Luke 7:31-50 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: Because He’s Been There - March 25, 2022

Millions facing the chill of empty pockets or the fears of sudden change turn to Christ. Why? Because he’s been there. He’s been to Nazareth, where he made deadlines and paid bills; to Jerusalem, where he stared down critics and stood up against cynics.

We have our Nazareths as well. Jesus wasn’t the last to build a team; accusers didn’t disappear with Jerusalem’s temple. Why seek Jesus’ help with your challenges? Because he’s been there.

But most of all he’s been to the grave. Not as a visitor, but as a corpse. Body wrapped and grave sealed. Buried. You haven’t yet. But you will be. And since you will, don’t you need someone who knows the way out? God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! A way to have life that cannot be destroyed!

Luke 7:31-50

“How can I account for the people of this generation? They’re like spoiled children complaining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.’ John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy. The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a boozer. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
Anointing His Feet

36-39 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”

40 Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Oh? Tell me.”

41-42 “Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”

43-47 Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”

48 Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”

49 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”

50 He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, March 25, 2022

Today's Scripture
Jeremiah 29:4–7 10–14
(NIV)

“The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those people whom he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia: 5‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. 6Marry and have children. Then let your children get married, so that they also may have children. You must increase in numbers and not decrease. 7Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. Pray to me on their behalf, because if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too.

*“The Lord says, ‘When Babylonia’s seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home. 11I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.k 12Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. 13*You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart. 14Yes, I say, you will find me, and I will restore you to your land. I will gather you from every country and from every place to which I have scattered you, and I will bring you back to the land from which I had sent you away into exile. I, the Lord, have spoken.’

Insight

God used the Assyrians and Babylonians to discipline His people for their unfaithfulness (Jeremiah 1:15–16; 5:15–17). Israel was completely destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 bc, but God wouldn’t allow the Babylonians to destroy Judah completely (5:18–19; 2 Kings 17:18–20). Though Judah would be in Babylon for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11), God promised He would “watch over them for their good, and . . . bring them back to this land” (24:6). Jeremiah reiterated that God would bring them back after the seventy years were completed (29:10). In the meantime, they were to settle down in Babylon (vv. 4–9). By: K. T. Sim

Where’s God?

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13

In Martin Handford’s Where’s Waldo? books, a series of children’s puzzle books first created in 1987, the elusive character wears a red and white striped shirt and socks with a matching hat, blue jeans, brown boots, and glasses. Handford has cleverly hidden Waldo in plain sight within the busy illustrations filled with crowds of characters at various locations around the world. Waldo isn’t always easy to see, but the creator promises readers will always be able to find him. Though looking for God isn’t really like looking for Waldo in a puzzle book, our Creator promises we can find Him, too.

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God instructed His people on how to live as foreigners in exile (Jeremiah 29:4–9). He promised to protect them until He restored them according to His perfect plan (vv. 10–11). God assured the Israelites that the fulfillment of His promise would deepen their commitment to call on Him in prayer (v. 12).

Today, even though God has revealed Himself in the story and Spirit of Jesus, it can be easy to get distracted by the busyness of this world. We may even be tempted to ask, “Where’s God?” However, the Creator and Sustainer of all things declares that those who belong to Him will always find Him if they seek Him with all their hearts (vv. 13–14). By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

What distractions prevent you from spending time seeking God through Bible reading and prayer? How has God helped you focus on Him when busyness tugs you away from Him?

Loving Creator and Sustainer of all, please help me seek You daily with all my heart and trust You will keep the promises You’ve made.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 25, 2022
Maintaining the Proper Relationship

…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29

Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.

To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.  The Place of Help, 1051 L

Bible in a Year: Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 25, 2022

Together On the Outside, Broken On the Inside - #9185

If you had seen that three-month-old baby, you'd say, "Man, he looks like the picture of health." He was a handsome baby, full of dark hair, doubled his weight since he was born, strong, taking in everything going on around him, and a smile that could melt your heart. But inside, it was a different story. He'd already had two major heart surgeries in his short life and the prospect of more in his future.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Together On the Outside, Broken On the Inside."

That little guy - a picture of so many of us. He looks so healthy on the outside, but he had major heart problems on the inside. Most of us have figured out how to look together and so in control. But inside, where no one but God can see, it's a different story isn't it.

Inside there's those secrets that no one knows; that darkness that we hope no one ever knows; those wounds that no one's been able to heal; the guilt that no one can remove; the answers no one can give us; the fear, the insecurity, the frustration of not really being sure why we're here or where we're going.

In some strange way, those disturbances in your heart are actually the whispers of the God who made you. They're the hollow echoes in a heart that He was supposed to inhabit - a life He was supposed to direct. The trouble that hides behind our image of strength is really telling us that someone is missing; that somehow we are away from the God who is the source of our life and all that's missing inside us.

Of course, God isn't fooled by our cool exterior. The Bible says that though "man looks at the outside appearance...God looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). And here's what the Bible says about all our secrets: "He knows the secrets of the heart" (Psalm 44:21). And then it says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:13). That should concern us, because in the Bible's words, "God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ" (Romans 2:16).

Here's what He says about the results of His spiritual EKG of your heart and mine: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure" (Jeremiah 17:9). That's why God can't live in the heart that was made for Him - our sin. But then, in Ezekiel 36, beginning with verse 26, our word for today from the Word of God, He gives us a stunning promise: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you...I will put My Spirit in you...you will be My people and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness." Wow!

That saving, that spiritual rescue from certain death, did not come cheap. It cost God the life of His Son. It took the sacrifice of the only perfect life there ever was to absorb God's punishment for all your sin and mine. And it took His resurrection from the dead to open the way for you to live with God forever in heaven; forgiven, clean, and one of His kids forever.

That's the amazing offer that Jesus is making to you today. What you feel in your heart is His knocking on the door of your heart. He's giving you this opportunity to open up your life to Him to be your personal Savior from your personal sin. This could be the day He gives you a new heart spiritually; the day the God of the galaxies literally moves into you upon your invitation. How do you do that? You tell Him, "God, I know I've sinned. I know You sent Your Son to pay for my sin. And I believe that Jesus is my only hope. I'm turning from my sin that's kept me from You, and I'm turning to Jesus to make me clean and to make me Yours."

I'm committed to helping you find Him for yourself like somebody helped me. And that's why I've prepared a brief and I think a simple explanation of just how to begin your personal relationship with God and to know you have. Would you go to our website? It's there - ANewStory.com.

You're one heartfelt prayer away from God's miracle in your heart. You began this day away from Him. You can go to sleep tonight with Him in your heart.

Deuteronomy 29 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Reconnection Invitation - March 24, 2022

Something is awry—we feel disconnected. What we hope will bring life brings only limited amounts. We connect with a career and find meaning in family, yet long for something more. First job. Then promotion. Wedding day. Nursery. Kids. Grandkids. Around and around—is there anything else?

Jesus steps forth with a reconnection invitation. Though we be dead in our transgression and sins, and separated from the life of God, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Reborn! He breathes life into flat-lined lives. He offers life. Others offer life, but no one offers to do what Jesus does—to reconnect us to life! Peter says, “Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life…everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts right now” (1 Peter 1:3-4 MSG).

