Max Lucado Daily: In Step with the Spirit - September 17, 2021
Is there anything in your life that needs to be removed? Any impediment to the impression of God’s Spirit? We can grieve the Spirit with our angry words and resist the Spirit in our disobedience. We can test or conspire against the Spirit in our plottings. We can even quench the Spirit by having no regard for God’s teachings.
But here’s something that helps us stay in step with the Spirit. It’s in Galatians 5:22: “We know that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are indicators on our spiritual dashboards. So whenever we sense them, we know we are walking in the Spirit. Whenever we lack them, we know we are out of step with the Spirit. Keep in step with the Spirit.
Matthew 23:23-39
“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?
25-26 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You buff the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.
27-28 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds.
29-32 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You’re cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count.
33-34 “Snakes! Cold-blooded sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It’s on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.
35-36 “You can’t squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I’m telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation.
37-39 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God’s news! How often I’ve ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn’t let me. And now you’re so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I’m out of here soon. The next time you see me you’ll say, ‘Oh, God has blessed him! He’s come, bringing God’s rule!’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, September 17, 2021
Today's Scripture
Isaiah 43:18–21
(NIV)
“Forget the former things;d
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!e
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wildernessf
and streams in the wasteland.g
20 The wild animalsh honor me,
the jackalsi and the owls,
because I provide waterj in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formedk for myselfl
that they may proclaim my praise.m
Insight
God refers to Israel as “my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself” (Isaiah 43:20–21). But why would He select one family from all others, especially one so unworthy (vv. 22–28)? The answer, alluded to in verse 21, echoes God’s explanation to Abraham in Genesis. He chose one family for a special role in His plan to bless all (Genesis 12:1–3). The story unfolds at Sinai where God tells His chosen people that as witnesses to His rescuing power, He’s making them into a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:4–6). Later, Peter would use similar words to explain how God is now choosing people of all nations to be a new kind of kingdom, priesthood, and witness to the One who calls us out of darkness into the light (1 Peter 1:1–2; 2:9–10). We’re chosen to be witnesses to the living, all-powerful God of grace. By: Mart DeHaan
Move Your Fence
See, I am doing a new thing!
Isaiah 43:19
The village vicar couldn’t sleep. As World War II raged, he’d told a small group of American soldiers they couldn’t bury their fallen comrade inside the fenced cemetery next to his church. Only burials for church members were allowed. So the men buried their beloved friend just outside the fence.
The next morning, however, the soldiers couldn’t find the grave. “What happened? The grave is gone,” one soldier told the reverend. “Oh, it’s still there,” he told him. The soldier was confused, but the churchman explained. “I regretted telling you no. So, last night, I got up—and I moved the fence.”
God may give fresh perspective for our life challenges too—if we look for it. That was the prophet Isaiah’s message to the downtrodden people of Israel. Instead of looking back with longing at their Red Sea rescue, they needed to shift their sight, seeing God doing new miracles, blazing new paths. “Do not dwell on the past,” He urged them. “See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:18–19). He’s our source of hope during doubts and battles. “I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, [providing] drink to my people, my chosen [people]” (v. 20).
Refreshed with new vision, we too can see God’s fresh direction in our lives. May we look with new eyes to see His new paths. Then, with courage, may we step onto new ground, bravely following Him.
By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What new thing would God like to accomplish in your life? What new ground has God led you to and what will you do with it?
Merciful God, thank You for providing fresh perspective for my life in You. Refresh my sight to see new ground to walk with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 17, 2021
Is There Good in Temptation?
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man… —1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else— what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations— He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16).
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 27-29; 2 Corinthians 10
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 17, 2021
Stuffed With Junk - #9050
The other day one of our team members shared a discovery she made during the remodeling of her kitchen. The counter top had been removed, and as she looked into this little 6"x8" drawer by the sink, she saw that it was completely stuffed - with like "stuff!" She realized that for 24 years she had been sticking things into that drawer: twist ties, rubber bands...you know, everything. There were some useful things in the back, but they were inaccessible because of all the "stuff." It had been a long time since the drawer had been opened very much; our friend just crammed things into it and occasionally pulled it open an inch or two to use something out of it. (I can relate to this.) But looking down on it all from above, she was surprised to see what was in there. Almost everything in that drawer could be thrown away, but it had been accumulating for years. And that drawer was much more useful now that it was emptied out.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stuffed With Junk."
You've got to wonder what God sees when He looks down on the contents of our life. The "top" is always off as far as His view of us is concerned. He sees directly into our heart, our motives, our every thought. And all too often, our life and our heart are cluttered with "stuff"...things we've filled our life with that are simply unnecessary to Him, useless to Him; always limiting our usefulness to Him.
Some of us won't realize how useless a lot of our life has been until it's too late to do anything about it; we'll wait until the Judgment Seat of Christ. Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians 3, beginning with verse 11. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones..." Wait a minute. That's filling our life with things that are going to last, that have eternal significance. He goes on to say, "wood, hay, or straw" - wait a minute. Those are things that are just "stuff." "...his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light...the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."
You get one life. You can fill it with things that really matter or things that really don't. With things that will last forever, and often what this world stresses as being important is really just "stuff." And what Jesus says is important, our world thinks isn't much.
So when the Lord looks down inside your life, is it crammed with a lot of "stuff" that just doesn't mean much? A lot of time in front of a TV or computer screen, hours on the Internet, listening to music, talking on the phone, following sports, pouring yourself into causes and diversions that aren't going to matter much in eternity at all? It's not that these things are necessarily bad. The problem is when "stuff" that should be peripheral become central in your life. That's when it's time to reevaluate your priorities. It's time to see your life through God's eyes, and clean out what's not useful - the trivial pursuits.
When you do, you become so much more useful to your Lord. And the more you fall in love with Him, the less you're going to be stuffing your hours, your days, your mind and your heart with "stuff." You'll be about what Jesus is about. You'll be as He said, "seeking first the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33).
Friday, September 17, 2021
Matthew 23:23-39, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Genesis 50, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Plug in to God’s Power - September 16, 2021
I believe we make the mistake the Welsh woman made. She lived many years ago in a remote valley and felt it worth the cost and trouble to have electricity installed in her home. Several weeks after installation, the power company noticed she’d barely used electricity. A meter reader went to see her. “Is there a problem?” he asked. “Oh no, we’re quite satisfied. Every night we turn on the electric lights to see how to light our lamps.”
We’re prone to do likewise. Depend on God’s Spirit to save us but not sustain us. We turn to him to get us started and then continue in our own strength. Scripture urges us “keep in step with the Spirit.” He directs and leads, we obey and follow. Plug in to his power, and leave the switch turned on.
Genesis 50
Joseph threw himself on his father, wept over him, and kissed him.
* * *
2-3 Joseph then instructed the physicians in his employ to embalm his father. The physicians embalmed Israel. The embalming took forty days, the period required for embalming. There was public mourning by the Egyptians for seventy days.
4-5 When the period of mourning was completed, Joseph petitioned Pharaoh’s court: “If you have reason to think kindly of me, present Pharaoh with my request: My father made me swear, saying, ‘I am ready to die. Bury me in the grave plot that I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Please give me leave to go up and bury my father. Then I’ll come back.”
6 Pharaoh said, “Certainly. Go and bury your father as he made you promise under oath.”
7-9 So Joseph left to bury his father. And all the high-ranking officials from Pharaoh’s court went with him, all the dignitaries of Egypt, joining Joseph’s family—his brothers and his father’s family. Their children and flocks and herds were left in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen accompanied them. It was a huge funeral procession.
10 Arriving at the Atad Threshing Floor just across the Jordan River, they stopped for a period of mourning, letting their grief out in loud and lengthy lament. For seven days, Joseph engaged in these funeral rites for his father.
