Job 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: QUIET SERVANTHOOD - June 7, 2021

In the hallway of my memory hangs a photograph. It’s a picture of two people—a man and a woman in the seventh decade of life. The man lies in a hospital bed in the living room, not in the hospital room. His body, for all practical purposes, is useless. Muscles have been ravaged by ALS. And even though his body is ineffective, his eyes scan the room for his partner, a woman whose age is concealed by her youthful vigor.

She willingly goes taking care of her husband. With unswerving loyalty she does what she’s been doing for the past two years: shave him, bathe him, feed him, comb his hair, and brush his teeth. On the day we buried my father I thanked my mom for modeling the servant spirit of Christ: quiet servanthood.


Job 11

Zophar’s Counsel
How Wisdom Looks from the Inside

 Now it was the turn of Zophar from Naamath:

“What a flood of words! Shouldn’t we put a stop to it?
    Should this kind of loose talk be permitted?
Job, do you think you can carry on like this and we’ll say nothing?
    That we’ll let you rail and mock and not step in?
You claim, ‘My doctrine is sound
    and my conduct impeccable.’
How I wish God would give you a piece of his mind,
    tell you what’s what!
I wish he’d show you how wisdom looks from the inside,
    for true wisdom is mostly ‘inside.’
But you can be sure of this,
    you haven’t gotten half of what you deserve.

7-12 “Do you think you can explain the mystery of God?
    Do you think you can diagram God Almighty?
God is far higher than you can imagine,
    far deeper than you can comprehend,
Stretching farther than earth’s horizons,
    far wider than the endless ocean.
If he happens along, throws you in jail
    then hauls you into court, can you do anything about it?
He sees through vain pretensions,
    spots evil a long way off—
    no one pulls the wool over his eyes!
Hollow men, hollow women, will wise up
    about the same time mules learn to talk.

Reach Out to God
13-20 “Still, if you set your heart on God
    and reach out to him,
If you scrub your hands of sin
    and refuse to entertain evil in your home,
You’ll be able to face the world unashamed
    and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless.
You’ll forget your troubles;
    they’ll be like old, faded photographs.
Your world will be washed in sunshine,
    every shadow dispersed by dawn.
Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again;
    you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.
Expansive, without a care in the world,
    you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing.
But the wicked will see none of this.
    They’re headed down a dead-end road
    with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, June 07, 2021
Read: Proverbs 14:1–3, 26–27, 33

The wise woman builds her house,
    but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

2 Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly,
    but those who despise him are devious in their ways.

3 A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride,
    but the lips of the wise protect them.

Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress,
    and for their children it will be a refuge.

27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
    turning a person from the snares of death.

Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning
    and even among fools she lets herself be known.[a]

INSIGHT
The “wise woman” of Proverbs 14:1, who “builds her house” rather than tearing it down, finds a fuller description in Proverbs 31:10–31. This “wife of noble character” (v. 10) not only “speaks with wisdom” (v. 26) but manages her household and business affairs with skill and dignity and “opens her arms to the poor and . . . needy” (v. 20). The New Testament women Dorcas and Lydia seem to fit this description in many aspects. Dorcas (or Tabitha) was a disciple who “was always doing good and helping the poor” by making “robes and other clothing.” When she fell sick and died, Peter raised her from the dead (Acts 9:36–42). Lydia was a “dealer in purple cloth” and a “worshiper of God” who opened her home to Paul and his companions (16:13–15, 40). The key characteristic of the wise woman is that she “fears the Lord” (Proverbs 31:30).

By Linda Washington
A Wise Builder

The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. Proverbs 14:1

Sojourner Truth, whose birth name was Isabella Baumfree, was born a slave in 1797 in Esopus, New York. Though nearly all her children were sold as slaves, she escaped to freedom in 1826 with one daughter and lived with a family who paid the money for her freedom. Instead of allowing an unjust system to keep her family apart, she took legal action to regain her small son Peter—an amazing feat for an African American woman in that day. Knowing she couldn’t raise her children without God’s help, she became a believer in Christ and later changed her name to Sojourner Truth to show that her life was built on the foundation of God’s truth.

King Solomon, the writer of Proverbs 14, declares, “The wise woman builds her house” (v. 1). In contrast, one without wisdom “tears hers down.” This building metaphor shows the wisdom God provides to those willing to listen. How does one build a house with wisdom? By saying “only what is helpful for building others up” (Ephesians 4:29; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:11). How does one tear down? Proverbs 14 gives the answer: “A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride” (v. 3).

Sojourner had a “secure fortress” (v. 26) in a turbulent time, thanks to the wisdom of God. You may never have to rescue your children from an injustice. But you can build your house on the same foundation Sojourner did—the wisdom of God.

What foundation is your house established upon? How will you build your house this week?

Father, I need Your wisdom to build a lasting legacy for Your glory.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 07, 2021
The Greatest Source of Power

Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do… —John 14:13

Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? If the central point, or the most powerful influence, of my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.

However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? “If you abide in Me…”— that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these— what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are actually God’s foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth it is to a saint of God.


WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest. Disciples Indeed, 395 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 28-29; John 17
 

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 07, 2021

No Name Like This Name - #8976

These days when parents are expecting a baby, they put some care usually into picking a name. And one of the places they go is to these books where you find hundreds and hundreds of names and what is the meaning of that child's name. Now, my parents, I don't know if they didn't have books like that or they didn't care. But, well, when they were on the way to the hospital, I guess they had a name picked out for a girl. They didn't think about a boy, but I was. So, as they're going, they go, "What if we have a boy? What should we name him?" And they passed - now, listen, I hate to tell you this, because you're going to use it against me someday. I know you are - here we go, Ronnie's Used Car Lot. Okay, go ahead, laugh. Get that over with. So they named me after a used car salesman (don't say it!). And some of you who listen all the time go, "The way you talk, I believe it. I understand it was predestination that you should be named after a used car salesman." Well, listen. Picking a name? Put some thought into it please. I'll tell you this, there was one name that God came up with, and it just so happens it became the most powerful word in the world.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Name Like This Name."

You may remember that when Jesus was born, actually before He was born, God appeared to Joseph and He said, "You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." And that name becomes, now, the most powerful word in the world.

Our word for today from the Word of God, Acts 4:12 says this: "There is salvation in no other name, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved."

Paul said, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power." Paul says, "When I come to you I'm going to talk about Jesus."

Now, the issue has always been, and continues to be today, the name of Jesus. All through the book of Acts the apostles insist on saying, "You need to come in the name of Jesus. That's where salvation is. There's no other name." And what did the religious leaders say? "You can talk all you want, just don't talk about the name of Jesus." See the Devil doesn't care if we talk about church, or religion, or God, or love. He hates the name of Jesus. Don't say Jesus! Why? Because it's the name by which people are saved. It's the name at which according to Philippians 2 every knee shall bow one day, including every demon.

But did you ever notice how hard it is to talk about Jesus? Oh yeah, God's okay, but Jesus seems to be the threshold where we have a hard time crossing. We don't want to say, "It's Jesus who changed my life." We choke on the name of Jesus. But see, for 2,000 years the order from hell has been, "Edit out Jesus." And He's trying to tell us to do that.