Deuteronomy 29

These are the terms of the Covenant that God commanded Moses to make with the People of Israel in the land of Moab, renewing the Covenant he made with them at Horeb.
Moses Blesses Israel on the Plains of Moab

2-4 Moses called all Israel together and said, You’ve seen with your own eyes everything that God did in Egypt to Pharaoh and his servants, and to the land itself—the massive trials to which you were eyewitnesses, the great signs and miracle-wonders. But God didn’t give you an understanding heart or perceptive eyes or attentive ears until right now, this very day.

5-6 I took you through the wilderness for forty years and through all that time the clothes on your backs didn’t wear out, the sandals on your feet didn’t wear out, and you lived well without bread and wine and beer, proving to you that I am in fact God, your God.

7-8 When you arrived here in this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan met us primed for war but we beat them. We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

9 Diligently keep the words of this Covenant. Do what they say so that you will live well and wisely in every detail.

10-13 You are all standing here today in the Presence of God, your God—the heads of your tribes, your leaders, your officials, all Israel: your babies, your wives, the resident foreigners in your camps who fetch your firewood and water—ready to cross over into the solemnly sworn Covenant that God, your God, is making with you today, the Covenant that this day confirms that you are his people and he is God, your God, just as he promised you and your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14-21 I’m not making this Covenant and its oath with you alone. I am making it with you who are standing here today in the Presence of God, our God, yes, but also with those who are not here today. You know the conditions in which we lived in Egypt and how we crisscrossed through nations in our travels. You got an eyeful of their obscenities, their wood and stone, silver and gold junk-gods. Don’t let down your guard lest even now, today, someone—man or woman, clan or tribe—gets sidetracked from God, our God, and gets involved with the no-gods of the nations; lest some poisonous weed sprout and spread among you, a person who hears the words of the Covenant-oath but exempts himself, thinking, “I’ll live just the way I please, thank you,” and ends up ruining life for everybody. God won’t let him off the hook. God’s anger and jealousy will erupt like a volcano against that person. The curses written in this book will bury him. God will delete his name from the records. God will separate him out from all the tribes of Israel for special punishment, according to all the curses of the Covenant written in this Book of Revelation.

22-23 The next generation, your children who come after you and the foreigner who comes from a far country, will be appalled when they see the widespread devastation, how God made the whole land sick. They’ll see a fire-blackened wasteland of brimstone and salt flats, nothing planted, nothing growing, not so much as a blade of grass anywhere—like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which God overthrew in fiery rage.

24 All the nations will ask, “Why did God do this to this country? What on earth could have made him this angry?”

25-28 Your children will answer, “Because they abandoned the Covenant of the God of their ancestors that he made with them after he got them out of Egypt; they went off and worshiped other gods, submitted to gods they’d never heard of before, gods they had no business dealing with. So God’s anger erupted against that land and all the curses written in this book came down on it. God, furiously angry, pulled them, roots and all, out of their land and dumped them in another country, as you can see.”

29 God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It’s up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, March 24, 2022

Today's Scripture
James 2:1–4
(NIV)

 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorioust Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.u 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judgesv with evil thoughts?

Favoritism Forbidden

Insight

When James accuses believers who show favoritism of being “judges with evil thoughts” (2:4), he’s likely alluding to the common tendency for courts to favor the rich. Judges were of higher social status and often didn’t hold persons of lower economic class in high esteem. Legal preference for the rich was even often written into the laws. Biblical law condemned such preferential treatment (Leviticus 19:15), however, and even Greek philosophers called out bias against the poor as immoral. But James pointed to the common tendency of people to instinctively show favoritism toward persons of elevated social status, perhaps out of a desire to benefit from their wealth. He suggested that trying to curry favor with the wealthy and powerful makes people no better than blatantly biased judges. Instead, he called believers to align with God’s high regard for society’s poor and marginalized (James 2:5). By: Monica La Rose

And Seven Others

Believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.
James 2:1

Tragedy struck near Los Angeles in January 2020 when nine people died in a helicopter crash. Most news stories began something like this, “NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna (“Gigi”), and seven others lost their lives in the accident.”

It’s natural and understandable to focus on the well-known people involved in a horrible situation like this—and the deaths of Kobe and his precious teenager Gigi are heartbreaking beyond description. But we must keep in mind that in life’s big picture there’s no dividing line that makes the “seven others” (Payton, Sarah, Christina, Alyssa, John, Keri, and Ara) any less significant.

Sometimes we need to be reminded that each human is important in God’s eyes. Society shines bright lights on the rich and famous. Yet fame doesn’t make a person any more important than your next-door neighbor, the noisy kids who play in your street, the down-on-his-luck guy at the city mission, or you.

Every person on earth is created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), whether rich or poor (Proverbs 22:2). No one is favored more than another in His eyes (Romans 2:11), and each is in need of a Savior (3:23).

We glorify our great God when we refuse to show favoritism—whether in the church (James 2:1–4) or in society at large. By:  Dave Branon

Reflect & Pray

What can you do to show love for all mankind—rich or poor, famous or obscure? How did Jesus reveal this kind of love?

Heavenly Father, help me to show love and kindness to all, regardless of their station in life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Decreasing for His Purpose

He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30

If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”

Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.

Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us. Disciples Indeed, 388 R

Bible in a Year: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 24, 2022

Your Most Important RelationshipA Healthy Appetite - #9184

A Healthy Appetite - #9184

I'm told that new babies actually lose a little weight between the time they're born and the checkup they have two weeks later. Oh, not when our little granddaughter was new! No! No! And we know why. She was extremely dedicated to eating often and eating a lot. Her mother's milk obviously agreed with her. She had been one happy little girl, until it was time to eat again. At which point she would crank it up and let us know in no uncertain terms "I'm hungry! I will not be delayed! I will not be denied!" I think that's what she said.

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

Watching my granddaughter's demand for mama's milk actually helped me understand even more how God uses that example in showing us how to grow in Him. I feel like He's talking about my little darlin' back then when He says in 1 Peter 2:2, our word for today from the Word of God, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation."

I know how our granddaughter was about her milk - insistent on getting it on a regular basis. Is that how you are about the spiritual milk of God's Word, the Bible? Are you insistent on getting into His Scriptures on a regular basis? Or do you consult God's Word when you have time...when you're in a jam...when you feel like it?

We're not talking here about some mechanical, grudging fulfillment; check the box - my Christian duty to read my Bible. Our granddaughter didn't seem to be saying, "Well, I know I'm supposed to be getting some milk. I guess it's my duty. I'd better stop and eat." No, it's not a duty for her; it was an insatiable desire. And it wasn't occasional either; it was regular. Just like our time with the Lord in His Word needs to be. Almost every detour from God's way and God's will can ultimately be traced to one thing...neglecting our time with Him.