11 When the Canaanites who lived in that area saw the grief being poured out at the Atad Threshing Floor, they said, “Look how deeply the Egyptians are mourning.” That is how the site at the Jordan got the name Abel Mizraim (Egyptian Lament).
12-13 Jacob’s sons continued to carry out his instructions to the letter. They took him on into Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
* * *
14-15 After burying his father, Joseph went back to Egypt. All his brothers who had come with him to bury his father returned with him. After the funeral, Joseph’s brothers talked among themselves: “What if Joseph is carrying a grudge and decides to pay us back for all the wrong we did him?”
16-17 So they sent Joseph a message, “Before his death, your father gave this command: Tell Joseph, ‘Forgive your brothers’ sin—all that wrongdoing. They did treat you very badly.’ Will you do it? Will you forgive the sins of the servants of your father’s God?”
When Joseph received their message, he wept.
18 Then the brothers went in person to him, threw themselves on the ground before him and said, “We’ll be your slaves.”
19-21 Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I’ll take care of you and your children.” He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.
22-23 Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his father’s family. Joseph lived 110 years. He lived to see Ephraim’s sons into the third generation. The sons of Makir, Manasseh’s son, were also recognized as Joseph’s.
24 At the end, Joseph said to his brothers, “I am ready to die. God will most certainly pay you a visit and take you out of this land and back to the land he so solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel promise under oath, “When God makes his visitation, make sure you take my bones with you as you leave here.”
26 Joseph died at the age of 110 years. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Today's Scripture
Mark 5:1–20
(NIV)
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.a 2 When Jesus got out of the boat,p a man with an impure spiritq came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me,r Jesus, Son of the Most High God?s In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,”t he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legionu of demons,v sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell themw how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolisb x how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
Insight
Jesus has power over all creation, as is clear from today’s passage (Mark 5:1–20). This includes the spiritual world as well. The owners of the pigs would have suffered a large loss when their herd was destroyed in an instant. But we might wonder how the Jewish observers reacted. Bible teacher D. A. Carson makes the point that Jesus’ Jewish audience would have seen the loss of the pigs as of little consequence. Pigs were considered unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7). In 167 bc, Syrian tyrant Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes) had even sacrificed a pig on the altar in the temple—a despicable act of sacrilege in Jewish eyes. By: Tim Gustafson
From Mess to Message
Tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.
Mark 5:19
Darryl was a baseball legend who nearly destroyed his life with drugs. But Jesus set him free, and he’s been clean for years. Today he helps others struggling with addiction and points them to faith. Looking back, he affirms that God turned his mess into a message.
Nothing is too hard for God. When Jesus came ashore near a cemetery after a stormy night on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, a man possessed by darkness immediately approached Him. Jesus spoke to the demons inside him, drove them away, and set him free.
When Jesus left, the man begged to go along. But Jesus didn’t allow it, because He had work for him to do: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19).
We never see the man again, but Scripture shows us something intriguing. The people of that region had fearfully pleaded with Jesus “to leave” (v. 17), but the next time He returned there, a large crowd gathered (8:1). Could the crowd have resulted from Jesus sending the man home? Could it be that he, once dominated by darkness, became one of the first missionaries, effectively communicating Jesus’ power to save?
We’ll never know this side of heaven, but this much is clear. When God sets us free to serve Him, He can turn even a messy past into a message of hope and love. By: James Banks
Reflect & Pray
What has Jesus set you free from? How can you share with others what He’s done for you?
Beautiful Savior, I praise You for Your amazing power! No darkness can stand against You! Help me to walk in Your light today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Praying to God in Secret
When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place… —Matthew 6:6
The primary thought in the area of religion is— keep your eyes on God, not on people. Your motivation should not be the desire to be known as a praying person. Find an inner room in which to pray where no one even knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven. It is impossible to carry on your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer.
“When you pray, do not use vain repetitions…” (Matthew 6:7). God does not hear us because we pray earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. God is never impressed by our earnestness. Prayer is not simply getting things from God— that is only the most elementary kind of prayer. Prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. If the Son of God has been formed in us through regeneration (see Galatians 4:19), then He will continue to press on beyond our common sense and will change our attitude about the things for which we pray.
“Everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8). We pray religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. Jesus said, “…you will ask what you desire…” (John 15:7). Asking means that our will must be involved. Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike simplicity. Then we respond with our critical attitude, saying, “Yes, but even Jesus said that we must ask.” But remember that we have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ revealed.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. Approved Unto God, 11 L
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 25-26; 2 Corinthians 9
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 16, 2021
I had been watching the news and they were talking about doomsday, and it made me sad. Oh, not because I'm nervous about Jesus fulfilling all His prophecies about earth's final chapter. But because millions were laughing about something that they desperately needed to take seriously.
This has happened a number of times, but a Christian radio pastor at that time had widely announced that May 21 would be the beginning of the end of time, with a cataclysmic event that would ultimately usher in the coming of Jesus. Now listen, there's nothing I look forward to more than the moment when Jesus will break through the clouds, come in power and great glory and erase every doubt that He's the King of kings.
I just don't believe we know when that's going to be, because Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven..." (Matthew 24:36). No matter how you parse His words, they say that the time of His coming cannot be predicted.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Doomsday Buzz."
You know as a junior high boy nosing around in the church library, I read these old World War II books written about end times prophecy. And they had it all figured out - who was the antichrist, who was the restored Roman Empire, the talk about Israel having a nation. And I smiled. Reading it years later, it was obvious they had it wrong, and Jesus didn't come back on their timetable.
Unfortunately, naming a date inadvertently gives people a reason not to take the clear-cut prophecies of Scripture seriously. The Bible has told us that "in the last days, scoffers will come...They will say, 'Where is this coming He promised?'" (2 Peter 3:3-4). It hurts to think that our date-naming and other teaching that reaches beyond what the Bible reveals will give these scoffers any more attention or ammunition. You know, a major news anchor asked, during the time of those predictions, after reporting on that doomsday story, "Who believes this stuff?"
Well, she and everyone needs to believe that Jesus is, in fact, coming back; that every person will see Him. That there will come a day when the mightiest of earth will call as the Bible says, "to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne...'" (Revelation 6:15-16). It will be a day where there will be no more choosing Jesus. Only "every knee bowing at His Name" (Philippians 2:9-10), many realizing it's forever too late to know Him.
I heard that the Center for Disease Control had been trying to make the most of all that doomsday talk. This was several years ago. They were using it to encourage people to have a disaster plan for emergencies - to be ready. That's exactly Jesus' warning in His prophecies for what He called the "last days" world. Prophecies that do paint a picture that, well, increasingly seem a lot like our world today. He said, "You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:44). He said He would rise from the dead after three days. That's exactly what He did. He said He would return to this earth as its' Judge and its' King, and that's exactly what He will do.
You can only be ready if your sins have been erased from God's book. And only the man who died for those sins can do that. That's why the Bible says, "Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the day to make the King of kings your king.
If you never have, would you tell him, "Jesus, I want to belong to You. I know You can come for me and bring my life to a close at any time. You can come back to this earth any time. I want to be ready. And I can only be ready with my sins forgiven, and only You can do that, Jesus, because only you died for them. I'm Yours."
I think you can find help and encouragement in getting started with Jesus if you check out our website today. Many people have. ANewStory.com - I really urge you to go there.
A friend of ours was desperately cleaning her totaled room; she was getting ready for the anticipated arrival of her guy that next day. She heard a knock at the door; it was her guy a day earlier than expected. And there she stood amid the piles, dressed in her grubbies, her hair matted with sweat. All she could do was exclaim, "I wasn't expecting you now!" She waited too long to get cleaned up. Time was up.
That's a mistake you do not want to make with Jesus.