Now, the challenge is, will those who love the name of Jesus be as bold to speak that name as those who defile that name? See, they'll talk about Him openly, boldly. Unbelievers are bold; they'll talk about Jesus all day irreverently. Isn't it time we quit choking on that name? Jesus is a stranger in our world because we don't talk about Him; His love, His life, His personality, His death, His explosion in the graveyard when He blasted out of His grave. This is a time for boldness!

And I've got to tell you this: I am so glad that it's all about Jesus. Jesus said, "Follow Me." Paul said, "Nothing but Jesus and His cross." Maybe you've gotten confused along the way and you've rejected Jesus because you've gotten Him confused with Christians, or Christianity, or church. He's none of those. You've got a problem with Christians and with Christianity, with the church?

Okay, fine. Do you have a problem with Jesus? Because He's the One who died for you; He's the One you'll meet as soon as you die. He's the One God says, "What did you do with My Son?"

Maybe today you need to get things settled with Him, because there's no other name. Go to our website. It's ANewStory.com. Find out how to get started with Him. And if your hope for eternity is in anything other than Jesus, in anyone else, this is the day to pin your hopes on the only name that can get you to heaven.

Matthew 9:1-17 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
A D-Day Prayer by Franklin D. Roosevelt June 6, 1944:"In this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer:…"

Max Lucado Daily: A Human Being

One night I was on baby duty and Jenna’s breathing slowed. I leaned my ear onto her mouth to see if she was alive. And when she burbled and panted, so did I. That’s when a tsunami of sobriety washed over me. We are in charge of a human being!

I don’t care how tough you are. You may be a Navy SEAL who skydives behind enemy lines. It doesn’t matter. Every parent melts the moment he or she feels the full force of parenthood. How did I get myself into this? Moms have thirty-six weeks of reminders elbowing around inside them. Dads, our kick in the gut comes later… but it does come. And for me it came years ago in the midnight quiet of an apartment living room—as I held a human being in my arms!

From Dad Time

Matthew 9:1-17

Who Needs a Doctor?

Back in the boat, Jesus and the disciples recrossed the sea to Jesus’ hometown. They were hardly out of the boat when some men carried a paraplegic on a stretcher and set him down in front of them. Jesus, impressed by their bold belief, said to the paraplegic, “Cheer up, son. I forgive your sins.” Some religion scholars whispered, “Why, that’s blasphemy!”

4-8 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why this gossipy whispering? Which do you think is simpler: to say, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or, ‘Get up and walk’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both.?.?.?.” At this he turned to the paraplegic and said, “Get up. Take your bed and go home.” And the man did it. The crowd was awestruck, amazed and pleased that God had authorized Jesus to work among them this way.

9 Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” Matthew stood up and followed him.

10-11 Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?”

12-13 Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”

Kingdom Come
14 A little later John’s followers approached, asking, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees rigorously discipline body and spirit by fasting, but your followers don’t?”

15 Jesus told them, “When you’re celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to exercise moderation, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!”

16-17 He went on, “No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put your wine in cracked bottles.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, June 06, 2021
Read: 1 John 3:1–3

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

INSIGHT
What makes a true child of God? John answers that question both here in 1 John 3 and in another of his writings. In the account of Jesus’ life we know as the gospel of John, he wrote: “To all who did receive [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent . . . but born of God” (John 1:12–13). Now, in this letter, John notes that as His children “we shall be like him [Jesus]” (1 John 3:2). Later in the chapter, John makes the point that a key evidence of our status as God’s children is our love for each other (v. 10). This is such a vital aspect that John says, “Anyone who does not love remains in death” (v. 14). True children of God will love each other.

By Sheridan Voysey
Our True Selves
We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him. 1 John 3:2

Inside my parents’ old photo album is a picture of a young boy. He has a round face, freckles, and straight, light-blond hair. He loves cartoons, hates avocados, and owns just one record, by Abba. Also inside that album are pictures of a teenager. His face is long, not round; his hair is wavy, not straight. He has no freckles, likes avocados, watches movies rather than cartoons, and would never admit to owning an Abba record! The boy and the teenager are little alike. According to science they have different skin, teeth, blood, and bones. And yet they are both me. This paradox has baffled philosophers. Since we change throughout our lives, who is the real us?

The Scriptures provide the answer. From the moment God began knitting us together in the womb (Psalm 139:13–14), we’ve been growing into our unique design. While we can’t yet imagine what we’ll finally become, we know that if we’re children of God we’ll ultimately be like Jesus (1 John 3:2)—our body with His nature, our personality but His character, all our gifts glistening, all our sins gone.

Until the day Jesus returns, we’re being drawn toward this future self. By His work, step by step, we can reflect His image ever more clearly (2 Corinthians 3:18). We aren’t yet who we’re meant to be, but as we become like Him, we become our true selves.

When songs and films encourage us to find our “true selves,” what do you think they miss? In what area can you step toward Christlikeness today?

Jesus, make me more like You today and every day.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 06, 2021
“Work Out” What God “Works in” You

…work out your own salvation…for it is God who works in you… —Philippians 2:12-13

Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God. Yet you say, “But I don’t know if my will is in agreement with God.” Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. What causes you to say “I will not obey” is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they are never in agreement with God. The most profound thing in a person is his will, not sin.

The will is the essential element in God’s creation of human beings— sin is a perverse nature which entered into people. In someone who has been born again, the source of the will is Almighty God. “…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” With focused attention and great care, you have to “work out” what God “works in” you— not work to accomplish or earn “your own salvation,” but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of a life based with determined, unshakable faith on the complete and perfect redemption of the Lord. As you do this, you do not bring an opposing will up against God’s will— God’s will is your will. Your natural choices will be in accordance with God’s will, and living this life will be as natural as breathing. Stubbornness is an unintelligent barrier, refusing enlightenment and blocking its flow. The only thing to do with this barrier of stubbornness is to blow it up with “dynamite,” and the “dynamite” is obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Do I believe that Almighty God is the Source of my will? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it.

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: 2 Chronicles 25-27; John 16

Job 10 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: It's the Father

One of my favorite childhood memories is greeting my father as he came home from work. My brother and I would take our positions on the couch and watch cartoons, always keeping one ear alert to the driveway. Even the best "Daffy Duck" would be abandoned when we heard his car. I'd run to meet Dad and get swept up in his big arms. He'd put his big-brimmed saw hat on my head, and for a moment I'd be a cowboy. When we went indoors and opened his lunch pail, any leftover snacks (which he always seemed to have) were for my brother and me to split. What more could a five-year-old want?
But suppose my dad, rather than coming home, just sent some things home. No deal. That wouldn't work. Even a five-year-old knows it's the person, not the presents.  It's not the frills, it's the father!
From Dad Time

Job 10

To Find Some Skeleton in My Closet

“I can’t stand my life—I hate it!
    I’m putting it all out on the table,
    all the bitterness of my life—I’m holding back nothing.”

2-7 Job prayed:

“Here’s what I want to say:
Don’t, God, bring in a verdict of guilty
    without letting me know the charges you’re bringing.
How does this fit into what you once called ‘good’—
    giving me a hard time, spurning me,
    a life you shaped by your very own hands,
    and then blessing the plots of the wicked?
You don’t look at things the way we mortals do.
    You’re not taken in by appearances, are you?
Unlike us, you’re not working against a deadline.
    You have all eternity to work things out.
So what’s this all about, anyway—this compulsion
    to dig up some dirt, to find some skeleton in my closet?
You know good and well I’m not guilty.
    You also know no one can help me.