Time with Jesus in His Book has to be a commitment - something you insist on, no matter what. It's easy to quote the verse about "seek first the kingdom of God" but it's hard to believe you mean that if your time with the King isn't the highest priority of your personal schedule. So, is it? Better yet, is He? Because it's all about Jesus. It's all about being with Him, not being with a Book. But like the person you love connecting with you through the love letter that they write to you, our main connection to Jesus right now is His Love Letter called the Bible.

Frankly, we are so clueless about how to handle this day's challenges if we don't have time getting God's perspective and God's direction. God's Word is designed to be your anchor, the one thing that doesn't move when everything else is moving. God gave you His Word to be your flashlight to illuminate the ground you have to walk on today. It's your harbor where you can find God's peace in any storm. And in His words, God reveals your orders from heaven for this day.

So without the heaven-link of time in God's Word, you're living a day without your flashlight, your anchor, your harbor, your orders. It's time for you to make your time with God in His Word the non-cancelable, non-negotiable of your daily schedule.

It all comes down to appetite. If you've allowed an appetite for TV, Internet, social media, sports, music, news, friends, or anything else to marginalize your appetite for God's Word, things are messed up. Ask God to give you, like a baby, a desperate appetite for more of what He has to say. Because really, that's the only way to (as the Bible says) "grow up in your salvation."

Deuteronomy 28 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What’s Your Choice? - March 23, 2022

Spend a lifetime telling God to be quiet, and he will do just that. In hell God honors our request for silence. Hell is not a correctional facility or reform school. Its members hear no candid sermons, they do not hear the Spirit of God, or the voice of God, or the voice of God’s people. In Ezekiel 33:11 God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.”

It is not God’s will that any should perish, but the fact that some do highlights God’s justice. God must punish sin. Thanks to Christ, this earth can be the nearest you come to hell. But apart from Christ, this earth is the nearest you’ll come to heaven. John 3:16 says, “whoever believes in him shall not perish…” God makes the offer, so we make the choice. What’s your choice?

Deuteronomy 28

 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:

God’s blessing inside the city,
God’s blessing in the country;
God’s blessing on your children,
    the crops of your land,
    the young of your livestock,
    the calves of your herds,
    the lambs of your flocks.
God’s blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God’s blessing in your coming in,
God’s blessing in your going out.

7 God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.

8 God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he’ll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

9 God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.

10 All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe.

11-14 God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won’t have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you’ll always be the top dog, never the underdog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.

15-19 Here’s what will happen if you don’t obediently listen to the Voice of God, your God, and diligently keep all the commandments and guidelines that I’m commanding you today. All these curses will come down hard on you:

God’s curse in the city,
God’s curse in the country;
God’s curse on your basket and bread bowl;
God’s curse on your children,
    the crops of your land,
    the young of your livestock,
    the calves of your herds,
    the lambs of your flocks.
God’s curse in your coming in,
God’s curse in your going out.

20 God will send The Curse, The Confusion, The Contrariness down on everything you try to do until you’ve been destroyed and there’s nothing left of you—all because of your evil pursuits that led you to abandon me.

21 God will infect you with The Disease, wiping you right off the land that you’re going in to possess.

22 God will set consumption and fever and rash and seizures and dehydration and blight and jaundice on you. They’ll hunt you down until they kill you.

23-24 The sky over your head will become an iron roof, the ground under your feet, a slab of concrete. From out of the skies God will rain ash and dust down on you until you suffocate.

25-26 God will defeat you by enemy attack. You’ll come at your enemies on one road and run away on seven roads. All the kingdoms of Earth will see you as a horror. Carrion birds and animals will boldly feast on your dead body with no one to chase them away.

27-29 God will hit you hard with the boils of Egypt, hemorrhoids, scabs, and an incurable itch. He’ll make you go crazy and blind and senile. You’ll grope around in the middle of the day like a blind person feeling his way through a lifetime of darkness; you’ll never get to where you’re going. Not a day will go by that you’re not abused and robbed. And no one is going to help you.

30-31 You’ll get engaged to a woman and another man will take her for his mistress; you’ll build a house and never live in it; you’ll plant a garden and never eat so much as a carrot; you’ll watch your ox get butchered and not get a single steak from it; your donkey will be stolen from in front of you and you’ll never see it again; your sheep will be sent off to your enemies and no one will lift a hand to help you.

32-34 Your sons and daughters will be shipped off to foreigners; you’ll wear your eyes out looking vainly for them, helpless to do a thing. Your crops and everything you work for will be eaten and used by foreigners; you’ll spend the rest of your lives abused and knocked around. What you see will drive you crazy.

35 God will hit you with painful boils on your knees and legs and no healing or relief from head to foot.

36-37 God will lead you and the king you set over you to a country neither you nor your ancestors have heard of; there you’ll worship other gods, no-gods of wood and stone. Among all the peoples where God will take you, you’ll be treated as a lesson or a proverb—a horror!

38-42 You’ll plant sacks and sacks of seed in the field but get almost nothing—the grasshoppers will devour it. You’ll plant and hoe and prune vineyards but won’t drink or put up any wine—the worms will devour them. You’ll have groves of olive trees everywhere, but you’ll have no oil to rub on your face or hands—the olives will have fallen off. You’ll have sons and daughters but they won’t be yours for long—they’ll go off to captivity. Locusts will take over all your trees and crops.

43-44 The foreigner who lives among you will climb the ladder, higher and higher, while you go deeper and deeper into the hole. He’ll lend to you; you won’t lend to him. He’ll be the head; you’ll be the tail.

45-46 All these curses are going to come on you. They’re going to hunt you down and get you until there’s nothing left of you because you didn’t obediently listen to the Voice of God, your God, and diligently keep his commandments and guidelines that I commanded you. The curses will serve as signposts, warnings to your children ever after.

47-48 Because you didn’t serve God, your God, out of the joy and goodness of your heart in the great abundance, you’ll have to serve your enemies whom God will send against you. Life will be famine and drought, rags and wretchedness; then he’ll put an iron yoke on your neck until he’s destroyed you.

48-52 Yes, God will raise up a faraway nation against you, swooping down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you can’t understand, a mean-faced people, cruel to grandmothers and babies alike. They’ll ravage the young of your animals and the crops from your fields until you’re destroyed. They’ll leave nothing behind: no grain, no wine, no oil, no calves, no lambs—and finally, no you. They’ll lay siege to you while you’re huddled behind your town gates. They’ll knock those high, proud walls flat, those walls behind which you felt so safe. They’ll lay siege to your fortified cities all over the country, this country that God, your God, has given you.

53-55 And you’ll end up cannibalizing your own sons and daughters that God, your God, has given you. When the suffering from the siege gets extreme, you’re going to eat your own babies. The most gentle and caring man among you will turn hard, his eye evil, against his own brother, his cherished wife, and even the rest of his children who are still alive, refusing to share with them a scrap of meat from the cannibal child-stew he is eating. He’s lost everything, even his humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns.

56-57 And the most gentle and caring woman among you, a woman who wouldn’t step on a wildflower, will turn hard, her eye evil, against her cherished husband, against her son, against her daughter, against even the afterbirth of her newborn infants; she plans to eat them in secret—she does eat them!—because she has lost everything, even her humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns.

