Acts 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: SERVE GOD NOW - March 9, 2023

Am I serving God now? This question may make you feel restless. Mary and Joseph find their twelve-year-old son in the temple studying with the leaders. He already senses the call of God. But what does he do next? Does he recruit apostles and preach sermons and perform miracles? No, he just goes home and learns the family business. Want to bring focus to your life? Go home, love your family, take care of business.

But Max, I want to be a missionary. Your first mission field is under your roof. But Max, I want to do great things for God. Good, do them, at work. Be a good employee.

God allows you to start fresh at any point in your life. Just make sure you’re serving God at every place in your life. 1 Peter 4:2 urges us, “From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God’s will and not by human desires.”

Acts 14

 When they got to Iconium they went, as they always did, to the meeting place of the Jews and gave their message. The Message convinced both Jews and non-Jews—and not just a few, either. But the unbelieving Jews worked up a whispering campaign against Paul and Barnabas, sowing mistrust and suspicion in the minds of the people in the street. The two apostles were there a long time, speaking freely, openly, and confidently as they presented the clear evidence of God’s gifts, God corroborating their work with miracles and wonders.

4-7 But then there was a split in public opinion, some siding with the Jews, some with the apostles. One day, learning that both the Jews and non-Jews had been organized by their leaders to beat them up, they escaped as best they could to the next towns—Lyconia, Lystra, Derbe, and that neighborhood—but then were right back at it again, getting out the Message.

Gods or Men?

8-10 There was a man in Lystra who couldn’t walk. He sat there, crippled since the day of his birth. He heard Paul talking, and Paul, looking him in the eye, saw that he was ripe for God’s work, ready to believe. So he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Up on your feet!” The man was up in a flash—jumped up and walked around as if he’d been walking all his life.

11-13 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they went wild, calling out in their Lyconian dialect, “The gods have come down! These men are gods!” They called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes” (since Paul did most of the speaking). The priest of the local Zeus shrine got up a parade—bulls and banners and people lined right up to the gates, ready for the ritual of sacrifice.

14-15 When Barnabas and Paul finally realized what was going on, they stopped them. Waving their arms, they interrupted the parade, calling out, “What do you think you’re doing! We’re not gods! We are men just like you, and we’re here to bring you the Message, to persuade you to abandon these silly god-superstitions and embrace God himself, the living God. We don’t make God; he makes us, and all of this—sky, earth, sea, and everything in them.

16-18 “In the generations before us, God let all the different nations go their own way. But even then he didn’t leave them without a clue, for he made a good creation, poured down rain and gave bumper crops. When your bellies were full and your hearts happy, there was evidence of good beyond your doing.” Talking fast and hard like this, they prevented them from carrying out the sacrifice that would have honored them as gods—but just barely.

19-20 Then some Jews from Antioch and Iconium caught up with them and turned the fickle crowd against them. They beat Paul unconscious, dragged him outside the town and left him for dead. But as the disciples gathered around him, he came to and got up. He went back into town and the next day left with Barnabas for Derbe.

Plenty of Hard Times

21-22 After proclaiming the Message in Derbe and establishing a strong core of disciples, they retraced their steps to Lystra, then Iconium, and then Antioch, putting grit in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit, making it clear to them that it wouldn’t be easy: “Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.”

23-26 Paul and Barnabas handpicked leaders in each church. After praying—their prayers intensified by fasting—they presented these new leaders to the Master to whom they had entrusted their lives. Working their way back through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia and preached in Perga. Finally, they made it to Attalia and caught a ship back to Antioch, where it had all started—launched by God’s grace and now safely home by God’s grace. A good piece of work.

27-28 On arrival, they got the church together and reported on their trip, telling in detail how God had used them to throw the door of faith wide open so people of all nations could come streaming in. Then they settled down for a long, leisurely visit with the disciples.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 09, 2023

Today's Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4–9

Attention, Israel!

God, our God! God the one and only!

5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!

6-9 Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

Insight

The Jewish tradition of the mezuzah is a literal response to the instruction of Deuteronomy 6:9, which reads: “Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” The word mezuzah literally means “doorpost.” A mezuzah is a parchment scroll inscribed with verses from the Torah, rolled up, and inserted into an ornamental case or tube that’s attached to the doorpost of a Jewish home. The verses contained in that holder would include Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21—texts that remind the Jewish people of their spiritual responsibilities toward God while declaring to the world that the residents are committed to living out the beliefs and practices of Judaism. Some mezuzahs are attached to the right-hand doorframe at a slant, a compromise between two ancient Jewish schools of thought regarding how the mezuzah was to be presented—an acknowledgement of the value of multiple perspectives in life. By: Bill Crowder

Comfort on Doorframes

Write [these commandments] on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:9

As I scanned my social media feed in the aftermath of the 2016 flood in southern Louisiana, I came across a friend’s post. After realizing her home would have to be gutted and rebuilt, my friend’s mom encouraged her to look for God even in the heart-wrenching work of cleaning up. My friend later posted pictures of Bible verses she uncovered on the exposed door frames of the home, apparently written at the time the home had been built. Reading the Scriptures on the wooden planks gave her comfort.