8-12 “You made me like a handcrafted piece of pottery—
    and now are you going to smash me to pieces?
Don’t you remember how beautifully you worked my clay?
    Will you reduce me now to a mud pie?
Oh, that marvel of conception as you stirred together
    semen and ovum—
What a miracle of skin and bone,
    muscle and brain!
You gave me life itself, and incredible love.
    You watched and guarded every breath I took.

13-17 “But you never told me about this part.
    I should have known that there was more to it—
That if I so much as missed a step, you’d notice and pounce,
    wouldn’t let me get by with a thing.
If I’m truly guilty, I’m doomed.
    But if I’m innocent, it’s no better—I’m still doomed.
My belly is full of bitterness.
    I’m up to my ears in a swamp of affliction.
I try to make the best of it, try to brave it out,
    but you’re too much for me,
    relentless, like a lion on the prowl.
You line up fresh witnesses against me.
    You compound your anger
    and pile on the grief and pain!

18-22 “So why did you have me born?
    I wish no one had ever laid eyes on me!
I wish I’d never lived—a stillborn,
    buried without ever having breathed.
Isn’t it time to call it quits on my life?
    Can’t you let up, and let me smile just once
Before I die and am buried,
    before I’m nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground,
And banished for good to the land of the dead,
    blind in the final dark?”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, June 05, 2021
Read: Romans 12:9–13
Love in Action

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
INSIGHT
Love is the subject of a series of exhortations in Paul’s letter to the believers in Jesus in Rome. Romans 12:9–21 describes in detail what sincere love looks like. One common aspect of each of these expressions of love is that it requires putting the needs and interests of others ahead of our own. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reiterates the sacrificial nature of love and describes what love is and what it isn’t. Again, the common aspect of love described in this passage is that it focuses on the good of someone else. Jesus taught that the greatest love is self-sacrificing: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). To say that we love includes placing others ahead of ourselves.

By Xochitl Dixon
Waiting in Hope

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

Rogelio served as our waiter during our weeklong vacation. In one conversation, he credited Jesus for blessing him with Kaly, a compassionate wife with strong faith. After they had their first baby, God gave them the opportunity to help care for their niece who had Down syndrome. Soon after, Rogelio’s mother-in-law needed live-in care.

Rogelio works with joy, often taking on double shifts to ensure his wife can stay home to care for the people God entrusted to them. When I shared how the couple inspired me to love better because of the way they opened their hearts and home to serve their family members, he said, “It is my pleasure to serve them . . . and you.”

Rogelio’s life affirms the power of living with generosity and trusting God to provide as we serve one another selflessly. The apostle Paul urged God’s people to be “devoted to one another in love . . . joyful in hope, patient in affliction, [and] faithful in prayer” as we “share with the Lord’s people who are in need [and] practice hospitality” (Romans 12:10–13).

Our life can change in an instant, leaving us or those we love in circumstances that feel impossible to bear. But when we’re willing to share all God has given us while we wait on Him, we can cling to His enduring love . . . together.

How can you prayerfully and physically support someone in need today? How has God used someone to offer you tangible support while you waited for Him?

God, please help me love others while I wait for You to work in and through my circumstances.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 05, 2021
God’s Assurance

He Himself has said….So we may boldly say… —Hebrews 13:5-6

My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.

What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you….’ ”

Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Much of the misery in our Christian life comes not because the devil tackles us, but because we have never understood the simple laws of our make-up. We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says “Sit,” and He says “Go,” go! When the body says “Eat,” and He says “Fast,” fast! When the body says “Yawn,” and He says “Pray,” pray! Biblical Ethics, 107 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 23-24; John 15

Job 9 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: THE ROLE OF A SERVANT - June 4, 2021

“Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27–28).

Jesus came to serve. Suppose you took that role. Be the family member who offers to wash the dishes after dinner. Be the neighbor who mows the grass of the elderly people. Find happiness in serving others. Doing good does the doer good.

What would happen if everyone took on the role of a servant? How many marriages would be blessed? If politicians set out to serve their people more than serve themselves, would their country benefit? If churches were populated by sincere servants, how many people would hear the invitation of a lifetime? Service—this is how happiness happens.

Job 9

Job Continues
How Can Mere Mortals Get Right with God?

Job continued by saying:

“So what’s new? I know all this.
    The question is, ‘How can mere mortals get right with God?’
If we wanted to bring our case before him,
    what chance would we have? Not one in a thousand!
God’s wisdom is so deep, God’s power so immense,
    who could take him on and come out in one piece?
He moves mountains before they know what’s happened,
    flips them on their heads on a whim.
He gives the earth a good shaking up,
    rocks it down to its very foundations.
He tells the sun, ‘Don’t shine,’ and it doesn’t;
    he pulls the blinds on the stars.
All by himself he stretches out the heavens
    and strides on the waves of the sea.
He designed the Big Dipper and Orion,
    the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.
We’ll never comprehend all the great things he does;
    his miracle-surprises can’t be counted.
Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don’t see him;
    quietly but surely he’s active, and I miss it.
If he steals you blind, who can stop him?
    Who’s going to say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
God doesn’t hold back on his anger;
    even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.

14-20 “So how could I ever argue with him,
    construct a defense that would influence God?
Even though I’m innocent I could never prove it;
    I can only throw myself on the Judge’s mercy.
If I called on God and he himself answered me,
    then, and only then, would I believe that he’d heard me.
As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post,
    beating me up, black-and-blue, for no good reason.
He won’t even let me catch my breath,
    piles bitterness upon bitterness.
If it’s a question of who’s stronger, he wins, hands down!
    If it’s a question of justice, who’ll serve him the subpoena?
Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me;
    blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.

If God’s Not Responsible, Who Is?
21-24 “Believe me, I’m blameless.
    I don’t understand what’s going on.
    I hate my life!
Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude
    that God destroys the good right along with the bad.
When calamity hits and brings sudden death,
    he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.
He lets the wicked take over running the world,
    he installs judges who can’t tell right from wrong.
    If he’s not responsible, who is?

25-31 “My time is short—what’s left of my life races off
    too fast for me to even glimpse the good.
My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail,
    like an eagle plummeting to its prey.
Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me,
    I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile,’
All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut
    since it’s clear you’re not going to let up.
The verdict has already been handed down—‘Guilty!’—
    so what’s the use of protests or appeals?
Even if I scrub myself all over
    and wash myself with the strongest soap I can find,
It wouldn’t last—you’d push me into a pigpen, or worse,
    so nobody could stand me for the stink.

32-35 “God and I are not equals; I can’t bring a case against him.
    We’ll never enter a courtroom as peers.
How I wish we had an arbitrator
    to step in and let me get on with life—
To break God’s death grip on me,
    to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.
Then I’d speak up and state my case boldly.
    As things stand, there is no way I can do it.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, June 04, 2021
Read: Deuteronomy 32:1–4

Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain
    and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
    Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

INSIGHT
Much of the book of Deuteronomy (which means “second law”) consists of Moses’ farewell address to the children of Israel, including a recitation of the law that the nation had agreed to forty years earlier at Mount Sinai. At this point, Moses had been leading the nation since their departure from Egypt four decades earlier, but most of the adults who’d been present at Sinai were no longer alive. As such, a repeating of the covenant was very appropriate. This farewell isn’t a victory celebration, however. Soon the people of Israel would enter the promised land—but Joshua, not Moses, would lead them. Moses was prohibited from entering because of an event of spiritual failure during the wilderness wanderings (Numbers 20:12–13). The book that begins with Israel at the Jordan, ready to start a new life, ends with Moses’ death and Joshua’s rise to leadership.