58-61 If you don’t diligently keep all the words of this Revelation written in this book, living in holy awe before This Name glorious and terrible, God, your God, then God will pound you with catastrophes, you and your children, huge interminable catastrophes, hideous interminable illnesses. He’ll bring back and stick you with every old Egyptian malady that once terrorized you. And yes, every disease and catastrophe imaginable—things not even written in the Book of this Revelation—God will bring on you until you’re destroyed.

62 Because you didn’t listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, you’ll be left with a few pitiful stragglers in place of the dazzling stars-in-the-heavens multitude you had become.

63-66 And this is how things will end up: Just as God once enjoyed you, took pleasure in making life good for you, giving you many children, so God will enjoy getting rid of you, clearing you off the Earth. He’ll weed you out of the very soil that you are entering in to possess. He’ll scatter you to the four winds, from one end of the Earth to the other. You’ll worship all kinds of other gods, gods neither you nor your parents ever heard of, wood and stone no-gods. But you won’t find a home there, you’ll not be able to settle down. God will give you a restless heart, longing eyes, a homesick soul. You will live in constant jeopardy, terrified of every shadow, never knowing what you’ll meet around the next corner.

67 In the morning you’ll say, “I wish it were evening.” In the evening you’ll say, “I wish it were morning.” Afraid, terrorized at what’s coming next, afraid of the unknown, because of the sights you’ve witnessed.

68 God will ship you back to Egypt by a road I promised you’d never see again. There you’ll offer yourselves for sale, both men and women, as slaves to your enemies. And not a buyer to be found.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Today's Scripture
Genesis 1:20–25
(NIV)

 Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.” 21So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw. 22He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce, and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number. 23Evening passed and morning came—that was the fifth day.

24 Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small”—and it was done. 25So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.

Insight

Genesis 1:1–19 tells us that in the first four days, God created the physical infrastructures of His creation—the galaxies and the earth with its sky, land, and seas. On days five and six, He created the living creatures—birds, fish, land animals, and humankind (vv. 20–31) to inhabit the three realms on the earth. Scientists have estimated that our natural world contains some 8.7 million species, out of which only 1.6 million (20 percent) have been officially identified. The phrase “and God said” dominates the creation account, pointing to our creative and powerful God, who literally spoke these mind-boggling natural diversities into existence. The psalmist celebrates God saying, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made. . . . Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be” (Psalm 33:6, 8–9).  By: K. T. Sim

God’s Good Glue

God made . . . all the creatures that move along the ground.
Genesis 1:25

Scientists from Penn State University recently engineered a new kind of glue that’s both extremely strong and also removable. Their design is inspired by a snail whose slime hardens in dry conditions and loosens again when wet. The reversible nature of the snail’s slime allows it to move freely in more humid conditions—safer for the snail—while keeping it securely planted in its environment when movement would be hazardous.

The researchers’ approach of mimicking an adhesive found in nature calls to mind scientist Johannes Kepler’s description of his discoveries. He said he was “merely thinking God’s thoughts after him.” The Bible tells us that God created the earth and all that’s in it: the vegetation on the land (Genesis 1:12); the “creatures of the sea” and “every winged bird” (v. 21); “the creatures that move along the ground” (v. 25); and “mankind in his own image” (v. 27). When humankind discovers or identifies a special attribute of a plant or animal, we’re simply following in God’s creative footsteps, having our eyes opened to the way He designed them.

At the end of each day in the creation account, God surveyed the fruit of His work and described it as “good.” As we learn and discover more about God’s creation, may we too recognize His magnificent work, care for it well, and proclaim how very good it is! By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

How do you see God’s handiwork in the creation around you? How can you respond in praise to Him?

Creator God, thank You for the unique and perfect way You created the world and all that’s in it. Your works are wondrous!

Learn more about possessing a Christian worldview.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal…? —1 Corinthians 3:3

Am I Carnally Minded?

The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.

Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.

If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.

What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it— it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

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

Bible in a Year: Joshua 13-15; Luke 1:57-80

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Walking Without Support - #9183

Our family actually attended a movie premier together! Uh-huh! Well, it was actually in our living room. I don't think it will ever win an Oscar. But it was the premier of the Hutchcraft family movies transferred to DVD! What a breakthrough! Now we can watch them with the benefit of modern technology. We watched this one movie of our oldest son learning to walk. He started out by holding onto things like the coffee table, and then he'd move from there and reach over so he could hold onto the couch. And the next thing you see, he's holding his sister's hand. Here's this little guy toddling around with his big sister trying to help him. And now he was walking!

It was cute to see him walk like that then. It wouldn't be cute today if he couldn't walk unless he was holding onto something. How did he learn to really walk by himself? Well, Dad was off camera encouraging him. Yeah! You can't see me or hear me in the movie, but I'm over there saying, "Come on, son! Come to Daddy!" And he's looking at me, and finally he lets go of all his props, and in this victorious moment walks across the floor. It was worth the film just to have that shot! I mean, that's an important milestone in growing up. He's been walking ever since.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Walking Without Support."

Our word for today from the Word of God, Matthew 14 beginning in verse 25. The disciples are being thrown around by this terrible storm on the Sea of Galilee. And it says, "Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.' 'Lord, if it's You,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to You on the water.' 'Come,' He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him."

This is Peter walking where there's apparently no support like our son did as a baby. Let go of the table, let go of the couch, and walk with no other support. It looks scary, but it's a giant step forward in the things you could do with your life. Most of us insist on staying in the boat like the eleven disciples did that day. Only one thought it was safe to get out, and he could only go so far with Jesus safely without taking a risk. The really powerful stuff in your life begins to happen when you step out.

See, right now, your Lord might be asking you to take a miracle walk with no visible means of support. He's calling you to step away from the people and the places, and maybe the security you've always held onto. There are four essentials if you're going to go into a miracle walk and they're in this passage. Number one, you check with Jesus. Peter said, "Lord, if it's You." Make sure the Lord is asking you to step out of the boat. You can confirm that in prayer, through His Word, and through counseling. It doesn't matter how hard the wind is blowing if He's asking you to do it. It doesn't matter if there is no means of support. It doesn't matter if no one's ever done it before. If Jesus is asking you to do it, go for it.

Second, abandon safety. You've got to get out of the boat. You've got to get out of that safe, comfy spot you've been in. If you insist on staying in your comfort zone, you'll probably miss the beautiful will of God. Thirdly, you walk on water. You start stepping out into that new ground (or water) where you've never stepped before. And finally, focus on Jesus. Not the situation, not the wind, not the storm, not the things you're afraid of. Do what Peter failed to do when he was halfway to Jesus. Keep dwelling on the One who called you out of the boat in the first place.

When our son finally took that risk and walked where there was no support, that was a major milestone in his growth. Now, if Jesus is asking you to do that, you're on the edge of a quantum leap in your life with Him. You're about to abandon the natural and step into the supernatural.