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Genesis 49 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: His Power Becomes Our Power - September 15, 2021
We look at other believers and ask, “Why is her life so fruitful and mine so barren? Why is his life so powerful and mine so weak?Aren’t we saved by the same Christ? The answer may be found in the first chapter of the book of Acts, where Jesus told Peter and the other followers, “Wait here to receive the promise from the Father. John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
During Jesus’ earthly ministry Jesus lived near the disciples. The Holy Spirit, however, would live in the disciples. Jesus taught. The Spirit teaches through us. Jesus comforted. The Spirit comforts through us. The Holy Spirit is a year-round resident in the hearts of God’s children. As God’s story becomes our story, his power becomes our power.
Genesis 49
Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around. I want to tell you what you can expect in the days to come.”
2
Come together, listen sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3-4
Reuben, you’re my firstborn,
my strength, first proof of my manhood,
at the top in honor and at the top in power,
But like a bucket of water spilled,
you’ll be at the top no more,
Because you climbed into your father’s marriage bed,
mounting that couch, and you defiled it.
5-6
Simeon and Levi are two of a kind,
ready to fight at the drop of a hat.
I don’t want anything to do with their vendettas,
want no part in their bitter feuds;
They kill men in fits of temper,
slash oxen on a whim.
7
A curse on their uncontrolled anger,
on their indiscriminate wrath.
I’ll throw them out with the trash;
I’ll shred and scatter them like confetti throughout Israel.
8-12
You, Judah, your brothers will praise you:
Your fingers on your enemies’ throat,
while your brothers honor you.
You’re a lion’s cub, Judah,
home fresh from the kill, my son.
Look at him, crouched like a lion, king of beasts;
who dares mess with him?
The scepter shall not leave Judah;
he’ll keep a firm grip on the command staff
Until the ultimate ruler comes
and the nations obey him.
He’ll tie up his donkey to the grapevine,
his purebred prize to a sturdy branch.
He will wash his shirt in wine
and his cloak in the blood of grapes,
His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.
13
Zebulun settles down on the seashore;
he’s a safe harbor for ships,
right alongside Sidon.
14-15
Issachar is one tough donkey
crouching between the corrals;
When he saw how good the place was,
how pleasant the country,
He gave up his freedom
and went to work as a slave.
16-17
Dan will handle matters of justice for his people;
he will hold his own just fine among the tribes of Israel.
Dan is only a small snake in the grass,
a lethal serpent in ambush by the road
When he strikes a horse in the heel,
and brings its huge rider crashing down.
18
I wait in hope
for your salvation, God.
19
Gad will be attacked by bandits,
but he will trip them up.
20
Asher will become famous for rich foods,
candies and sweets fit for kings.
21-26
Naphtali is a deer running free
that gives birth to lovely fawns.
Joseph is a wild donkey,
a wild donkey by a spring,
spirited donkeys on a hill.
The archers with malice attacked,
shooting their hate-tipped arrows;
But he held steady under fire,
his bow firm, his arms limber,
With the backing of the Champion of Jacob,
the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
The God of your father—may he help you!
And may The Strong God—may he give you his blessings,
Blessings tumbling out of the skies,
blessings bursting up from the Earth—
blessings of breasts and womb.
May the blessings of your father
exceed the blessings of the ancient mountains,
surpass the delights of the eternal hills;
May they rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the one consecrated among his brothers.
27
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
all morning he gorges on his kill,
at evening divides up what’s left over.
28 All these are the tribes of Israel, the twelve tribes. And this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one with his own special farewell blessing.
* * *
29-32 Then he instructed them: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre in the land of Canaan, the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial plot. Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there; Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried there; I also buried Leah there. The field and the cave were bought from the Hittites.”
33 Jacob finished instructing his sons, pulled his feet into bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Today's Scripture
Hebrews 13:11–16
(NIV)
The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering,e but the bodies are burned outside the camp.f 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gateg to make the people holyh through his own blood.i 13 Let us, then, go to himj outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.k 14 For here we do not have an enduring city,l but we are looking for the city that is to come.m
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrificen of praise—the fruit of lipso that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others,p for with such sacrificesq God is pleased.
Insight
The audience for the New Testament letter to the Hebrews consisted of the Diaspora—Jewish Christ-followers who’d been scattered due to persecution. The nature of the audience perhaps explains the heavy emphasis on Israel’s history and the sacrificial system of Judaism, which forms a point of reference for the work of Jesus. The content of the letter is clearly Christ-centered, lifting Jesus up as superior to angels, priests, and Moses, and affirming Christ’s redemptive sacrifice as superior to the sacrificial system of Israel’s temple. Hebrews is also shrouded in mystery, due largely to the fact that this letter is anonymous. The human authorship of Hebrews has long been the subject of both scholarly and devotional examination, with much ink being spilled arguing for a particular author. The individuals named as potential authors range from Paul to Apollos to Barnabas to Luke to Priscilla and more. By: Bill Crowder
Outside the Camp
Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
Hebrews 13:12
Friday was market day in the rural town in Ghana where I grew up. After all these years, I still recall one particular vendor. Her fingers and toes eroded by Hansen’s disease (leprosy), she would crouch on her mat and scoop her produce with a hollowed-out gourd. Some avoided her. My mother made it a point to buy from her regularly. I saw her only on market days. Then she would disappear outside the town.
In the time of the ancient Israelites, diseases like leprosy meant living “outside the camp.” It was a forlorn existence. Israelite law said of such people, “They must live alone” (Leviticus 13:46). Outside the camp was also where the carcasses of the sacrificial bulls were burned (4:12). Outside the camp was not where you wanted to be.
This harsh reality breathes life into the statement about Jesus in Hebrews 13: “Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (v. 13). Jesus was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, a significant point when we study the Hebrew sacrificial system.
We want to be popular, to be honored, to live comfortable lives. But God calls us to go “outside the camp”—where the disgrace is. That’s where we’ll find the vendor with Hansen’s disease. That’s where we’ll find people the world has rejected. That’s where we’ll find Jesus. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
How do you initially react to outsiders and misfits? In what practical way might you go to Jesus “outside the camp”?
Thank You, Jesus, that You don’t show any favoritism. Thank You for going outside the camp for me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
What To Renounce
We have renounced the hidden things of shame… —2 Corinthians 4:2
Have you “renounced the hidden things of shame” in your life— the things that your sense of honor or pride will not allow to come into the light? You can easily hide them. Is there a thought in your heart about anyone that you would not like to be brought into the light? Then renounce it as soon as it comes to mind— renounce everything in its entirety until there is no hidden dishonesty or craftiness about you at all. Envy, jealousy, and strife don’t necessarily arise from your old nature of sin, but from the flesh which was used for these kinds of things in the past (see Romans 6:19 and 1 Peter 4:1-3). You must maintain continual watchfulness so that nothing arises in your life that would cause you shame.
“…not walking in craftiness…” (2 Corinthians 4:2). This means not resorting to something simply to make your own point. This is a terrible trap. You know that God will allow you to work in only one way— the way of truth. Then be careful never to catch people through the other way— the way of deceit. If you act deceitfully, God’s blight and ruin will be upon you. What may be craftiness for you, may not be for others— God has called you to a higher standard. Never dull your sense of being your utmost for His highest— your best for His glory. For you, doing certain things would mean craftiness coming into your life for a purpose other than what is the highest and best, and it would dull the motivation that God has given you. Many people have turned back because they are afraid to look at things from God’s perspective. The greatest spiritual crisis comes when a person has to move a little farther on in his faith than the beliefs he has already accepted.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 22-24; 2 Corinthians 8
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
People Aren't Polaroids - #9048
If you made a list of the million dollar ideas of the twentieth century, you'd probably have to include something called the Polaroid camera. Now, you might be too young to remember that. I could take you to the museum, but it was a great invention in its time. What was the worst part of taking pictures then? It was waiting for them to be developed. The Polaroid concept introduced the revolutionary idea of developing your photo right on the spot, and then you would know whether you got what you shot. That was way before cell phone technology of course. So with the Polaroid, if you cut off everybody's heads when you took their picture, you can take it again and they could have heads in the next picture. We're naturally impatient to see what the result of our effort is with our pictures, right? And with people.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "People Aren't Polaroids."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Galatians 6, and I'm reading verse 9. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." This verse talks about doing good in people's lives. And as you know, that doing of good often shows no visible result at least for a while. But if you will keep sowing good seed, the Bible says, when it looks like it's having no effect - the person couldn't care less - suddenly you will ultimately reap a satisfying harvest.