By Winn Collier
Perfect Justice

All [God’s] ways are just. Deuteronomy 32:4

In 1983, three teens were arrested for the murder of a fourteen-year-old. According to news reports, the younger teen was “shot . . . because of his [athletic] jacket.” Sentenced to life in prison, the three spent thirty-six years behind bars before evidence surfaced that revealed their innocence. Another man had committed the crime. Before the judge released them as free men, he issued an apology.

No matter how hard we try (and no matter how much good is done by our officials), human justice is often flawed. We never have all the information. Sometimes dishonest people manipulate the facts. Sometimes we’re just wrong. And often, evils may take years to be righted, if they ever are in our lifetime. Thankfully, unlike fickle humans, God wields perfect justice. “His works are perfect,” says Moses, “and all his ways are just” (Deuteronomy 32:4). God sees things as they truly are. In time, after we’ve done our worst, God will bring about final, ultimate justice. Though uncertain of the timing, we have confidence because we serve a “faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (v. 4).

We may be dogged by uncertainty regarding what’s right or wrong. We may fear that the injustices done to us or those we love will never be made right. But we can trust the God of justice to one day—either in this life or the next—enact justice for us.

Where have you seen justice abused or misrepresented? Where does your heart cry out for God to bring justice?

God, I see injustice all around me: in the news, in my relationships, on social media. Thank You for the hope I can have in You and Your just ways.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 04, 2021

The Never-forsaking God

He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5

What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

“I will never leave you…”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.

“I will never…forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.  Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22; John 14

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 04, 2021
Sharp Edges - #8975

With the population of our family increasing with the arrival of each new grandchild, our ability to accommodate everybody was shrinking. So we added a couple of rooms that really have served us well in some memorable family get-togethers. But we had to correct one thing. As we looked at the staircase that a lot of little legs (like mine) would be climbing, we didn't like the sharp edges we saw on one of the boards that was along and at the top of the staircase. We had to take care of those before someone got hurt on them.

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

Needless to say, we rounded off those sharp edges because people we love could get hurt on them. The problem is that too many of us have sharp edges we never deal with; edges that continue to hurt people we care about. It's those sharp edges in our personality, in the way we react to people, in the way we treat people sometimes, in the way we act when we're tired or stressed. And you can't just let those sharp edges stay there. They've already done enough damage, haven't they?

Maybe you get sharp and hurtful when you're tired, or when you're interrupted, or when something or someone messes up the way you had it planned. It could be you become cutting and harsh when you're really stressed, or frustrated, or when you don't get your way. I know where my buttons are that bring out my worst. I suspect you know where yours are, too. But for the sake of those we love, isn't it time we really finally did something about the sharp edges that keep cutting them?

Our word for today from the Word of God calls us to be known for a trait that was so there in our Lord Jesus. Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your gentleness be evident to all." Well, is it? Would folks who know you best call you gentle? Or are they getting verbally roughed up by you all too often? Colossians 3 describes the new you that's supposed to be the result of you knowing Jesus personally. It says, "As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." That's the personality wardrobe that folks should always see you in, because you look good in it.

Sometimes you may not realize the power of your words; power to heal, power to wound, to build up, to tear down, to make a person feel valuable or worthless. In fact, Proverbs 18:21 says, "the tongue has the power of life and death." With the words you say, you can make someone either feel dead or alive inside. And listen to what God says our sharp edges can do: "Reckless words pierce like a sword" (Proverbs 12:18). We know that's true. We've been pierced with that sword many times ourselves haven't we? Then why must we continually wound, alienate and wither the people we care about with our sharp edges?

Gentle treatment of people - especially when we're feeling tired, or tense, or frustrated - doesn't necessarily come naturally. God describes it as a "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:23). It's a characteristic Jesus has that He can produce in you through His Holy Spirit who lives in you. But you have to reach the point where, first of all, you're willing to see those sharp edges that you have and repent of them as part of the sinful old you that's all dark and ugly. And tell the Lord you're powerless to change your dark side by yourself.

Surrender that harsh side of you to God's Holy Spirit to replace it with the loving gentleness of your Lord, Jesus. Go back to those you've hurt and tell them you're sorry. Ask them to pray for you as you try to change. And when you're in one of those times when the sharp edges are coming out, stop for a moment and exchange your feelings and your instincts and your history for His empowering, overlooking love.

There are too many wounds, too many tears from the damage our sharp edges have inflicted already. But because of Jesus, you just don't have to be that way anymore!

Job 8 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:JESUS SERVES - June 3, 2021

The disciples were on the Sea of Galilee when they heard Jesus call out from the shore, and when they reached the beach they saw the most extraordinary sight. Jesus was cooking!  He told them, “Come and eat breakfast” (John 21:12). Shouldn’t the roles be reversed? Jesus had just ripped the gates of hell off their hinges. He’d made a deposit of grace that forever offsets our debt of sin. He, the unrivaled Commander of the Universe, wore the apron?

Even more, he has yet to remove it. He promises a feast in heaven at which “he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them” (Luke 12:37). Can you imagine the sight? Someone asks, “Has anyone seen Jesus?” “Yes, he’s on the other side of the banquet room serving iced tea.” This is how happiness happens.

Job 8

Bildad’s Response
Does God Mess Up?

Bildad from Shuhah was next to speak:

“How can you keep on talking like this?
    You’re talking nonsense, and noisy nonsense at that.
Does God mess up?
    Does God Almighty ever get things backward?
It’s plain that your children sinned against him—
    otherwise, why would God have punished them?
Here’s what you must do—and don’t put it off any longer:
    Get down on your knees before God Almighty.
If you’re as innocent and upright as you say,
    it’s not too late—he’ll come running;
    he’ll set everything right again, reestablish your fortunes.
Even though you’re not much right now,
    you’ll end up better than ever.

To Hang Your Life from One Thin Thread
8-19 “Put the question to our ancestors,
    study what they learned from their ancestors.
For we’re newcomers at this, with a lot to learn,
    and not too long to learn it.
So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what’s what,
    instruct you in what they knew from experience?
Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil?
    Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?
Blossoming flowers look beautiful before they’re cut or picked,
    but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass.
That’s what happens to all who forget God—
    all their hopes come to nothing.
They hang their life from one thin thread,
    they hitch their fate to a spider web.
One jiggle and the thread breaks,
    one jab and the web collapses.
Or they’re like weeds springing up in the sunshine,
    invading the garden,
Spreading everywhere, overtaking the flowers,
    getting a foothold even in the rocks.
But when the gardener rips them out by the roots,
    the garden doesn’t miss them one bit.
The sooner the godless are gone, the better;
    then good plants can grow in their place.

20-22 “There’s no way that God will reject a good person,
    and there is no way he’ll help a bad one.
God will let you laugh again;
    you’ll raise the roof with shouts of joy,
With your enemies thoroughly discredited,
    their house of cards collapsed.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, June 03, 2021

Read: Lamentations 3:19–26

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

INSIGHT
When Jeremiah refers to “bitterness” and “gall” (Lamentations 3:19), bitterness is literally “wormwood,” a bitter-tasting plant, while gall is a poisonous plant that causes great pain if eaten. Together, the words function as a metaphor for great anguish, in this case attributed to God’s judgment (Jeremiah 9:15).