Luke 7:1-30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The Way, the Truth, and the Life - March 22, 2022

Some historians clump Christ with Muhammad, Moses, Confucius, and other spiritual leaders. But Jesus refuses to share the page. In John 14:6 Jesus declares, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” He could have scored more points in political correctness had he said, “I know the way,” or “I show the way.” Yet he speaks not of what he does but of who he is: I am the way!

His disciple Peter announced, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Believe in yourself? No. Believe in him. Believe in them? No. Believe him. And John 3:16 promises to those who believe in him, they shall not perish but have eternal life. Believe in him. Believe in the One he sent.

Luke 7:1-30

When he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn’t want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, “He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place.”

6-8 Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, “Master, you don’t have to go to all this trouble. I’m not that good a person, you know. I’d be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I’m a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9-10 Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works.” When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.

11-15 Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession—a woman’s only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, “Don’t cry.” Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I tell you: Get up.” The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother.

16-17 They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful—and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, “God is back, looking to the needs of his people!” The news of Jesus spread all through the country.
Is This What You Were Expecting?

18-19 John’s disciples reported back to him the news of all these events taking place. He sent two of them to the Master to ask the question, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”

20 The men showed up before Jesus and said, “John the Baptizer sent us to ask you, ‘Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?’”

21-23 In the next two or three hours Jesus healed many from diseases, distress, and evil spirits. To many of the blind he gave the gift of sight. Then he gave his answer: “Go back and tell John what you have just seen and heard:

The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth
    have God’s salvation hospitality extended to them.

“Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves fortunate!”

24-27 After John’s messengers left to make their report, Jesus said more about John to the crowd of people. “What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A messenger from God? That’s right, a messenger! Probably the greatest messenger you’ll ever hear. He is the messenger Malachi announced when he wrote,

I’m sending my messenger on ahead
To make the road smooth for you.

28-30 “Let me lay it out for you as plainly as I can: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer, but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptized by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence; the Pharisees and religious officials would have nothing to do with such a baptism, wouldn’t think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Today's Scripture
Acts 8:26–35
(NIV)

The Ethiopian Eunuch

26–28     Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.

29–30     The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

31–33     He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:

As a sheep led to slaughter,

and quiet as a lamb being sheared,

He was silent, saying nothing.

He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.

But who now can count his kin

since he’s been taken from the earth?

34–35     The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.

Insight

Eunuchs were men—usually castrated—who served as officials in a royal court. Both Greeks and Jews often looked down on eunuchs; Greeks sometimes mocked them as “half-men,” while Jews might disdain them for their inability to produce heirs and because the law of Moses excluded them from entering “the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:1). However, the prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s full acceptance of eunuchs and foreigners who sincerely worshiped and sought Him (Isaiah 56:3–8). In baptizing the eunuch in Acts 8:26–40, Philip affirmed that this man was fully included and embraced in the family of God. By: Monica La Rose

Keep It Simple

Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Acts 8:35

The email was short but urgent. “Request salvation. I would like to know Jesus.” What an astonishing request. Unlike reluctant friends and family who hadn’t yet received Christ, this person didn’t need convincing. My task was to quiet my self-doubt about evangelizing and simply share key concepts, Scriptures, and trusted resources that addressed this man’s plea. From there, by faith, God would lead his journey.

Philip demonstrated such simple evangelism when on a desert road he met the treasurer of Ethiopia who was reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked (Acts 8:30). “How can I,” the man answered, “unless someone explains it to me” (v. 31). Invited to clarify, “Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (v. 35).  

Starting where people are and keeping evangelism simple, as Philip showed, can be an effective way to share Christ. In fact, as the two traveled along, the man said, “Look, here is water” and asked to be baptized (v. 36). Philip complied, and the man “went on his way rejoicing” (v. 39). I rejoiced when the email writer replied that he had repented of sin, confessed Christ, found a church, and believed he was born again. What a beautiful start! Now, may God take him higher! By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

How do you respond to opportunities to share your faith? What simple answers could you have on hand for someone who wants to know Jesus?

I’m not an expert at evangelizing, heavenly Father, so show me simple, effective ways to share the good news about Christ.

Learn more about leading others to Christ.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
The Burning Heart

Did not our heart burn within us…? —Luke 24:32

We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.

Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be. Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is not exercised on its intended level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay forever on the “mount of transfiguration,” basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9). But we must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.

We cannot kindle when we will
The fire which in the heart resides,
The spirit bloweth and is still,
In mystery our soul abides;
But tasks in hours of insight willed
Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

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

Bible in a Year: Joshua 10-12; Luke 1:39-56

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 22, 2022

When the Container Lies to You - #9182

It's one of life's great treats - pumpkin pie with some Cool Whip on it. Yeah, that's what I was after when I went to my son's refrigerator that day. I had cut my piece of pie, and all it was missing was that little white topping of Cool Whip. I foraged around in the fridge until I saw that familiar plastic container with a picture of exactly what I wanted my pumpkin pie to look like. Somewhat mindlessly, I opened that container, stuck my spoon in there, and pulled out the contents. I was just about to decorate my pie with it when I looked at what was on my spoon. It wasn't Cool Whip. It was gravy, which doesn't do much for pumpkin pie.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When the Container Lies to You."

The container promised me one thing, but what was inside was very different. I didn't know it was leftovers. That's an experience every one of us has when we reach for something based on what it was supposed to give us, only to be disappointed when we find out what's really in there. That deception is, in fact, the very nature of sin. And that's why we end up with scars and messes we never knew we were going to be part of.

In fact, you may be looking at a temptation right now, maybe you're even giving into it right now; a temptation that looks promising on the outside. But God is sending you a warning today to let you know the heartache and the hurt that's on the inside. Sin conceals its ugliness and it conceals its destruction until you've already bitten the apple.

The temptation that looks good to you right now may say "pleasure" on the container - "do this," "it will feel good." Or maybe the package says "love" - do this and you'll get some love. The promise may be "relief" - a chance to escape from your hurt, or maybe it says "significance" - do this and you'll get ahead, you'll feel important.

But see, God believes in "truth-in-packaging." He clearly reveals what sin really offers in James 1:15, our word for today from the Word of God. Hear this: "After desire has conceived" - that's the part where the container really looks good - "it gives birth to sin; and when it is full-grown, it gives birth to death." That, of course, is not on the container. First, sin fascinates you, and then it assassinates you. It kills your self-respect, it kills people's trust in you, it kills your close relationships, it kills your freedom, and it kills your closeness to God. Short benefit - long consequences. A sinful way to get something you need or want is never worth it and ultimately it never delivers what it says it will.

It's a prison that looks like a penthouse on the outside. You don't know that you're hooked until the cell door slams behind you. The thrill of sin lasts a short time; the bill for sin lasts a long time. There's a little good stuff and a whole lot of guilt; a rush that's brief and wreckage that can last a lifetime.

Don't fall for the lies on sin's package. Check its real contents, as exposed graphically in the Bible. If you've already opened sin's package, get out while you can. If you're looking at a compromise that God calls sin, run the other way. You haven't got time for the pain, for the scars, for the slavery, for the shame. Do it God's way, even if it's harder, even if it takes longer. Remember, it's the narrow road that leads to life. It's that wide road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).