Now, it could be that you need to hear that right now because you've been living Christ, and you've been sharing Christ in the life of someone who just doesn't seem to get it. They don't care, they don't seem to be responding, seems like they don't even want to hear it right now and it's like you're talking to a brick wall. Right? It could very well be it's even a member of your own family. Remember, Jesus said the farmer's job is to scatter seed, not to make it grow; you just get it out there.
Even if you're not seeing any result in the life of someone or the lives of some people, keep on sowing this verse says. That doesn't mean pestering, or pushing, or pressuring. Just like patiently loving, gently sprinkling biblical values when you have a natural, spontaneous opening to do it.
I remember when Becky got a call at the age of thirty from a woman who said, "Are you the Becky that I knew in high school?" She said, "Yeah, I am." It turns out they'd been friends in junior high but then they'd gone two different ways. Becky had gone on to really follow Christ, and this girl went into the party scene. But now she's calling out of nowhere. She said, "Becky, I've looked all over. I finally got your married name. I finally tracked you down because my life is falling apart. My husband has left me, but I've got to ask you a question before I tell you any more. Becky, are you like still close to God?" Wow! Thirteen years had passed. She didn't go to the party people; she went to the person she could remember - the God person who had faithfully sown Bible seed in her life.
We forget that people aren't a suddenly developed Polaroid picture. They don't usually develop right away. You have to wait to see what impression you have made. And while you're waiting it's easy to give up, because you don't see any impression. Well, seed that is sown yields nothing visible for quite a while. Ask any farmer.
But God has guaranteed you a harvest in the life of that child, in your marriage, in those Sunday School class kids, the Bible study people, the people in your church, the youth group, the friends you have, those coworkers. He's guaranteed you a harvest if you won't quit. "At the proper time," it says, "we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Someone you care about will eventually get the picture if you'll be patient while they develop.
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Matthew 23:1-22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Death Is Not the Final Chapter - September 14, 2021
Death is not the final chapter in your story. John 11:25 and 26 assure us that in death we will step into the arms of the One who declared: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Winston Churchill believed this. The prime minister planned his own funeral. Two buglers were positioned in the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. At the conclusion of the service, the first played—the signal of a day completed; the second played reveille—the song of a day begun.
Death is no pit, but a passageway, a corner turn. Isaiah wrote, “Your dead will live…all you dead and buried, wake up! Sing!…the earth is bursting with life, giving birth to the dead” (Isaiah 26:19). So play on bugler. Play on!
Matthew 23:1-22
Religious Fashion Shows
Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. “The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.
4-7 “Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend.’
8-10 “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.
11-12 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.
Frauds!
13 “I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either.
15 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.
16-22 “You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’ What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Today's Scripture Hebrews 13:11–16 (NIV)
The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering,e but the bodies are burned outside the camp.f 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gateg to make the people holyh through his own blood.i 13 Let us, then, go to himj outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.k 14 For here we do not have an enduring city,l but we are looking for the city that is to come.m
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrificen of praise—the fruit of lipso that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others,p for with such sacrificesq God is pleased.
Insight
The audience for the New Testament letter to the Hebrews consisted of the Diaspora—Jewish Christ-followers who’d been scattered due to persecution. The nature of the audience perhaps explains the heavy emphasis on Israel’s history and the sacrificial system of Judaism, which forms a point of reference for the work of Jesus. The content of the letter is clearly Christ-centered, lifting Jesus up as superior to angels, priests, and Moses, and affirming Christ’s redemptive sacrifice as superior to the sacrificial system of Israel’s temple. Hebrews is also shrouded in mystery, due largely to the fact that this letter is anonymous. The human authorship of Hebrews has long been the subject of both scholarly and devotional examination, with much ink being spilled arguing for a particular author. The individuals named as potential authors range from Paul to Apollos to Barnabas to Luke to Priscilla and more. By: Bill Crowder
Outside the Camp
Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
Hebrews 13:12
Friday was market day in the rural town in Ghana where I grew up. After all these years, I still recall one particular vendor. Her fingers and toes eroded by Hansen’s disease (leprosy), she would crouch on her mat and scoop her produce with a hollowed-out gourd. Some avoided her. My mother made it a point to buy from her regularly. I saw her only on market days. Then she would disappear outside the town.
In the time of the ancient Israelites, diseases like leprosy meant living “outside the camp.” It was a forlorn existence. Israelite law said of such people, “They must live alone” (Leviticus 13:46). Outside the camp was also where the carcasses of the sacrificial bulls were burned (4:12). Outside the camp was not where you wanted to be.
This harsh reality breathes life into the statement about Jesus in Hebrews 13: “Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (v. 13). Jesus was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, a significant point when we study the Hebrew sacrificial system.
We want to be popular, to be honored, to live comfortable lives. But God calls us to go “outside the camp”—where the disgrace is. That’s where we’ll find the vendor with Hansen’s disease. That’s where we’ll find people the world has rejected. That’s where we’ll find Jesus. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
How do you initially react to outsiders and misfits? In what practical way might you go to Jesus “outside the camp”?
Thank You, Jesus, that You don’t show any favoritism. Thank You for going outside the camp for me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Arguments or Obedience
…the simplicity that is in Christ. —2 Corinthians 11:3
Simplicity is the secret to seeing things clearly. A saint does not think clearly until a long time passes, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think through spiritual confusion to make things clear; to make things clear, you must obey. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual matters you will only think yourself into further wandering thoughts and more confusion. If there is something in your life upon which God has put His pressure, then obey Him in that matter. Bring all your “arguments and…every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” regarding the matter, and everything will become as clear as daylight to you (2 Corinthians 10:5). Your reasoning capacity will come later, but reasoning is not how we see. We see like children, and when we try to be wise we see nothing (see Matthew 11:25).
Even the very smallest thing that we allow in our lives that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit is completely sufficient to account for spiritual confusion, and spending all of our time thinking about it will still never make it clear. Spiritual confusion can only be conquered through obedience. As soon as we obey, we have discernment. This is humiliating, because when we are confused we know that the reason lies in the state of our mind. But when our natural power of sight is devoted and submitted in obedience to the Holy Spirit, it becomes the very power by which we perceive God’s will, and our entire life is kept in simplicity.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 19-21; 2 Corinthians 7
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Scary Times - #9047
Yeah, I'm just not used to news reporters referencing the Book of Revelation. But, you know, in recent times I've heard some of them doing it. These aren't ordinary times. They've been referring to statements in the Bible about things like earthquakes and disasters, and references to what the Bible calls "the last days." They keep using the word apocalyptic. You know, you think about what's been going on in our world, and nature, and in governments, and between people, and you can understand why people are starting to think Bible a little bit. The Bible talks about these last days - the last days of human history - the days before the personal return of Jesus Christ who will change things forever.
Well, for example, a few years ago, there was a massive earthquake in Japan, Chile and New Zealand. They had on TV a map of the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which is that part of the world where most major quakes erupt. It showed Japan on the northwest corner, New Zealand on the southwest corner, Chile on the southeast corner. And then if you went up the West Coast of the United States, the final corner in the northeast. You could guess what the headline was, "Is California next?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Scary Times."