It’s the capacity to hope (Lamentations 3:21) that gives the prophet strength to endure. While today “hope” is often synonymous with an optimistic emotion, in the Old Testament both Hebrew words translated “hope” (yakhal and qavah) refer to waiting. In Lamentations 3:21, the word yakhal is used and is the same word translated “will wait for” in verse 24. Therefore, a posture of hope—waiting in expectation—isn’t based on an optimistic perspective on the current situation but on God’s character and faithfulness to bring about future restoration (see Psalm 39:7).

By Julie Schwab
It’s Okay to Lament

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him. Lamentations 3:25

I dropped to my knees and let my tears fall to the floor. “God, why aren’t you taking care of me?” I cried. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. I’d been laid-off for almost a month, and something had gone wrong with my unemployment application. I hadn’t received any money yet, and the stimulus check the US government had promised hadn’t arrived. Deep down, I trusted that God would work out everything. I believed He truly loved me and would take care of me, but in that moment, I felt abandoned.

The book of Lamentations reminds us it’s okay to lament. The book was likely written during or soon after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587 bc. It describes the affliction (3:1, 19), oppression (1:18), and starvation (2:20; 4:10) the people faced. Yet, in the middle of the book the author remembers why he could hope: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3:22–23). Despite the devastation, the author remembered that God remains faithful.

Sometimes it feels impossible to believe that “the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him” (v. 25), especially when we don’t see an end to our suffering. But we can cry out to Him, trust that He hears us, and that He’ll be faithful to see us through.

What’s making it difficult for you to trust God today? What will help you feel comfortable enough to cry out to Him?

Father, I need You right now. Please help me to trust You to come through for me in my difficult situation.

To learn more about suffering and the Christian faith, visit ChristianUniversity.org/CA211.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 03, 2021
“The Secret of the Lord

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him… —Psalm 25:14

What is the sign of a friend? Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his secret joys. Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their secret joys with you. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys? Or are we continually telling God our secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to us? At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself— to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ’s idea of prayer— “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10)— that we catch the secrets of God? What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us— He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.

“Him shall He teach in the way He chooses” (Psalm 25:12). At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God. But then as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us. If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices. And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed. Whenever there is doubt, stop at once. Never try to reason it out, saying, “I wonder why I shouldn’t do this?” God instructs us in what we choose; that is, He actually guides our common sense. And when we yield to His teachings and guidance, we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually asking, “Now, Lord, what is Your will?”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.  The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 19-20; John 13:21-38

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 03, 2021

The Replacement Ref Ruckus - #8974

Now, I've been to a few professional football games in my life. You know, people get angry at those things. It's usually aimed at the other team or their own players who messed up. But, you know, there was a time when the words that made us blush were reserved for the referees; the replacement referees, that is.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Replacement Ref Ruckus."

Well, the regular National Football League officials were locked out by the owners over a salary dispute. So the guys making the calls were like rookies in the NFL universe. And the accusations were flying that they were missing all kinds of penalties and making bad calls on key plays.

And it reached a boiling point because of a highly disputed call at the end of a nationally televised game. In essence, their judgment on a last-minute touchdown play decided the outcome, and most people believe that it gave the game to the wrong team. Well, boy, the cries started getting louder and louder, "Fire those guys! Bring back the real refs!" That's the only stuff I can quote.

Look, I guess you can't expect substitute officials to run the game as well as the people who are supposed to be in charge, which is something that's important for parents to remember. See, there's a tendency in our culture to delegate an awful lot of "officiating" in our kids' lives to other people. When, from the beginning, God's expecting parents to be the ones supervising the game of life for our children.

But, hey, we've got teachers, and coaches, and pastors, and youth workers, and counselors. Hey, we can let them do a lot of life for our children, right? Well, they can help, but God doesn't think they're the ones out front.

In our word for today from the Word of God, Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and 11:21, He says this to parents, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Why? The Bible says, "So the days of your children may be many in the land."

Now, where's a child supposed to learn the ways of his Creator? Where's he or she supposed to learn about love and decision-making, the meaning of sex, how to handle money? The answer is at home. Anything other coaches or refs can do is a bonus and potentially helpful, but it's supplemental in developing a child's life - not fundamental.

See, they're just not the Heavenly Father's game plan for shaping a young life. Children are supposed to learn how to do life from the people who gave them life. Oh, I'm grateful for the people who back that up and help fill in some of the empty spaces. But primarily it's up to Mom and Dad.

And thankfully, in a world where it's so dangerous to be a kid and so challenging to be a parent, God says, "You're not in this alone." My wife and I often embraced this promise from Isaiah 40:11: "He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms" - listen, you could insert the names of your "lambs" there - "and He carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young" (you can put your name there).

See, we have found in Jesus - the One the Bible calls the "Good Shepherd" - a Savior who forgives our failures and supplies the power to change our dark side. I'll tell you, there's nothing like having a life to shape to make you realize how much you need Him.

So, being the Mom or Dad they need isn't Mission Impossible. There simply is no athletic coach, no school, no church, no community program that can replace or do the job of a Mom or Dad. Yes, it's tempting to hand off a child to other "life-refs" when our own lives are so overheated. But ultimately, we're not going to like how the game turns out. The high-stakes game of life-building is no place for replacement refs.

Jesus has proven, for so many, to be the life-changing, family-saving Savior that a Mom or Dad needs. So, if you'd like Him in your life and your home, you'll find a lot more about a relationship with Him at ANewStory.com, because it's with Jesus that a new story begins.

 

Matthew 8:18-34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE SUPPORTING CAST - June 2, 2021

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). Quiet servants. The supporting cast of the kingdom of God. They seek to do what is right. They cook dinners. They visit the sick.

It was the servant spirit of Mary that led God to select her to be the mother of Jesus. She was simple. She said, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” (Luke 1:38). When God wants to bring Christ into the world, he looks for servants. No diploma, specific bloodline, prestigious birthplace, or fat bank account required. Let all unassuming people of the world be reminded: God can use you. This is how happiness happens.

Matthew 8:18-34

Your Business Is Life, Not Death
18-19 When Jesus saw that a curious crowd was growing by the minute, he told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake. As they left, a religion scholar asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.

20 Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”

21 Another follower said, “Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father’s funeral to take care of.”

22 Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.”

* * *

23-25 Then he got in the boat, his disciples with him. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat—and he was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, “Master, save us! We’re going down!”

26 Jesus reprimanded them. “Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?” Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: “Silence!” The sea became smooth as glass.

27 The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. “What’s going on here? Wind and sea stand up and take notice at his command!”

The Madmen and the Pigs
28-31 They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, “What business do you have giving us a hard time? You’re the Son of God! You weren’t supposed to show up here yet!” Off in the distance a herd of pigs was grazing and rooting. The evil spirits begged Jesus, “If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs.”

