred square, extending eastward toward the Jordan and westward toward the Mediterranean. This is the prince’s possession in Israel. My princes will no longer bully my people, running roughshod over them. They’ll respect the land as it has been allotted to the tribes.

9-12 “This is the Message of God, the Master: ‘I’ve put up with you long enough, princes of Israel! Quit bullying and taking advantage of my people. Do what’s just and right for a change. Use honest scales—honest weights and honest measures. Every pound must have sixteen ounces. Every gallon must measure four quarts. The ounce is the basic measure for both. And your coins must be honest—no wooden nickels!

Everyone in the Land Must Contribute
13-15 “‘These are the prescribed offerings you are to supply: one-sixtieth part of your wheat, one-sixtieth part of your barley, one-hundredth part of your oil, one sheep out of every two hundred from the lush pastures of Israel. These will be used for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings for making the atonement sacrifices for the people. Decree of God, the Master.

16-17 “‘Everyone in the land must contribute to these special offerings that the prince in Israel will administer. It’s the prince’s job to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings at the Holy Festivals, the New Moons, and the Sabbaths—all the commanded feasts among the people of Israel. Sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings for making atonement for the people of Israel are his responsibility.

18-20 “‘This is the Message from God, the Master: On the first day of the first month, take an unblemished bull calf and purify the Sanctuary. The priest is to take blood from the sin offerings and rub it on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gate entrance to the inside courtyard. Repeat this ritual on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins without knowing it. In this way you make atonement for the Temple.

21 “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month, you will observe the Passover, a feast of seven days. During the feast you will eat bread made without yeast.

22-23 “‘On Passover, the prince supplies a bull as a sin offering for himself and all the people of the country. Each day for each of the seven days of the feast, he will supply seven bulls and seven rams unblemished as a burnt offering to God, and also each day a male goat.

24 “‘He will supply about five and a half gallons of grain offering and a gallon of oil for each bull and each ram.

25 “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and on each of the seven days of the feast, he is to supply the same materials for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Deuteronomy 31:15–22

Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent. 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’ 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

19 “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

Insight
The final chapters of the book of Deuteronomy may seem a strange way to conclude the books of the law (Genesis–Deuteronomy). In Deuteronomy 31:27, Moses says, “If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!” Then he gives the people the song in 32:1–43, which contains a litany of dire warnings and predictions about Israel’s past and future rebellion against God. But Moses also said that the words in this song and in the entire book “are your life” (32:47) because they’d remind them of the goodness of God.

What’s Your Song?
So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites. Deuteronomy 31:22

Most Americans knew little about Alexander Hamilton—until 2015, when Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote his hit musical Hamilton. Now schoolchildren know Hamilton’s story by heart. They sing it to each other on the bus and at recess. He’s their favorite founding father.

God knows the power of music, and He told Moses to “write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it” (Deuteronomy 31:19). God knew that long after Moses was gone, when He had brought Israel into the Promised Land, they would rebel and worship other gods. So He told Moses, “This song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants” (v. 21).

Songs are nearly impossible to forget, so it’s wise to be selective about what we sing. Some songs are just for fun, and that’s fine, but we benefit from songs that boast in Jesus and encourage our faith. One of the ways we “[make] the most of every opportunity” is when we speak “to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.” So “sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (see Ephesians 5:15–19).

Songs can be an indicator of the direction of our heart. Do the words make much of Jesus? Do we sing them wholeheartedly? What we sing will influence what we believe, so choose wisely and sing loudly. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray
What should you look for in a worship song? Is there a favorite song you can sing more often? Why?

Father, this song is my prayer to You. (Sing your favorite.)

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)

When He was alone…the twelve asked Him about the parable. —Mark 4:10

His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).

As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him.  The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L

Bible in a Year: Genesis 31-32; Matthew 9:18-38

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Beautiful Brokenness - #8873

For Christmas, I bought the ladies in the family these necklaces with a beautiful colored glass charm on them. And the Japanese word "nozomi." There's a story behind those necklaces.