Now, of course, there's an additional concern in the aftermath of a natural disaster. A few years ago we saw in Japan the specter of possible nuclear meltdowns, and that had people imagining some "apocalyptic" scenarios. The former Speaker of the House even called it "beyond biblical" what we were seeing. And then there's all the revolutions that have popped up in our news and seems like the whole world sometimes is shaking .
And then throw in a pandemic.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said a lot of this would happen. In Luke 21:11, He said "there will be great earthquakes...in various places and fearful events." Of course there have been earthquakes for thousands of years, but apparently they're going to get bigger and more frequent before Jesus comes.
Jesus also said there would be "wars and revolutions" (Luke 21:8) and "nation (and that original word actually means ethnic groups) will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...on the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity" (Luke 21:25). I couldn't help but think as I watch, you know, long-entrenched governments around the world quaking with tidal waves of disease and protests and revolution.
Then the Lord of the future, Jesus, went on to say that "men will...be apprehensive about what is coming in the world" (Luke 21:26). There'll be upheaval in nations, there'll be unrest in our souls." And then the drum roll! Here we go! "At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27).
So, as a tsunami was racing across the Pacific, I saw this cable news banner: "People are urged to take urgent action to protect lives." Our potentially "apocalyptic" world seems to be calling us to one of two spiritual responses, or "urgent action." If you belong to Jesus, act urgently to tell people you love about Him - no more excuses, no more stalling. And if you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, act urgently to give yourself to Him. That's how you'll be safe forever, no matter what shakes, no matter what swamps all of us.
He is, after all, the Rescuer who died for your sins. He's the Conqueror who beat death on Easter Morning; He's alive. He can come into your life. And He's the King who will write the final chapter not only of human history, but of your history.
If you don't belong to Him, never been a time you've given yourself to Him, let this be the day. These are times to make sure you're anchored to the Lord of the future. Just say, "Jesus, I'm done running my life. I believe You died for my sin. I believe You're alive today and I'm Yours starting today."
You want more information about this? You want to be sure you belong to Him? That's happened for a lot of people when they went to our website. I want to invite you to do that today. It's ANewStory.com.
Here's the promise from the Bible: "Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging...the Lord Almighty is with us" (Psalm 46:2-3, 7). It's the same in those earthquake drills, "Hold onto something heavy." Well, that's Jesus.
Monday, September 13, 2021
Genesis 48 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Dressed in a New Wardrobe - September 13, 2021
The Apostle Paul says, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27). When you make God’s story yours, he covers you in Christ. You wear him like a vest. Old labels no longer apply.
How about these new labels: Royal priest. Free from condemnation. Secure. God’s coworker. God’s temple. God’s workmanship. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe.
Psalm 103:12 reminds us not to mess with the old clothes any longer. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” When God sends your sins to the east and you to the west, you can be sure of this: he sees his Son and not your sin. In fact, Isaiah 43:25 says, “He remembers your sins no more!” How do you like that outfit?
Genesis 48
Some time after this conversation, Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” He took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to Jacob. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come,” he roused himself and sat up in bed.
3-7 Jacob said to Joseph, “The Strong God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said, ‘I’m going to make you prosperous and numerous, turn you into a congregation of tribes; and I’ll turn this land over to your children coming after you as a permanent inheritance.’ I’m adopting your two sons who were born to you here in Egypt before I joined you; they have equal status with Reuben and Simeon. But any children born after them are yours; they will come after their brothers in matters of inheritance. I want it this way because, as I was returning from Paddan, your mother Rachel, to my deep sorrow, died as we were on our way through Canaan when we were only a short distance from Ephrath, now called Bethlehem.”
8 Just then Jacob noticed Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these?”
9-11 Joseph told his father, “They are my sons whom God gave to me in this place.”
“Bring them to me,” he said, “so I can bless them.” Israel’s eyesight was poor from old age; he was nearly blind. So Joseph brought them up close. Old Israel kissed and embraced them and then said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has let me see your children as well!”
12-16 Joseph took them from Israel’s knees and bowed respectfully, his face to the ground. Then Joseph took the two boys, Ephraim with his right hand setting him to Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand setting him to Israel’s right, and stood them before him. But Israel crossed his arms and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim who was the younger and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, the firstborn. Then he blessed them:
The God before whom walked
my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
The God who has been my shepherd
all my life long to this very day,
The Angel who delivered me from every evil,
Bless the boys.
May my name be echoed in their lives,
and the names of Abraham and Isaac, my fathers,
And may they grow
covering the Earth with their children.
17-18 When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought he had made a mistake, so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s, saying, “That’s the wrong head, Father; the other one is the firstborn; place your right hand on his head.”
19-20 But his father wouldn’t do it. He said, “I know, my son; but I know what I’m doing. He also will develop into a people, and he also will be great. But his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will enrich nations.” Then he blessed them both:
Israel will use your names to give blessings:
May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
In that he made it explicit: he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21-22 Israel then said to Joseph, “I’m about to die. God be with you and give you safe passage back to the land of your fathers. As for me, I’m presenting you, as the first among your brothers, the ridge of land I took from Amorites with my sword and bow.”
* * *
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 13, 2021
Today's Scripture
Psalm 1
(NIV)
Blessed is the onea
who does not walkb in step with the wickedc
or stand in the wayd that sinners takee
or sitf in the company of mockers,g
2 but whose delighth is in the law of the Lord,i
and who meditatesj on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a treek planted by streamsl of water,m
which yields its fruitn in season
and whose leafo does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.p
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaffq
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not standr in the judgment,s
nor sinners in the assemblyt of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches overu the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.v
Insight
In Psalm 1, the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked are described in stark contrast. The psalmist identifies the way of evil with the progression of walking, standing, and sitting (v. 1). Some scholars believe this pictures an increasing intimacy with those who do wrong. As the association progresses, so does the level of iniquity: wicked, sinners, and mockers. The mocker not only engages in wrongdoing but also scorns the innocent.
In contrast, the righteous delight in the law of God and are called “blessed.” They’re consumed by love for the wisdom of God; it occupies their thoughts throughout the day, bringing to mind the command to Joshua to “meditate on it day and night” (Joshua 1:8). In metaphorical language, the psalmist then describes what it means to be blessed. The blessed are like a tree that grows strong and produces good, healthy fruit: “whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:3).
A Living Document
Blessed is the one . . . whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
Psalm 1:1–2
In memorializing his grandfather’s work, Peter Croft wrote, “It is my deepest desire for the person who picks up their Bible, whatever version they use, to not only understand but experience the scriptures as living documents, just as relevant, dangerous, and exciting now as they were those thousands of years ago.” Peter’s grandfather was J.B. Phillips, a youth minister who undertook a new paraphrase of the Bible in English during World War II in order to make it come alive to students at his church.
Like Phillips’ students, we face barriers to reading and experiencing Scripture, and not necessarily because of our Bible translation. We may lack time, discipline, or the right tools for understanding. But Psalm 1 tells us that “Blessed is the one . . . whose delight is in the law of the Lord” (vv. 1–2). Meditating on Scripture daily allows us to “prosper” in all seasons, no matter what hardship we’re facing.
How do you view your Bible? It’s still relevant with insight for living today, still dangerous in its call to believe and follow Jesus, still exciting in the intimate knowledge of God and humanity that it imparts. It’s like a stream of water (v. 3) that provides the sustenance we need daily. Today, let’s lean in—make time, get the right tools, and ask God to help us experience Scripture as a living document. By: Karen Pimpo
Reflect & Pray
What barriers do you face when reading the Bible? How can you make space to listen to God’s voice?