32-34 Jesus said, “Go ahead, but get out of here!” Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, June 02, 2021
Read: 1 Peter 2:9–12

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

INSIGHT
In bold fashion, the apostle Peter refers to both Jewish and gentile readers as a divinely “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, [and] God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9; see Exodus 19:5–6). Then comes the unexpected. Peter urges these same treasured people to bear their favored and exalted status with the humility of “foreigners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11–12). This contrast of being special and yet in exile (suffering) is important. From the beginning of time, God spoke of people like Adam, Eve, Abram, Isaac, and Jacob (later renamed Israel) as being chosen for the good of the world. Yet being “God’s elect” (1:1) meant more than special treatment. It meant being chosen to show a troubled humanity what it means to experience in Christ the presence, strength, and joy of God in weakness.

By Lisa Samra
A Remarkable Life

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. 1 Peter 2:12 nlt

I came to learn about Catherine Hamlin, a remarkable Australian surgeon, through reading her obituary. In Ethiopia, Catherine and her husband established the world’s only hospital dedicated to curing women from the devastating physical and emotional trauma of obstetric fistulas, a common injury in the developing world that can occur during childbirth. Catherine is credited with overseeing the treatment of more than 60,000 women.

Still operating at the hospital when she was ninety-two years old, and still beginning each day with a cup of tea and Bible study, Hamlin told curious questioners that she was an ordinary believer in Jesus who was simply doing the job God had given her to do.

I was grateful to learn about her remarkable life because she powerfully exemplified for me Scripture’s encouragement to believers to live our lives in such a way that even people who actively reject God “may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).

The power of God’s Spirit that called us out of spiritual darkness into a relationship with Him (v. 9) can also transform our work or areas of service into testimonies of our faith. In whatever passion or skill God has gifted us, we can embrace added meaning and purpose in doing all of it in a manner that has the power to point people to Him.

What has God called you to do? How might you do it today in Jesus’ name?

Jesus, may Your love and grace be evident in my words and deeds today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 02, 2021
Are You Obsessed by Something?

Who is the man that fears the Lord? —Psalm 25:12

Are you obsessed by something? You will probably say, “No, by nothing,” but all of us are obsessed by something— usually by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our own experience of the Christian life. But the psalmist says that we are to be obsessed by God. The abiding awareness of the Christian life is to be God Himself, not just thoughts about Him. The total being of our life inside and out is to be absolutely obsessed by the presence of God. A child’s awareness is so absorbed in his mother that although he is not consciously thinking of her, when a problem arises, the abiding relationship is that with the mother. In that same way, we are to “live and move and have our being” in God (Acts 17:28), looking at everything in relation to Him, because our abiding awareness of Him continually pushes itself to the forefront of our lives.

If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives— not concerns, nor tribulation, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we dare to be so absolutely unbelieving when God totally surrounds us? To be obsessed by God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.

“He himself shall dwell in prosperity…” (Psalm 25:13). God will cause us to “dwell in prosperity,” keeping us at ease, even in the midst of tribulation, misunderstanding, and slander, if our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). We rob ourselves of the miraculous, revealed truth of this abiding companionship with God. “God is our refuge…” (Psalm 46:1). Nothing can break through His shelter of protection.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.  The Highest Good, 544 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 17-18; John 13:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, June 02, 2021
Walls Come Down When You Stop Caring - #8973

Jens Reich was an East German biologist, and a very unlikely revolutionary. He was a leader in that amazing, almost mind-boggling change that happened in Germany decades ago, just as all of the communist empire seemed to be falling apart. His story was told to Newsweek Magazine. He was quoted as saying, "I was always sympathizing with people, and watching, and going to church to talk with others. But I wasn't speaking out."

Now, Dr. Reich was not a party member; he did not even join the communist party. And because of that authorities wouldn't allow him any promotions, even though he deserved them. But finally, on September 17, 1989, he and 30 other intellectuals founded a group called New Forum, and they helped organize these mass demonstrations in East Germany. Pretty daring thing. In less than two months, the Berlin Wall was coming down. But here's what he said, "You don't need courage to speak out against a régime. You just need to not care any more; not to care about being punished or beaten." And he said, "We finally reached the point where enough people just didn't care any more what would happen if they spoke up."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Walls Come Down When You Stop Caring."

Our word for today from the Word of God is John 19:38. It's right after the death of Jesus on the cross for us, and Joseph of Arimathea goes to the Roman Governor, Pilate. Here's what it says: "Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now, Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission he came and took the body away." Okay, well we know from that point on he's going to be forever publicly identified with Jesus Christ.

See, I believe what happened was this: he saw what Jesus did on the cross, and it made him come out of hiding. Now he goes public for Christ, and everyone's going to always know that Jesus was buried in the tomb of a man who once was his secret disciple. This is a man who stopped caring about what people thought. Why is it there are so many Christians right now making like so little difference? Could it be we're intimidated by what others will think of us if we clearly, openly, publicly stand for Christ?

And that fear keeps us from giving people the key to everything they're looking for. There's a wall between God and us called sin. Jesus died to remove it, and it comes down when you pin all your hopes on Him. The one who walked out of his grave on resurrection morning. All His peace, all His love and all his power become yours at that point. But we're afraid to tell them that. It's like Scripture says in Proverbs 29:25, "The fear of man brings a snare." We're literally tangled up in this fear of what might happen to us if we give them the message their eternity depends on.

Dr. Reich in East Germany said, "We finally reached the point where we just didn't care any more what would happen if we spoke out." Are you getting tired of your own cowardice? Of your silence? Ask the Lord to give you courage to jump over that obstacle once and for all, "Lord, make me care about them, and stop caring about what they'll think about me." Someone wisely has said, "Courage is not the absence of fear. It's the disregard of it." Yeah, I'm scared, but I'm going in anyway.

Christ hung exposed on a cross for you. I guess that's what melted Joseph's fear. If he can do that, surely I can pay much less of a price for Him and at least go public. Seeing Jesus on the cross set Joseph free to be Jesus' follower no matter who knew or what they thought of him. Is that where you are? "Lord, I'm tired of holding back. I don't care any more what would happen if I spoke out." I care about what will happen to them if I don't.

If you can get to that point, that's powerful stuff...powerful enough to make walls come down.

Job 7 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: INTERCESSORY MINISTRY - June 1, 2021

othing activates happiness like intercessory ministry. The scripture says “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). So you come, not as a stranger, but as an heir to the promise. You are his ambassador. “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Our King will listen to our request. After all, you are a member of his priesthood. Peter said, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people” (1 Peter 2:9). So in our intercession we function as priests, standing in the gap between the people of earth and God. This is how happiness happens.

Job 7

There’s Nothing to My Life

 “Human life is a struggle, isn’t it?
    It’s a life sentence to hard labor.
Like field hands longing for quitting time
    and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday,
I’m given a life that meanders and goes nowhere—
    months of aimlessness, nights of misery!
I go to bed and think, ‘How long till I can get up?’
    I toss and turn as the night drags on—and I’m fed up!
I’m covered with maggots and scabs.
    My skin gets scaly and hard, then oozes with pus.
My days come and go swifter than the click of knitting needles,
    and then the yarn runs out—an unfinished life!

7-10 “God, don’t forget that I’m only a wisp of air!
    These eyes have had their last look at goodness.
And your eyes have seen the last of me;
    even while you’re looking, there’ll be nothing left to look at.
When a cloud evaporates, it’s gone for good;
    those who go to the grave never come back.
They don’t return to visit their families;
    never again will friends drop in for coffee.