Deuteronomy 27 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Soul Sealed by God - March 21, 2022

As a parent, when our children stumble, we don’t disown them. We may punish or reprimand, but cast them out of the family? We cannot. They are biologically connected to us. Those born with our DNA will die with it.

God, our Father, engenders the same relationship with us. Upon salvation we become, as John 1:12 says, “children of God.” He alters our lineage, redefines our spiritual parenthood, and in doing so, secures our salvation. Paul says, “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). And a soul sealed by God is safe. God paid too high a price to leave us unguarded. Again a reminder from Paul in Ephesians 4:30: “He has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” What a difference this assurance makes!

Deuteronomy 27

Moses commanded the leaders of Israel and charged the people: Keep every commandment that I command you today. On the day you cross the Jordan into the land that God, your God, is giving you, erect large stones and coat them with plaster. As soon as you cross over the river, write on the stones all the words of this Revelation so that you’ll enter the land that God, your God, is giving you, that land flowing with milk and honey that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, promised you.

4-7 So when you’ve crossed the Jordan, erect these stones on Mount Ebal. Then coat them with plaster. Build an Altar of stones for God, your God, there on the mountain. Don’t use an iron tool on the stones; build the Altar to God, your God, with uncut stones and offer your Whole-Burnt-Offerings on it to God, your God. When you sacrifice your Peace-Offerings you will also eat them there, rejoicing in the Presence of God, your God.

8 Write all the words of this Revelation on the stones. Incise them sharply.

9-10 Moses and the Levitical priests addressed all Israel: Quiet. Listen obediently, Israel. This very day you have become the people of God, your God. Listen to the Voice of God, your God. Keep his commandments and regulations that I’m commanding you today.

11-13 That day Moses commanded: After you’ve crossed the Jordan, these tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And these will stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

14-26 The Levites, acting as spokesmen and speaking loudly, will address Israel:

God’s curse on anyone who carves or casts a god-image—an abomination to God made by a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who demeans a parent.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who misdirects a blind man on the road.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who interferes with justice due the foreigner, orphan, or widow.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who has sex with his father’s wife; he has violated the woman who belongs to his father.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who has sex with an animal.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who has sex with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who has sex with his mother-in-law.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who kills his neighbor in secret.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on anyone who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

God’s curse on whoever does not give substance to the words of this Revelation by living them.

    All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, March 21, 2022

Today's Scripture
Exodus 39:1–7
(NIV)

From the blue, purple and scarlet yarni they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary.j They also made sacred garmentsk for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Ephod

39:2–7pp—Ex 28:6–14

2 Theya made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. 3 They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen—the work of skilled hands. 4 They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached to two of its corners, so it could be fastened. 5 Its skillfully woven waistband was like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen, as the Lord commanded Moses.

6 They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. 7 Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memoriall stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Insight

God had specifically gifted Bezalel and Oholiab (Exodus 31:1–11) with the ability to create all the marvelous artifacts and clothing to be used in Israel’s prescribed system of worship. But the entire nation had the opportunity to contribute. Exodus tells us that Moses asked the people to provide both the materials and their talents to the effort (35:4–19). Moses said, “All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded” (v. 10). But Moses’ instructions came with this caveat: “Everyone who is willing . . .” (v. 5). Participation in the national effort to construct the tabernacle for God wasn’t compulsory, yet it did come with a blessing: “Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them” (39:43).

By: Tim Gustafson

Lost to the Past

Everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work.
Exodus 35:21

Upset with the corruption and extravagance plaguing his kingdom, Korea’s King Yeongjo (1694–1776) decided to change things. In a classic case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater, he banned the traditional art of gold-thread embroidery as excessively opulent. Soon, knowledge of that intricate process vanished into the past.

In 2011, Professor Sim Yeon-ok wanted to reclaim that long-lost tradition. Surmising that gold leaf had been glued onto mulberry paper and then hand-cut into slender strands, she was able to recreate the process, reviving an ancient art form.

In the book of Exodus, we learn of the extravagant measures employed to construct the tabernacle—including gold thread to make Aaron’s priestly garments. Skilled craftsmen “hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen” (Exodus 39:3). What happened to all that exquisite craftsmanship? Did the garments simply wear out? Were they eventually carried off as plunder? Was it all in vain? Not at all! Every aspect of the effort was done because God had given specific instructions to do it.  

God has given each of us something to do as well. It may be a simple act of kindness—something to give back to Him as we serve each other. We need not concern ourselves with what will happen to our efforts in the end (1 Corinthians 15:58). Any task done for our Father becomes a thread extending into eternity.

By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What are the various things God has given you to do over the course of your lifetime? How might it change your outlook to view even your most mundane tasks today as being done for Him?

Heavenly Father, help me choose to serve You today with everything I do.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 21, 2022

Identified or Simply Interested?

I have been crucified with Christ… —Galatians 2:20

The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” He did not say, “I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ,” or, “I will really make an effort to follow Him” —but— “I have been identified with Him in His death.” Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the Cross is accomplished in me. My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.

“…it is no longer I who live….” My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed.

“…and the life which I now live in the flesh,” not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh— the life which others can see, “I live by faith in the Son of God….” This faith was not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son of God had given to him (see Ephesians 2:8). It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits— a faith that comes only from the Son of God.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him.   So Send I You, 1301 L

Bible in a Year: Joshua 7-9; Luke 1:21-38

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 21, 2022

Who Validates Your Ticket? - #9181

Our friends were expecting their baby in about six weeks. But the baby didn't get the message. No. They had flown in from Denver to attend a convention in Chicago and we were all at the same convention. Since I was living in Chicago at the time, I said, "Hey, baby happens, call me. I'll get you to the hospital in plenty of time. It's my city. You don't have anything to worry about." We were all laughing. I wasn't laughing at 6:00 A.M. the next morning when I got a phone call in my hotel room saying, "She's in labor!" Of course, I'm going crazy. I've got to get them to the hospital.

I ran down to the garage after throwing on some clothes, and in the parking garage there at the hotel I said, "Lady, I need my car. Bring up my car." And she said, "You must have your ticket validated." I said, "Lady, there's somebody about to have a baby! I don't have time to go up and get my ticket and go to the desk and have my parking ticket validated." She said, "You must have your ticket validated." I said, "Ma'am, there is going to be a lady having a baby right here in the parking garage." She said, "I'm sorry. You must have your ticket validated."

Well, the good news is we finally did get to the hospital and even though there was quite an adventure just getting there, the baby was fine. But no thanks to the parking lot lady. No. Now, that situation isn't usually that dramatic in a parking lot, but the rules are pretty consistent. You are not going anywhere until you get your ticket validated.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who Validates Your Ticket?"

Our word for today from the Word of God; Galatians 3:26. "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek" - in other words racial identities aren't really the issue - "slave nor free" - okay, it's not your class identity that really matters - "male nor female" - gender isn't really the basis of your identity - "for you are all one in Christ Jesus." He said, "you've been clothed with Christ." There's only one thing that matters, "I belong to Jesus Christ." There's only one solid basis for identity and security - who I am in Christ.