God, help me experience Scripture as a living document today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 13, 2021
After Surrender— Then What?
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4
True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.
Surrender for Deliverance. “Come to Me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— “Come to Me.” And it is a voluntary coming.
Surrender for Devotion. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, “If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me.” And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Philippians 4:19).
Surrender for Death. “…another will gird you…” (John 21:18; also see John 21:19). Have you learned what it means to be girded for death? Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again. True surrender is a matter of being “united together [with Jesus] in the likeness of His death” (Romans 6:5) until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.
And after you surrender— then what? Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 16-18; 2 Corinthians 6
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 13, 2021
A Recipe for Heroes - #9046
It was probably one of the greatest adventures in American history - the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The size of the United States doubled overnight and President Thomas Jefferson picked his aide, Meriwether Lewis, to lead a group of about forty men to explore a route from St. Louis to the Pacific. The journey took more than two years, covered thousands of miles, meeting with some fifty Indian tribes, and charting a vast area, largely unexplored by anyone other than Native Americans.
One of Meriwether Lewis' first steps in his preparation was to seek out his former commanding officer, William Clark, to share the command of this historic journey into the unknown. In his letter to Clark, he asked him to "participate with me in the expedition's fatigues, its dangers, and its honors." It took a long time for the letters to make it back and forth, but William Clark's reply was worth the wait. He said: "I will cheerfully join you and partake of the dangers, difficulties, and fatigues, and I anticipate the honor and rewards." That's a pretty good answer. It made him a hero.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Recipe for Heroes."
When I read Captain Lewis' invitation to Captain Clark, I can't help but think how much it reminds me of the much greater invitation that Jesus Christ gives to you and me. It's not an invitation to a party or a vacation; it's an invitation to join Him in a bold adventure, filled with "dangers, difficulties, and fatigues." Oh yes, and "honor and the rewards."
Our Western idea of faith that is a cushioned pews and convenient sacrifice flies right in the face of what Jesus called us to. It's in Luke 9:23-24, our word for today from the Word of God. "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." To which you can almost hear someone saying, "In that case, I'd rather run my own life. It sounds like there's too much to lose following Jesus." Well, you need to listen to Jesus' startling equation, "For whoever wants to save his life (or hang onto it) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it." So, hang onto your life, you lose it. Give it away and you find it.
Maybe you've tried this discount Christianity. It's really popular. Of course, it's only a pale shadow of the disciple Christianity Jesus calls us to. You go to the meetings, you believe the beliefs, you give in the offerings, you sometimes read your Bible, and you pray. But it's a surface commitment, a limited commitment, a commitment that still leaves you in control. My guess is that discount Christianity has left you unfulfilled and unsatisfied. It can't satisfy you. You were made to be abandoned to Jesus, taking up a cross, making choices that might cost you, building His kingdom instead of yours, and accepting assignments from Him that go way beyond your comfort zone.
And as for "the honor and the rewards"? Jesus said that no one who sacrificed for His great adventure "will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age...and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). You just can't outgive Jesus. True Christianity is expensive, but it's ultimately fulfilling and ultimately oh so rewarding.
Jesus is asking you to take your commitment to Him to a whole new level. And you can be sure the cost of not following Him is far greater than the cost of following Him. He's waiting for your answer to His invitation. By God's grace, your answer will be, "Jesus, I will cheerfully join You and I will partake of the dangers, difficulties, and fatigues, and I anticipate the honor and the rewards."
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Genesis 47, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
God’s Thoughts
LORD you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts!
Psalm 92:5 (NCV)
God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are they even like ours. We aren't even in the same neighborhood. We're thinking, Preserve the body; he's thinking, Save the soul. We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace. "I'm going to live before I die," we resolve. "Die, so you can live," he instructs. We love what rusts. He loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions. We show our children the Nike star with the million-dollar smile and say, "Be like Mike." God points to the crucified carpenter with bloody lips and a torn side and says, "Be like Christ."
Genesis 47
Joseph went to Pharaoh and told him, “My father and brothers with their flocks and herds and everything they own have come from Canaan. Right now they are in Goshen.”
2-3 He had taken five of his brothers with him and introduced them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked them, “What kind of work do you do?”
3-4 “Your servants are shepherds, the same as our fathers were. We have come to this country to find a new place to live. There is no pasture for our flocks in Canaan. The famine has been very bad there. Please, would you let your servants settle in the region of Goshen?”
5-6 Pharaoh looked at Joseph. “So, your father and brothers have arrived—a reunion! Egypt welcomes them. Settle your father and brothers on the choicest land—yes, give them Goshen. And if you know any among them that are especially good at their work, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7-8 Next Joseph brought his father Jacob in and introduced him to Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
9-10 Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are 130—a short and hard life and not nearly as long as my ancestors were given.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left.
11-12 Joseph settled his father and brothers in Egypt, made them proud owners of choice land—it was the region of Rameses (that is, Goshen)—just as Pharaoh had ordered. Joseph took good care of them—his father and brothers and all his father’s family, right down to the smallest baby. He made sure they had plenty of everything.
* * *
13-15 The time eventually came when there was no food anywhere. The famine was very bad. Egypt and Canaan alike were devastated by the famine. Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan to pay for the distribution of food. He banked the money in Pharaoh’s palace. When the money from Egypt and Canaan had run out, the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Food! Give us food! Are you going to watch us die right in front of you? The money is all gone.”
16-17 Joseph said, “Bring your livestock. I’ll trade you food for livestock since your money’s run out.” So they brought Joseph their livestock. He traded them food for their horses, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. He got them through that year in exchange for all their livestock.
18-19 When that year was over, the next year rolled around and they were back, saying, “Master, it’s no secret to you that we’re broke: our money’s gone and we’ve traded you all our livestock. We’ve nothing left to barter with but our bodies and our farms. What use are our bodies and our land if we stand here and starve to death right in front of you? Trade us food for our bodies and our land. We’ll be slaves to Pharaoh and give up our land—all we ask is seed for survival, just enough to live on and keep the farms alive.”
20-21 So Joseph bought up all the farms in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his land—the famine was that bad. That’s how Pharaoh ended up owning all the land and the people ended up slaves; Joseph reduced the people to slavery from one end of Egypt to the other.
22 Joseph made an exception for the priests. He didn’t buy their land because they received a fixed salary from Pharaoh and were able to live off of that salary. So they didn’t need to sell their land.
23-24 Joseph then announced to the people: “Here’s how things stand: I’ve bought you and your land for Pharaoh. In exchange I’m giving you seed so you can plant the ground. When the crops are harvested, you must give a fifth to Pharaoh and keep four-fifths for yourselves, for seed for yourselves and your families—you’re going to be able to feed your children!”
25 They said, “You’ve saved our lives! Master, we’re grateful and glad to be slaves to Pharaoh.”
26 Joseph decreed a land law in Egypt that is still in effect, A Fifth Goes to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ lands were not owned by Pharaoh.
* * *
27-28 And so Israel settled down in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property and flourished. They became a large company of people. Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years. In all, he lived 147 years.
29-30 When the time came for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said, “Do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh, a sign that you’re loyal and true to me to the end. Don’t bury me in Egypt. When I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me alongside them.”
“I will,” he said. “I’ll do what you’ve asked.”