11-16 “And so I’m not keeping one bit of this quiet,
    I’m laying it all out on the table;
    my complaining to high heaven is bitter, but honest.
Are you going to put a muzzle on me,
    the way you quiet the sea and still the storm?
If I say, ‘I’m going to bed, then I’ll feel better.
    A little nap will lift my spirits,’
You come and so scare me with nightmares
    and frighten me with ghosts
That I’d rather strangle in the sheets
    than face this kind of life any longer.
I hate this life! Who needs any more of this?
    Let me alone! There’s nothing to my life—it’s nothing
        but smoke.

17-21 “What are mortals anyway, that you bother with them,
    that you even give them the time of day?
That you check up on them every morning,
    looking in on them to see how they’re doing?
Let up on me, will you?
    Can’t you even let me spit in peace?
Even suppose I’d sinned—how would that hurt you?
    You’re responsible for every human being.
Don’t you have better things to do than pick on me?
    Why make a federal case out of me?
Why don’t you just forgive my sins
    and start me off with a clean slate?
The way things are going, I’ll soon be dead.
    You’ll look high and low, but I won’t be around.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, June 01, 2021

Read: Psalm 13

For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

Footnotes
Psalm 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-6 is numbered 13:2-6.

INSIGHT
The lament psalm is a prominent type in the Hebrew psalter. In such a psalm, the singer pours out the pain of his heart to God with a candor that’s sometimes alarming. Psalm 13 is a perfect example of a lament, as it carries what Old Testament scholar Dr. David Lamb says are its five basic components. First is the invocation, where the singer addresses God Himself (v. 1, “Lord”). This is followed by the complaint (vv. 1–2, “How long?”), then the request for help (vv. 3–4, “Look on me and answer”). All these components would be expected in a lament, but a proper lament psalm contains two more vital elements—a declaration of trust (v. 5, “I trust in your unfailing love”) that’s resolved in a call to worship (v. 6, “I will sing”). Lament drives us to trust in God and anticipates a time when the sting of pain is replaced with praise.

By James Banks
God of Justice

I trust in your unfailing love. Psalm 13:5

She was perhaps the greatest “scapecow” in history. We don’t know if her name was Daisy, Madeline, or Gwendolyn (each name has been suggested), but Mrs. O’Leary’s cow was blamed for the 1871 Great Chicago Fire that left every third resident of the city homeless. Carried by strong winds through wooden structures, the fire burned for three days and took the lives of nearly three hundred people.

For years, many believed the fire began when the cow knocked over a lantern left burning in a shed. After further investigation—126 years later—the city’s Committee on Police and Fire passed a resolution exonerating the cow and her owners and suggesting the activities of a neighbor warranted scrutiny.

Justice often takes time, and Scripture acknowledges how difficult that can be. The refrain, “How long?” is repeated four times in Psalm 13: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (vv. 1–2). But in the middle of his lament, David finds reason for faith and hope: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation” (v. 5).

Even when justice is delayed, God’s love will never fail us. We can trust and rest in Him not just for the moment but for eternity.

In what ways has God shown you His unfailing love? How will you demonstrate trust in Him today?

Loving God, help me to trust You even when I can’t see what You’re doing. I’m thankful I can rest in Your goodness and faithfulness today.

Watch “What Is Justice?” at go.odb.org/WhatIsJustice.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 01, 2021
The Staggering Question

He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" —Ezekiel 37:3

Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.”

It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.

“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves…” (Ezekiel 37:12). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 15-16; John 12:27-50

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 01, 2021

Something Worse Than Lonely - #8972

When there's a primetime news special on TV, you expect it to be about some major breaking world event, or a disaster, or some sensational social issue. A while back I was surprised to see a CBS news special that was just on the subject of loneliness. It was called "On Lonely Street." They were quoted there as saying, "Social scientists are seeing an epidemic of loneliness.

In fact, they interviewed the founder of the biggest dating service in the world. Here's what he said, "People today have all the material things; they don't have someone to hold onto; someone to have a long history with." Wow! Well, someone was well quoted as saying, "The most lonely place in the world is the human heart." You know, if loneliness is an epidemic, could it be you've got a case of that?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Something Worse Than Lonely."

Our word for today from the Word of God - 2 Timothy 4. Paul is writing this. It's actually his last chapter he will ever write in Scripture; his last known letter written to Timothy. He is pretty much abandoned in a prison cell. You talk about Lonely Street! In fact, here's what he says in verse 16, "At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength."

You know, there is something worse than being lonely? Somebody put it this way, "What's worse than being lonely is being lonely alone." I used to hear a Christian song when I was growing up. They would sing, "You'll never be lonely again." And they meant that you wouldn't be lonely if you knew Christ. But I'm not sure that's accurate.

You do get lonely. You lose people you love, you're abandoned, misunderstood, you're rejected sometimes by people who are around you and would like to help. They just don't know how. You feel alone, you feel lonely. You can't eliminate loneliness, but you can eliminate alone. Maybe they ought to rewrite that song, "You'll never be alone again."

See, Paul said, "I was lonely. I was abandoned. I had nobody there, and nobody could even get to me in that prison. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength." Maybe that's where you are right now. However lonely you are, picture Jesus there. He's at your side. At least you don't ever have to be alone again because Jesus was alone on the cross, separated from God so no one would ever have to be without God again.

He paid the price for the sin that you and I have done that keeps us away from God. That's why Jesus cried as He was carrying every wrong thing I've ever done and you've ever done, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" He carried all your sins. He was cut off from His Father so you would never have to be. He was the last man who ever had to be alone.

And when you pin your hopes on Christ, you receive in Him a friend who feels every feeling, who can't be kept away by prison bars, and who will not ever turn away from you. If He was ever going to do that, He would have done it when He was dying on that cross. Oh, you can know Him and feel alone, but you're not. You might feel alone because you need to draw close to Him by pouring out your deepest, most honest feelings to Him. Let Him hear all of it.

Read what He's written to you in the Bible. Go reach out to someone in His name. But it might be you've never made the Savior your personal Savior. You've never said, "Jesus, I'm Yours. Nobody loves me like you do. I'm giving myself to You."

Make it today you do that.

If this is your day to begin with Jesus or you want to know more about it, go to our website. It's there for you. It's ANewStory.com.

I know it's a lonely world. Are you going to walk on Lonely Street again? Yes, you will. But the day you come to Jesus Christ is your last day alone.

Job 6 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE POSTURE OF PRAYER - May 31, 2021

We have the opportunity to offer heartfelt prayers for every person we see: the attendant at the grocery store, the nurse in the doctor’s office. You don’t have to tell them of your intercessory prayer. When we seek to bless others through prayer, we are blessed. Studies draw causal links between prayer and faith and health and happiness. The act of praying for others has a boomerang effect. It allows us to shift the burden we carry for others to the shoulders of God.

Don’t grow angry at the church’s condition, pray for her. Don’t fret about the future of your family, pray for them. Assume the posture of prayer. Is there a crisis in your world? Are you called to give hope where hope cannot be found? Is prayer all that you have? That’s okay—prayer is all you need. This is how happiness happens.

Job 6

Job Replies to Eliphaz
God Has Dumped the Works on Me

Job answered:

“If my misery could be weighed,
    if you could pile the whole bitter load on the scales,
It would be heavier than all the sand of the sea!
    Is it any wonder that I’m howling like a caged cat?
The arrows of God Almighty are in me,
    poison arrows—and I’m poisoned all through!
    God has dumped the whole works on me.
Donkeys bray and cows moo when they run out of pasture—
    so don’t expect me to keep quiet in this.
Do you see what God has dished out for me?
    It’s enough to turn anyone’s stomach!
Everything in me is repulsed by it—
    it makes me sick.