For most people, their validation comes from someone else. We spend a lot of time and effort trying to get other people to punch our ticket; to make us feel good about ourselves. The problem is that no one on earth can give you a secure identity. Is your validation like your company? If the company says you're okay, is that it? If you have a husband or wife, do you think you're okay? A friend of yours, all the people we try to get approval from. Well, you can be on your first step to freedom if you understand that the source of our identity is the One who gave you your life in the first place.

Ephesians 2:10 says Jesus gave you your worth before you were born. "You are" it says, "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do." See, you are created by God, you're purchased by God when He died on the cross to pay for your sins. You're loved by God. He's prepared works for you that only you can do. That's all you need to know. What can anybody else give you to add to that worth?

See, you got your worth the day you were born. No one on earth gave you your worth, and no one on earth can take it away. So any validation you get from someone on earth is a bonus, because all earth approval is written in pencil. God's OK is stamped on your life in indelible ink. It all starts the day you ask Him to remove from your heart and your life and His record the sin of a lifetime. How can you even ask Him to do that? Because Jesus died for it. He walked out of His grave. He's alive today. And when you give yourself to Him, you are home in the identity and the security and the love that you were made for and you can't lose.

If you've never begun that relationship, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Join me at our website ANewStory.com. You'll find out all you need to know about belonging to Him. You won't need to have your identity validated in so many other ways. Not if you have the OK of Jesus. He's all you need.

Deuteronomy 26 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: My God, My God

Calvary's Hill, Christ lifts his heavy head toward the heavens crying out, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani"-that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). We would ask the same. Why him? Why forsake your son? Forsake the murderers. Desert the evildoers. Turn your back on the perverts and peddlers of pain. Abandon them, not him.
What did Christ feel on the cross? The icy displeasure of a sin-hating God. Why? Because Jesus carried our sins in His body. With hands nailed open, he invited God, "Treat me as you would treat them." And God did. In an act that broke the heart of the Father, yet honored the holiness of heaven, sin-purging judgment flowed over the sinless Son of the ages.
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Why did God scream those words? So you'll never have to!
From On Calvary's Hill

Deuteronomy 26

Once you enter the land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and take it over and settle down, you are to take some of all the firstfruits of what you grow in the land that God, your God, is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place God, your God, sets apart for you to worship him. At that time, go to the priest who is there and say, “I announce to God, your God, today that I have entered the land that God promised our ancestors that he’d give to us.” The priest will take the basket from you and place it on the Altar of God, your God. And there in the Presence of God, your God, you will recite:

5-10
    A wandering Aramean was my father,
    he went down to Egypt and sojourned there,
    he and just a handful of his brothers at first, but soon
    they became a great nation, mighty and many.
    The Egyptians abused and battered us,
    in a cruel and savage slavery.
    We cried out to God, the God-of-Our-Fathers:
    He listened to our voice, he saw
    our destitution, our trouble, our cruel plight.
    And God took us out of Egypt
    with his strong hand and long arm, terrible and great,
    with signs and miracle-wonders.
    And he brought us to this place,
    gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.
    So here I am. I’ve brought the firstfruits
    of what I’ve grown on this ground you gave me, O God.

10-11 Then place it in the Presence of God, your God. Bow low in the Presence of God, your God. And rejoice! Celebrate all the good things that God, your God, has given you and your family; you and the Levite and the foreigner who lives with you.

* * *

12-14 Every third year, the year of the tithe, give a tenth of your produce to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that they may eat their fill in your cities. And then, in the Presence of God, your God, say this:

    I have brought the sacred share,
    I’ve given it to the Levite, foreigner, orphan, and widow.
    What you commanded, I’ve done.
    I haven’t detoured around your commands,
    I haven’t forgotten a single one.
    I haven’t eaten from the sacred share while mourning,
    I haven’t removed any of it while ritually unclean,
    I haven’t used it in funeral feasts.
    I have listened obediently to the Voice of God, my God,
    I have lived the way you commanded me.

15
    Look down from your holy house in Heaven!
    Bless your people Israel and the ground you gave us,
    just as you promised our ancestors you would,
    this land flowing with milk and honey.

* * *

16-17 This very day God, your God, commands you to follow these rules and regulations, to live them out with everything you have in you. You’ve renewed your vows today that God is your God, that you’ll live the way he shows you; do what he tells you in the rules, regulations, and commandments; and listen obediently to him.

18-19 And today God has reaffirmed that you are dearly held treasure just as he promised, a people entrusted with keeping his commandments, a people set high above all other nations that he’s made, high in praise, fame, and honor: you’re a people holy to God, your God. That’s what he has promised.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, March 20, 2022

Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 15:35–44
(NIV)

The Resurrection Body

35 Someone will ask, “How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?” 36You fool! When you sow a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies. 37And what you sow is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up. 38God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body.

39 And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.

40 And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies. 41The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.

42 This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. 43When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong. 44When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body.

Insight

The Bible Knowledge Commentary elaborates on Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 15:35–37 about “how foolish it is” to ask about our resurrection bodies: “Belief in the Resurrection was like belief in seedtime and harvest. Neither could be completely understood but both were real. As a plant which sprouted from a seed was directly linked to it but remarkably different from it, so too was the relationship of a natural and a resurrected body.” Our resurrection body will be so much more than our natural body, which is weak, imperfect, and temporal. Elsewhere Paul states: “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who . . . will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20–21). We will be like Him! By: Alyson Kieda

Rising to Dance

The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.
1 Corinthians 15:42

In a widely shared video, an elegant elderly woman sits in a wheelchair. Once a famed ballet dancer, Marta González Saldaña now suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. But something magical happens when Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake is played to her. As the music builds, her frail hands slowly rise; and as the first trumpets blast, she starts performing from her chair. Though her mind and body are perishing, her talent is still there.

Reflecting on that video, my thoughts went to Paul’s teaching on resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. Likening our bodies to a seed that is buried before it sprouts into a plant, he says that though our bodies may perish through age or illness, may be a source of dishonor, and may be wracked with weakness, the bodies of believers will be raised imperishable, full of glory and power (vv. 42–44). Just as there is an organic link between the seed and the plant, we will be “us” after our resurrection, our personalities and talents intact, but we will flourish like never before.

When the haunting melody of Swan Lake began to play, Marta at first looked downcast, perhaps mindful of what she once was and could no longer do. But then a man reached over and held her hand. And so it will be for us. Trumpets will blast (v. 52), a hand will reach out, and we’ll rise to dance like never before. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

What do you look forward to being able to do after the resurrection? How can this give you hope for loved ones suffering the effects of age?

I praise You, Jesus, that nothing will be lost, but only regained, in the future.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, March 20, 2022
Friendship with God

Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…? —Genesis 18:17

The Delights of His Friendship. Genesis 18 brings out the delight of true friendship with God, as compared with simply feeling His presence occasionally in prayer. This friendship means being so intimately in touch with God that you never even need to ask Him to show you His will. It is evidence of a level of intimacy which confirms that you are nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will. And all of your commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a feeling of restraint brought on by a check in your spirit. You are free to make decisions in the light of a perfect and delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will lovingly produce that sense of restraint. Once he does, you must stop immediately.