In 2011 a tsunami virtually leveled the Japanese coastal city of Ishinomaki. All that was left was fields of debris where homes and tearooms once stood. Sue Takamoto was helping to clear away some of the debris one day when she noticed all the colorful shards of broken pottery that were everywhere she stepped. It was all that remained of the tearooms and kitchens that had been swept out to sea.

Sue and her friends collected and washed those shards, because they saw in those broken pieces a way to help some broken lives. They began the Nozomi Project - Japanese for "hope."

The tsunami had left a lot of single mothers without a job or income. The Nozomi Project enables them to create rings and necklaces and earrings from the broken pieces. Then it's sold online - to people like me.

Sue Takamoto said: "Many of these women lost their community and their neighbors are all gone. Their homes are washed away, and they're living in scattered places. But God can take broken pottery and broken women who think that life is over for them and do anything He wants. We are in the midst of seeing amazing things. In the rubble of our storm, we all have lots of broken pieces. We can leave them broken. Or, she said, with God's grace and help, make them into something beautiful. Something called hope."

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

There's a lot of "broken" today. Broken hearts, broken dreams, broken families, broken health, broken relationships. For me, the tsunami was the sudden death of my Karen, the love of my life.

Our word for today from the Word of God is a word of hope for all of us who have some broken in our life. It's in Isaiah 61:1-3 and it's about Jesus: "The Lord...has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to provide for those who grieve, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes." Beauty from ashes. Nozomi. Hope.

A broken heart is an open heart. It's open in places that may have never been open before. And Jesus moves into those places with His transforming love and comfort and healing. For 2,000 years, He's been making beautiful things in people's lives from broken pieces.

I know He's been keeping the "beauty from ashes" promise for me. Something's been happening to me that's hard to describe. My heart's more tender toward other people and toward God than ever before. It's like a new compassion.

I value each day more than ever. I live with a re-fired sense of urgency. I'm thinking legacy more than ever, being intentional about passing on to my children and grandchildren and young leaders what God has taught me in a lifetime. And there's just something very special going on between me and God. He seems closer, seems more real to me than ever. Beautiful things from my broken pieces.

My prayer for you is that you will bring all your broken pieces to Jesus, lay them at His feet and open your hands to receive what He wants to give you. He loved you enough to die for you. He was powerful enough to crush death and walk out of His grave. He can be trusted.

You don't have to stay broken. Jesus stands ready to lead you into a new season where you'll make a greater difference than ever before. He knows broken. He was broken for you and me on a cross. And the Bible says, "By His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

You could find out more about beginning your own personal relationship with Him at our website, which this would be a great day for you to go there - ANewStory.com.

He's waiting to do for you the miracle described in a little Gospel song that says, "Something beautiful, something good. All my confusion, He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life."

1 John 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: TRUST YOUR SHEPHERD

Perhaps you don’t need your hope restored right now — your jungle has become a meadow, your journey a delight. If such is the case, congratulations. But remember, we do not know what tomorrow holds. You may be one turn from a cemetery, from a virus, from an empty house. You may be a bend in the road from a jungle. And though you don’t need your hope restored today, you may tomorrow. And you need to know to whom to turn.

Or perhaps you do need hope today. You know you were not made for this place. You know you are not equipped. You want someone to lead you out. If so, put your trust in the Shepherd. He knows the path that leads to your new beginning, and he’s just waiting for you to join him.

1 John 1

From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.

3-4 We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

Walk in the Light
5 This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

2 Corinthians 5:14–21

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Insight
At the heart of the concept of becoming one with Jesus is His work of reconciliation in us. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul weaves several themes together—life, love, new creation, and the ministry of reconciliation—all framed by a call to act with urgency. It’s because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that we can be reconciled to God. Those who accept His gift of reconciliation should “no longer live for themselves” (v. 15). Instead, we’re compelled to view everyone differently (v. 16), as people in dire need of Jesus’ reconciliation. And what is this reconciliation? God will no longer “[count] people’s sins against them” (v. 19). With urgency, Paul tells us that we’re now Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation and says, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (v. 20).

Breaking the Cycle
If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

David’s first beating came at the hands of his father on his seventh birthday, after he accidentally broke a window. “He kicked me and punched me,” David said. “Afterward, he apologized. He was an abusive alcoholic, and it’s a cycle I’m doing my best to end now.”