31 Israel said, “Promise me.” Joseph promised.
Israel bowed his head in submission and gratitude from his bed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Today's Scripture
Romans 5:12–19
(NIV
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,d and death through sin,e and in this way death came to all people, because all sinnedf—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.g 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam,h who is a pattern of the one to come.i
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,j how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,k overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, deathl reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in lifem through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,n so also one righteous act resulted in justificationo and lifep for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one manq the many were made sinners,r so also through the obediences of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Insight
In Romans 5:14, Adam is referred to as a “pattern of the one to come” (a reference to Jesus). The Greek word translated “pattern” is the word týpos, from which we get the English words “type” and “typology.” Biblically speaking, persons, figures, or systems designated as “types” have historical significance, but they also point to other persons or things. Here Adam is viewed as representative of all humanity and points to Jesus, who is representative of “new humanity”—those made new by faith in Him. Just as Adam’s sin transferred to all, Christ’s righteousness is credited to all who believe in Him. By: Arthur Jackson
A Great Act of Love
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
Romans 5:18
In Oregon’s Malheur National Forest, a fungus popularly known as the honey mushroom spreads through tree roots across 2,200 acres, making it the largest living organism ever found. It’s been “weaving its black shoestring filaments” through the forest for more than two millennia, killing trees as it grows. Its shoestring filaments, called “rhizomorphs,” tunnel as deep as ten feet into the soil. And although the organism is incredibly large, it began with a single microscopic spore!
The Bible tells us of a single act of disobedience that caused widespread condemnation and a single act of obedience that reversed it. The apostle Paul contrasted two individuals—Adam and Jesus (Romans 5:14–15). Adam’s sin brought condemnation and death “to all people” (v. 12). Through one act of disobedience, all people were made sinners and stood condemned before God (v. 17). But He had a means of dealing with humanity’s sin problem. Through the righteous act of Jesus on the cross, God provides eternal life and a right standing before Him. Christ’s act of love and obedience was powerful enough to overcome Adam’s one act of disobedience—providing “life for all people” (v. 18).
Through His death on the cross, Jesus offers eternal life to anyone who puts their faith in Him. If you haven’t received His forgiveness and salvation, may you do so today. If you’re already a believer, praise Him for what He’s done by His great act of love! By: Marvin Williams
Reflect & Pray
What do the single acts of Adam and Jesus tell you about the impact of sin? How does Jesus’ sacrifice ignite or renew your desire to live a life that honors Him?
God, thank You for providing salvation and eternal life through Jesus! Help me to reveal Your saving way to others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Going Through Spiritual Confusion
Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask." —Matthew 20:22
There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.
The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember— He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?
The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father— as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. “Everyone who asks receives…” (Luke 11:10). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.
The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8). “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 13-15; 2 Corinthians 5
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Genesis 46, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
What Makes God, God?
If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful, because he cannot be false to himself.
2 Timothy 2:13 (NCV)
God's blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith....
Why is that important to know? So you won't get cynical. Look around you. Aren't there more mouths than bread? Aren't there more wounds than physicians? Aren't there more who need the truth than those who tell it?
So what do we do? Throw up our hands and walk away? Tell the world we can't help them?
No, we don't give up. We look up. We trust. We believe. And our optimism is not hollow. Christ has proven worthy. He has shown that he never fails. That's what makes God, God.
Genesis 46
So Israel set out on the journey with everything he owned. He arrived at Beersheba and worshiped, offering sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 God spoke to Israel in a vision that night: “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Yes?” he said. “I’m listening.”
3-4 God said, “I am the God of your father. Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt. I’m going to make you a great nation there. I’ll go with you down to Egypt; I’ll also bring you back here. And when you die, Joseph will be with you; with his own hand he’ll close your eyes.”
5-7 Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons loaded their father and their little ones and their wives on the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They arrived in Egypt with the livestock and the wealth they had accumulated in Canaan. Jacob brought everyone in his family with him—sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters. Everyone.
8 These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his descendants, who went to Egypt:
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
9 Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (Er and Onan had already died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.
14 Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These are the sons that Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram. There was also his daughter Dinah. Altogether, sons and daughters, they numbered thirty-three.
16 Gad’s sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Also their sister Serah, and Beriah’s sons, Heber and Malkiel.
18 These are the children that Zilpah, the maid that Laban gave to his daughter Leah, bore to Jacob—sixteen of them.
19-21 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, from his marriage to Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. They were born to him in Egypt. Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22 These are the children born to Jacob through Rachel—fourteen.
23 Dan’s son: Hushim.
24 Naphtali’s sons: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These are the children born to Jacob through Bilhah, the maid Laban had given to his daughter Rachel—seven.
26-27 Summing up, all those who went down to Egypt with Jacob—his own children, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six. Counting in the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who ended up in Egypt numbered seventy.
* * *
28-29 Jacob sent Judah on ahead to get directions to Goshen from Joseph. When they got to Goshen, Joseph gave orders for his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The moment Joseph saw him, he threw himself on his neck and wept. He wept a long time.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die. I’ve looked into your face—you are indeed alive.”
31-34 Joseph then spoke to his brothers and his father’s family. “I’ll go and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, all of whom lived in Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they’ve always made their living by raising livestock. And they’ve brought their flocks and herds with them, along with everything else they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks what kind of work you do, tell him, ‘Your servants have always kept livestock for as long as we can remember—we and our parents also.’ That way he’ll let you stay apart in the area of Goshen—for Egyptians look down on anyone who is a shepherd.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Today's Scripture Proverbs 3:13–18 (NIV)
Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.t
15 She is more precious than rubies;u
nothing you desire can compare with her.v
16 Long life is in her right hand;w
in her left hand are riches and honor.x
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.y
18 She is a tree of lifez to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed.a
Insight
The book of Proverbs begins, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel” (Proverbs 1:1). Solomon is noted throughout the Scriptures as a man of great wisdom. Jesus Himself noted Solomon’s wisdom (Matthew 12:42). Two things, however, need to be understood about this wisdom. First, the wisdom of Solomon wasn’t Solomon’s—it was given to him by God in response to the king’s prayer (1 Kings 3:5–13). James reminds us that this same wisdom is available to all of us and that God will grant our requests (James 1:5). Second, this wisdom can be abandoned—as Solomon clearly did. His life of wisdom became the ultimate example of foolishness as he turned from God to follow idols (1 Kings 11:4). As James 3:13–18 reminds us, the wisdom we choose to live by is foundational to our walk of faith. By: Bill Crowder
From Wisdom to Joy
[Wisdom] will guide you down delightful paths.
Proverbs 3:17 nlt
The phone rang and I picked it up without delay. Calling was the oldest member of our church family—a vibrant, hard-working woman who was nearly one hundred years old. Putting the final touches on her latest book, she asked me some writing questions to help her cross the finish line. As always, however, I soon was asking her questions—about life, work, love, family. Her many lessons from a long life sparkled with wisdom. She told me, “Pace yourself.” And soon we were laughing about times she’d forgotten to do that—her wonderful stories all seasoned with true joy.
Wisdom leads to joy, the Bible teaches. “Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 nlt). We find that this path—from wisdom to joy—is a biblical virtue, indeed. “For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy” (Proverbs 2:10 nlt). “God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him” (Ecclesiastes 2:26 nlt). Wisdom “will guide you down delightful paths,” adds Proverbs 3:17 (nlt).
Reflecting on the matters of life, author C. S. Lewis declared that “joy is the serious business of heaven.” The path there, however, is paved with wisdom. My church friend, who lived to be 107, would agree. She walked a wise, joyful pace to the King.
By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What paths have you taken in trying to find joy? How can wisdom lead you to joy?
When I might take a rocky road, loving God, please point me back to Your path of wisdom and joy.
Learn more about joy here.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Missionary Weapons (2)
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. —John 13:14
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield— you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.” But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 10-12; 2 Corinthians 4
Friday, September 10, 2021
Matthew 22:23-46 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Lift Up Your Gaze - September 10, 2021
Do you feel as if your best years have passed you by? Do you regret wasting seasons of life on foolish pursuits? So do I. But we can stop our laments. We have an eternity to make up for lost time.
Colossians 3:1 is a great reminder to “seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.” Seek heaven the way a sailor seeks the coast or a pilot seeks the landing strip. Colossians 3:2 says, “Think only about it.” Other translations say, “Keep your mind” on it. “Pursue the things over which Christ presides.”