The Difficulties of His Friendship. Why did Abraham stop praying when he did? He stopped because he still was lacking the level of intimacy in his relationship with God, which would enable him boldly to continue on with the Lord in prayer until his desire was granted. Whenever we stop short of our true desire in prayer and say, “Well, I don’t know, maybe this is not God’s will,” then we still have another level to go. It shows that we are not as intimately acquainted with God as Jesus was, and as Jesus would have us to be— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22). Think of the last thing you prayed about— were you devoted to your desire or to God? Was your determination to get some gift of the Spirit for yourself or to get to God? “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). The reason for asking is so you may get to know God better. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). We should keep praying to get a perfect understanding of God Himself.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We must keep ourselves in touch, not with theories, but with people, and never get out of touch with human beings, if we are going to use the word of God skilfully amongst them.  Workmen of God, 1341 L

Bible in a Year: Joshua 4-6; Luke 1:1-20

Deuteronomy 23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Saved to Serve

Some people feel so saved they never serve.  Some serve at the hope of being saved. Does one of these sentences describe you? Do you feel so saved that you never serve? So content in what God has done that you do nothing? The fact is, we're here to glorify God in our service.
Or is your tendency the opposite? Perhaps you always serve for fear of not being saved. You're worried there is a secret card that exists with your score written on it; and your score is not enough. Is that you? If so, know this: The blood of Jesus is enough to save you.  John 1:29 announces that Jesus is "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."
The blood of Christ doesn't cover your sins, conceal your sins, postpone or diminish your sins.  It takes away your sins, once and for all! So…since you are saved, you can serve!
From He Chose the Nails

Deuteronomy 23

No eunuch is to enter the congregation of God.

2 No bastard is to enter the congregation of God, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children.

3-6 No Ammonite or Moabite is to enter the congregation of God, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children, ever. Those nations didn’t treat you with hospitality on your travels out of Egypt, and on top of that they also hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Mesopotamia to curse you. God, your God, refused to listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing—how God, your God, loves you! Don’t even try to get along with them or do anything for them, ever.

7 But don’t spurn an Edomite; he’s your kin.

And don’t spurn an Egyptian; you were a foreigner in his land.

8 Children born to Edomites and Egyptians may enter the congregation of God in the third generation.

* * *

9-11 When you are camped out, at war with your enemies, be careful to keep yourself from anything ritually defiling. If one of your men has become ritually unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must go outside the camp and stay there until evening when he can wash himself, returning to the camp at sunset.

12-14 Mark out an area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourselves. Along with your weapons have a stick with you. After you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the stick and cover your excrement. God, your God, strolls through your camp; he’s present to deliver you and give you victory over your enemies. Keep your camp holy; don’t permit anything indecent or offensive in God’s eyes.

* * *

15-16 Don’t return a runaway slave to his master; he’s come to you for refuge. Let him live wherever he wishes within the protective gates of your city. Don’t take advantage of him.

17-18 No daughter of Israel is to become a sacred prostitute; and no son of Israel is to become a sacred prostitute. And don’t bring the fee of a sacred whore or the earnings of a priest-pimp to the house of God, your God, to pay for any vow—they are both an abomination to God, your God.

19-20 Don’t charge interest to your kinsmen on any loan: not for money or food or clothing or anything else that could earn interest. You may charge foreigners interest, but you may not charge your brothers interest; that way God, your God, will bless all the work that you take up and the land that you are entering to possess.

21-23 When you make a vow to God, your God, don’t put off keeping it; God, your God, expects you to keep it and if you don’t you’re guilty. But if you don’t make a vow in the first place, there’s no sin. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. Keep the vow you willingly vowed to God, your God. You promised it, so do it.

24-25 When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want until you’re full, but you may not put any in your bucket or bag. And when you walk through the ripe grain of your neighbor, you may pick the heads of grain, but you may not swing your sickle there.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, March 19, 2022

Today's Scripture
Joel 2:21–27
(NIV)

The Trees Are Bearing Fruit Again

21–24     Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate!

God has done great things.

Fear not, wild animals!

The fields and meadows are greening up.

The trees are bearing fruit again:

a bumper crop of fig trees and vines!

Children of Zion, celebrate!

Be glad in your God.

He’s giving you a teacher

to train you how to live right—

Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words

to refresh and nourish your soul, just as he used to do.

And plenty of food for your body—silos full of grain,

casks of wine and barrels of olive oil.

25–27     “I’ll make up for the years of the locust,

the great locust devastation—

Locusts savage, locusts deadly,

fierce locusts, locusts of doom,

That great locust invasion

I sent your way.

You’ll eat your fill of good food.

You’ll be full of praises to your God,

The God who has set you back on your heels in wonder.

Never again will my people be despised.

You’ll know without question

that I’m in the thick of life with Israel,

That I’m your God, yes, your God,

the one and only real God.

Never again will my people be despised.

Insight

A key concept in the book of Joel is the “day of the Lord”—a pivotal time in which God confronts evil in a dramatic way, bringing salvation to His people. In 1:13–2:17, Joel prophesies a coming “day of the Lord” that will bring a wave of locusts like a relentless army and beseeches God’s people to repent. In response to their repentance, God promises to heal and restore the land (2:18–27). The concluding portions of the book point to a more distant and even greater “day of the Lord” (v. 31). In that day, God’s presence dwells among His people in a way that’s accessible to all (v. 32), and His healing presence will renew all creation. By: Monica La Rose

Reclaiming Our Time

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten. . . . You will have plenty to eat, until you are full.
Joel 2:25–26

My mother shared with me how she chose not to attend college so she could marry my father in the 1960s, but she always held on to her dream of becoming a home economics teacher. Three children later, though she never received a college degree, she did become a nutritionist aide for the state of Louisiana’s health system. She cooked meals to demonstrate healthier meal choices—much like a home economics teacher. As she shared her dream with me after recounting the events of her life, she proclaimed that God had indeed heard her prayers and given her the desires of her heart.

Life can be like that for us. Our plans point one way, but reality goes another way. But with God, our time and lives can be turned into beautiful displays of His compassion, love, and restoration. God told the people of Judah (Joel 2:21) that He would “repay” them for their lost or destroyed years—brought about by a “locust swarm” (v. 25). He continues to work to help us in the challenges and unfulfilled dreams we face. For we serve a Redeemer God who honors and rewards our sacrifices for Him (Matthew 19:29).

Whether we’re facing a devastating challenge or a time of unrealized dreams, may we call out to the God who restores and give Him praise. By:  Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray

What are you waiting for God to restore or redeem? How would you describe your attitude as you wait?

Mighty God, thank You for Your promises of redemption and restoration. Help me to trust in Your timing in each area of my life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Abraham’s Life of Faith

He went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8

In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26.

Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason— a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.

The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith— a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. “Abraham believed God…” (Romans 4:3).

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You

Bible in a Year: Joshua 1-3; Mark 16