Pressed Past the Limits
8-13 “All I want is an answer to one prayer,
    a last request to be honored:
Let God step on me—squash me like a bug,
    and be done with me for good.
I’d at least have the satisfaction
    of not having blasphemed the Holy God,
    before being pressed past the limits.
Where’s the strength to keep my hopes up?
    What future do I have to keep me going?
Do you think I have nerves of steel?
    Do you think I’m made of iron?
Do you think I can pull myself up by my bootstraps?
    Why, I don’t even have any boots!

My So-Called Friends
14-23 “When desperate people give up on God Almighty,
    their friends, at least, should stick with them.
But my brothers are fickle as a gulch in the desert—
    one day they’re gushing with water
From melting ice and snow
    cascading out of the mountains,
But by midsummer they’re dry,
    gullies baked dry in the sun.
Travelers who spot them and go out of their way for a drink
    end up in a waterless gulch and die of thirst.
Merchant caravans from Tema see them and expect water,
    tourists from Sheba hope for a cool drink.
They arrive so confident—but what a disappointment!
    They get there, and their faces fall!
And you, my so-called friends, are no better—
        there’s nothing to you!
    One look at a hard scene and you shrink in fear.
It’s not as though I asked you for anything—
    I didn’t ask you for one red cent—
Nor did I beg you to go out on a limb for me.
    So why all this dodging and shuffling?

24-27 “Confront me with the truth and I’ll shut up,
    show me where I’ve gone off the track.
Honest words never hurt anyone,
    but what’s the point of all this pious bluster?
You pretend to tell me what’s wrong with my life,
    but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air.
Are people mere things to you?
    Are friends just items of profit and loss?

28-30 “Look me in the eyes!
    Do you think I’d lie to your face?
Think it over—no double-talk!
    Think carefully—my integrity is on the line!
Can you detect anything false in what I say?
    Don’t you trust me to discern good from evil?”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, May 31, 2021
Read: Matthew 6:1–4

Giving to the Needy

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

INSIGHT
Having dealt with the burdensome teachings of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:21–48), Jesus now deals with their hypocritical piety. He discusses three acts of piety common in all religions that were meticulously observed by every devout Jew—almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (6:1–18). Almsgiving, or giving to the poor, was commanded in the Law (Deuteronomy 15:7–11). And the book of Proverbs says that those who help the poor are blessed (Proverbs 14:21; 19:17). However, Jesus warns not to use this duty as a platform to earn human praise (Matthew 6:1–2). God isn’t pleased with a showcased or theatrical display of pride and self-glorification. Giving should be done “in secret”—only witnessed by God. Then God “who sees what is done in secret” will reward us (v. 4).

By Xochitl Dixon|
Secret Giver

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Matthew 6:1

For Christopher, a physically disabled veteran, everyday activities had become more challenging, took longer to finish, and increased his pain. Still, he did his best to serve his wife and child. Passersby would see him using a push-mower to cut his lawn every week.

One day, Christopher received a letter—and an expensive riding lawnmower—from an anonymous donor. The secret giver’s satisfaction came through the privilege of helping someone in need.

Jesus doesn’t say that all our giving should be in secret, but He does remind us to check our motives when we give (Matthew 6:1). He also said: “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others” (v. 2). While God expects us to be openhanded givers, He encourages us to avoid doing good deeds in front of people for the purpose of receiving accolades or special recognition (v. 3).

When we realize everything we have comes from God, we can be secret givers who don’t need to pat our own backs or gain the admiration of others. Our all-knowing Giver of all good things delights in the genuine generosity of His people. Nothing beats the reward of His approval.

How has God helped you through someone else’s secret giving? Who can you help with an anonymous gift today?

Loving God, please bless me with opportunities to give as selflessly and sacrificially as You have given to me.

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

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 31, 2021
Put God First

Jesus did not commit Himself to them…for He knew what was in man. —John 2:24-25

Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be— absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.

Put God’s Will First. “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:9).

A person’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need— our Lord’s obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, “We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him.” But we must first make sure that God’s “needs” and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, “…tarry…until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the “needs” of God and His will. Once God’s “needs” in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His “needs” elsewhere.

Put God’s Son First. “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:5).

God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.” Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence.  Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 13-14; John 12:1-26

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 31, 2021
The Altar - Whatever it Takes - #8971

One of our ministry team had just gotten married, and most of our team was there. We had a lot of fun together, and in spite of the fact that I'm really very serious all the time. But, anticipating the bride would do the customary thing of, you know, throwing the bouquet at the reception, I had a special warning for Pam, one of the single young women on our staff. I told her that I had designated two big guys to tie her to her chair when it was time for the bouquet tossing. In case you've missed this little custom, the story is that whoever catches the bride's bouquet will be the next one married. Well, the big guys never materialized and Pam made sure she was front and center for the big moment. The other girls never stood a chance. She played defense with flying elbows; she lunged to make the big catch. It's the first time I've ever known of first-aid being administered at a bouquet toss. All right, I'm exaggerating just a little... but just a little. Pam was not to be denied having the next wedding! By the way, who thought up this custom anyway?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Altar - Whatever it Takes."

"I'm getting married soon, whatever it takes!" Well, the grabbing of the bridal bouquet is sort of a fun pursuit of that goal. For many, there's nothing fun about it. It's the most serious pursuit in their life.

Maybe it's you or someone you know, just living to be married. When you want it badly and it just isn't happening, it's easy to become more and more frustrated, and honestly more and more desperate. Which can, in turn, cause you to make some lifetime mistakes that will cost you the very happiness you want so much; a mistake like settling for the wrong person.

One longtime single man I know said it this way: "I'd far rather live wanting what I don't have than having what I don't want." Some who belong to Jesus will settle for marrying someone who doesn't even share that most important of all relationships. That's why the Bible commands, not suggests, commands, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14). You violate God's boundary and you get a marriage without God's blessing, and no love is worth that.

Genesis 24:14 suggests a powerful prayer for every single person, "Let her (or him, as the case may be) be the one the Lord has chosen." I've talked to so many people who have made a lifetime marriage mistake because of loneliness, desperation, and they all agree: there's something lonelier than not being married. That's being married to the wrong person. That's the loneliest lonely of all.

Our word for today from the Word of God is an awesome promise for anyone wondering if they will ever have the love they crave. Philippians 4:19 says, "My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." No one knows you better than the God who made you, including all of your deepest needs. It's not going to be a man or woman who will ultimately meet those needs. It will be the God behind that promise. He's promised to give you what you need - what your Creator knows you need, not necessarily what you think you need. And He always meets our needs in His perfect time. Those who try to rush it, ruin it.

Maybe you've almost put your life on hold until you find that man or woman to marry. Don't waste a precious day of your life waiting for what you don't have. Live this day - single or married - with all your heart! And don't let your waiting start to turn you hard and cynical, bitter, negative. Those kinds of responses insult the God who said He will meet your needs, and by the way, they repel love rather than attract it.

Don't miss what God is doing in your life because all you can focus on is what you wish He was doing. Celebrate this day, knowing "this is the day the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24) and that "the Lord is your shepherd and you shall not want" (Psalm 23:1).