In other words, obsess yourself with heaven. Open your eyes, Christ invites. Lift up your gaze. Don’t limit your story to the days between your birth and death. You were made for more than this life.
Matthew 22:23-46
Marriage and Resurrection
23-28 That same day, Sadducees approached him. This is the party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow and father a child with her. Here’s a case where there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no child, and his wife passed to his brother. The second brother also left her childless, then the third—and on and on, all seven. Eventually the wife died. Now here’s our question: At the resurrection, whose wife is she? She was a wife to each of them.”
29-33 Jesus answered, “You’re off base on two counts: You don’t know what God said, and you don’t know how God works. At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ The living God defines himself not as the God of dead men, but of the living.” Hearing this exchange the crowd was much impressed.
The Most Important Command
34-36 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”
37-40 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”
David’s Son and Master
41-42 As the Pharisees were regrouping, Jesus caught them off balance with his own test question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “David’s son.”
43-45 Jesus replied, “Well, if the Christ is David’s son, how do you explain that David, under inspiration, named Christ his ‘Master’?
God said to my Master,
“Sit here at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
“Now if David calls him ‘Master,’ how can he at the same time be his son?”
46 That stumped them, literalists that they were. Unwilling to risk losing face again in one of these public verbal exchanges, they quit asking questions for good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, September 10, 2021
Today's Scripture
Philippians 2:1–11
(NIV)
Imitating Christ’s Humility
2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,t if any tenderness and compassion,u 2 then make my joy completev by being like-minded,w having the same love, being onex in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.y Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,z 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.a
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:b
6 Who, being in very naturea God,c
did not consider equality with Godd something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothinge
by taking the very natureb of a servant,f
being made in human likeness.g
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to deathh—
even death on a cross!i
9 Therefore God exalted himj to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,k
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,l
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,m
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,n
to the glory of God the Father.
Insight
When Paul asked readers in Philippi to consider the humility of Jesus (Philippians 2:5–8), he used a word that describes the attitude of those willing to be counted among servants. More importantly, he wanted them to remember that those who live in the spirit of Jesus do so in the awareness that He first humbled Himself for us. It wasn’t a new thought. Long before, the prophet Isaiah had described a mysterious “Servant” as being despised, rejected, and familiar with pain and suffering. Before alluding to this person’s true honor and glory, the prophet went on to anticipate that He’d be held in such low esteem that people would find it hard to even look at Him (Isaiah 53:3). So too now, those who lower themselves for the good of others in the spirit of Jesus express the humility of our Savior who is “in very nature God” (Philippians 2:6). By: Mart DeHaan
Like a Symphony
Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Philippians 2:2
I surprised my wife with concert tickets to listen to a performer she’d always wanted to see. The gifted singer was accompanied by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the setting was the matchless venue at Red Rocks—an open-air amphitheater built between two 300-foot rock formations at more than 6,000 feet above sea level. The orchestra played a number of well-loved classical songs and folk tunes. Their final number was a fresh treatment of the classic hymn “Amazing Grace.” The beautiful, harmonized arrangement took our breath away!
There’s something beautiful about harmony—individual instruments playing together in a way that creates a bigger and more layered sonic landscape. The apostle Paul pointed to the beauty of harmony when he told the Philippians to be “like-minded,” have “the same love,” and be “one in spirit and . . . mind” (Philippians 2:2). He wasn’t asking them to become identical but to embrace the humble attitude and self-giving love of Jesus. The gospel, as Paul well knew and taught, doesn’t erase our distinctions, but it can eliminate our divisions.
It’s also interesting that many scholars believe Paul’s words here (vv. 6–11) are a prelude to an early hymn. Here’s the point: When we allow the Holy Spirit to work through our distinct lives and contexts, making us more like Jesus, together we become a symphony that reverberates with a humble Christlike love. By: Glenn Packiam
Reflect & Pray
Who could use some encouragement from you today? How could you put the interests of others above your own, just as Jesus did for us?
Dear Jesus, thank You for saving me. May Your Spirit transform me into Your image. In my attitude and actions, help me to take on Your humility and sacrificial love. May it result in a greater unity with other believers in my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 10, 2021
Missionary Weapons (1)
When you were under the fig tree, I saw you. —John 1:48
Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, “If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion”? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.
A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private “fig-tree” life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.
Are you saying, “But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready”? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.
God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”
The Shadow of an Agony
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 8-9; 2 Corinthians 3
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 10, 2021
The Love That Can't Stand to Lose You - #9045
Rick Rescorla was a decorated Vietnam War hero. But his greatest acts of heroism happened years later, on the job at the World Trade Center. As head of security for Morgan Stanley, one of the largest employers in the Twin Towers, he began to take special measures after the Trade Center bombing that happened back in 1993. Suggesting that there might be another attack, possibly coming from the air, he became known as the man who predicted September 11. He began regular drills for Stanley's 2,700 employees in emergency evacuation procedures. Morgan Stanley had offices from the 44th to the 74th floors of Tower Two. When Tower One was hit on that awful September 11, there seemed to be no reason to get out of Tower Two, except for Rick Rescorla's training.
Sixteen minutes after Tower One was hit, a plane crashed into Tower Two. The explosion knocked Rick to the floor. Even there, he grabbed a bullhorn. He yelled for people to stay calm and to head for the stairwells. Then he began to go from floor to floor, looking for people he could save. With both towers now burning out of control, Rick stayed in the building, talking the last of his colleagues down the stairwells. One of the last ones out was a Morgan Stanley executive who said, "Rick, you have to get out of here, too, man." His answer: "I will, John, as soon as we get everyone out." Rick Rescorla died that day at Ground Zero, but only after he had saved the lives of nearly 2,700 people.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Love That Can't Stand to Lose You."
It was Jesus Christ who said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). The sacrifice of one man to save many on September 11, has given those people the opportunity to live possibly many more years on earth - 30, 40, 50 more years. The sacrifice of one man on a cross on Skull Hill has given every man and woman on this planet the opportunity to live forever; including you and me. And that man was no less than God's one and only Son. In the words of Scripture, "they crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8).
Jesus summed up the unspeakable sacrifice He was about to make in these words from John 10:11, our word for today from the Word of God: "I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." Jesus didn't come just to teach us a wonderful way to live or provide us a great example or start a religion. He came to give His life. And you are one of the reasons God's only Son allowed Himself to be nailed to a criminal's cross. I'm one of those reasons. He loves you so much He doesn't want to lose you.
And why this sacrifice? There was no other way to rescue you and me from the death penalty for the sins of our life. A death penalty can only be paid one way - somebody's got to die. I know who deserves to die for my sins. I do. But in the greatest act of love in human history, Jesus did the dying for every God-defying thing I've ever done and that you've done.
And now He keeps going back to rescue one more from the awful judgment that's coming. Today, even now, He's come to offer you an opportunity to be saved. But it's a rescue you've got to choose by grabbing the Rescuer like He's your only hope. He is. And while you may appreciate Jesus and agree with Jesus, that's not enough to have your sins forgiven. You've got to pin all your hopes on Jesus, like one of those people that was stranded on their roof after Hurricane Katrina a few years ago; wrapping themselves around that rescuer who came from above.
The price Jesus paid for your rescue couldn't have been higher. That's what makes what you do with Jesus so serious in terms of whether eternity means heaven or hell. Your decision about Jesus is your decision about where you're going to be forever.
My prayer is you won't wait another day before you tell Him, "I'm Yours." We've set up our website to help you experience God's love for yourself. Would you visit us there today? It's ANewStory.com.
After the price God paid to rescue you, is it any wonder there's one thing upon which He will base your eternity, "What did you do with My Son?"