But it took a long time for David to get to this point. Most of his teen years and twenties were spent in jail or on probation, and in and out of addiction treatment centers. When it felt like his dreams were entirely dashed, he found hope in a Christ-centered treatment center through a relationship with Jesus.

“I used to be filled with nothing but despair,” David says. “Now I’m pushing myself in the other direction. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I tell God is that I’m surrendering my will over to Him.”

When we come to God with lives shattered, whether by others’ wrongdoing or by our own, God takes our broken hearts and makes us new: “If anyone is in Christ, . . . the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christ’s love and life breaks into the cycles of our past, giving us a new future (vv. 14–15). And it doesn’t end there! Throughout our lives, we can find hope and strength in what God has done and continues to do in us—each and every moment. By:  Alyson Kieda

Reflect & Pray
Where were you headed when you received Jesus as your Savior? How does it help to know that God continues to shape your life to increasingly resemble His?   

Dear God, thank You for interrupting the downward trajectory of my life and making me a new creation! Make me ever more like You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)

When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. —Mark 4:34

Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?

We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Genesis 29-30; Matthew 9:1-17

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Realizing You Were Made For More - #8872

Our grandson was on a very limited diet - just mother's milk or baby formula for his first six months. But something then happened in weeks that followed. He suddenly became fascinated with what the rest of us were eating. Fascinated, as in staring at the food on our plate, the fork going down to get that food, the fork coming up to put that food in our mouth, and our mouth as it was chewing that food. Then repeat the exercise as the fork goes down for another bite. You could tell by the longing look in his eyes, he wasn't content with that milk or formula anymore. No, he wanted some of that good stuff. If he could have talked, I think he might have said, "Hey! I've been made for more than what I've been getting!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Realizing You Were Made For More."

Our grandson's growing dissatisfaction with his liquid diet was actually setting the stage for moving to something much better. In fact, many all grown-up people have some of those same feelings, "I've been made for more than what I've experienced so far." The good news is that, in many lives, restlessness like that has immediately preceded the greatest life upgrade those people have ever experienced.

Many of us know the feeling of a life that's full but not fulfilling. For all the things we've done to get some love, there's never been enough. We're still lonely. For everything we've tried to give more meaning to our life, nothing has ever really satisfied our soul. We're still wondering what the point of it all is. For all we've thought would give us some lasting peace inside, the unrest in our soul just doesn't go away. Even if you seem to have everything going your way, your heart may still be saying, "I'm made for more than this."

And your heart is right. It's just that the "something more" has always been elusive. It could be within your reach today, though, if you reach the right direction. Who could have more love, more meaning, more peace to give than the God who gave us our life in the first place? Here's what He says in Isaiah 55, beginning with verse 1. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "Come, all you who are thirsty (or let me say, "all you who are restless for more."), come to the waters...come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare...hear Me, so that your soul may live."

God says, "Don't waste any more time or energy on things that can never satisfy your soul. I've got what you're looking for." And where can you find it? It's not in a church. It's not in a religion. It's in a person. Here's what the Bible says about God's Son, Jesus: "All things were created by Him and for Him" - that would include you - "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 1:16; 2:9). It goes on to say, "You are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10, KJV). Wow! Complete, fulfilled, at peace, because you have found the One you were made by and made for.

Sadly, we haven't lived our life for the One we were made for. We've made it all about me instead of all about Him. So we're away from the One who has the "something more" that we were made for. But in the greatest act of love in human history, Jesus paid the price to give us a chance to know God. This same book of the Bible says that He reconciled us to God "by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20). We can have life now; we can have life forever because He gave up His life for us. But, thank God, He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead; so He's alive right now, and He's inviting you to turn to Him for what only He can give you.

This life-changing relationship with Jesus begins the moment you say, "Lord, I give up running my life. It's Yours to run from now on. I'm putting myself completely in the hands of Jesus, who died and rose again for me." It's exciting to think that this could be the day your long search comes to an end. A lot of people have found help getting started with Him at our website, and I want to invite you to go there. It's ANewStory.com.

Jesus is the "something more" you were made for, and He's within your reach today. I'm praying that you won't miss Him.