The tradition of writing Bible verses on doorframes may stem from God’s command to Israel. God instructed the Israelites to post His commands on doorframes as a way of remembering who He is. By writing the commandments on their hearts (Deuteronomy 6:6), teaching them to their children (v. 7), using symbols and other means to recall what God commands (v. 8), and placing the words on doorframes and entry ways (v. 9), the Israelites had constant reminders of God’s words. They were encouraged to never forget what He had said or their covenant with Him.

Displaying God’s words in our homes as well as planting their meaning in our hearts can help us to build a foundation that relies on His faithfulness as revealed in Scripture. And He can use those words to bring us comfort even in the midst of tragedy or heart-wrenching loss.

By:  Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray

When has Scripture comforted you the most? How are the truths of Scripture the foundation for your life?

Heavenly Father, thank You for Scripture that guides my path. Remind me to build my foundation on it.

Grow in your knowledge of the Scriptures.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 09, 2023

Turning Back or Walking with Jesus?

Do you also want to go away? —John 6:67

What a penetrating question! Our Lord’s words often hit home for us when He speaks in the simplest way. In spite of the fact that we know who Jesus is, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?” We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk.

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). They turned back from walking with Jesus; not into sin, but away from Him. Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him. One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ. After being set apart through sanctification, we should discipline our lives spiritually to maintain this intimate oneness. When God gives you a clear determination of His will for you, all your striving to maintain that relationship by some particular method is completely unnecessary. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.

Peter saw in Jesus only someone who could minister salvation to him and to the world. But our Lord wants us to be fellow laborers with Him.

In John 6:70 Jesus lovingly reminded Peter that he was chosen to go with Him. And each of us must answer this question for ourselves and no one else: “Do you also want to go away?”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 8-10; Mark 11:19-33

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 09, 2023

WHY YOU HAVE A HEAVY LOAD - #9434

When our sons were playing football, the varsity guys let them know an important factor in impressing the coach. He'll be looking for you in the weight room, not just at practice. Coaches know serious athletes serve their time in the weight room, concentrating on becoming stronger. They're not there because it's fun, it's not. But because it's important to winning the battle. One measure of your growing strength is what the lifters call your bench press. That's not lifting a bench of course, but it's how much you can lift over your head as you lie on a weight bench. I've worked with a lot of football players and weight lifters, but I've seldom met one who's content to keep that amount that they can lift where it is. No, they're always adding a little more weight to that bar. So, if your bench press is 170 pounds, you want to go to 180, 190. If you've been lifting 200, you want to work to get it to 210, 220. You know, you're always pressing more.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why You Have a Heavy Load."

Now, it's a principle of physical strength - and it's a principle in God's gym as well. If you want to get stronger, you constantly have to be lifting something heavier than you've lifted before. God, of course, isn't just building biceps and triceps, he's building the one kind of strength in us that opens up all He has for us. He is building faith muscles - the ability to trust Him more than you've ever trusted Him. Because "without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6). Now, if you're just proceeding on the basis of what you can see, what you can figure out, what you can pull off, then God isn't very happy with you. God's will requires moving by faith, which is by God's definition, "being certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).

So how does God help you build more faith muscles so you can win greater victories than ever before? Well, by giving you something to lift that is heavier than you've had to lift before. Since God continually uses Abraham as an example of a life of faith, let's check out how Abraham performed in God's gym. In Romans 4, beginning with verse 19, our word for today from the Word of God, we see how he handled this very heavy situation. The promise of God that He would defy all reproductive biology and give them a son through their aging bodies and then the long wait that ensued between the promise and the fulfillment.

The Bible says, "Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about 100 years old and that Sarah's womb was also dead." Now notice, faith does not deny that there are daunting realities in the situation. Maybe even the apparent impossibility of an answer. But it says, "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded God had the power to do what He had promised." So, Abraham lifts by faith what he had never lifted before and he is "strengthened in his faith." That's how it works. Greater weight to develop greater faith to experience greater things.

You may have been wondering why God's allowed such a heavy burden into your life right now. It may very well be, not that He's unhappy with you, but that He loves you enough to help you become stronger than you've ever been before. He's building your faith muscles. If He only trusted you with what you've lifted before, you'd only have as much faith as you've had before. And He's growing you for greater things, for future battles, for more miraculous victories. But you have to serve your time in the weight room - not because it's fun, but because it's the only way to get strong enough to play spiritual varsity.

God's your spotter. He will not allow you to have more weight than you can handle right now. He's promised that. But He will give you something heavier than you lifted before, so you can become more powerful in Him than you've ever been before.

1 Kings 22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: STICK TO YOUR STRENGTHS - March 8, 2023

There are some things we want to do but simply are not equipped to accomplish. I, for example, have the desire to sing. The problem is, I am what you might call a jailhouse singer – I never have the key, and I’m always behind a few bars. Paul gives good advice in Romans 12:3: “Have a sane estimate of your capabilities” (PHILLIPS). In other words, be aware of your strengths. When you teach, do people listen? When you lead, do people follow? Where are you most productive? Identify your strengths, and—this is important—major in them.

We cannot meet every need in the world. We cannot please every person in the world. We cannot satisfy every request in the world. But some of us try, and in the end we run out of fuel. So have a sane estimate of your abilities and stick to them.

1 Kings 22

They enjoyed three years of peace—no fighting between Aram and Israel. In the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah had a meeting with the king of Israel. Israel’s king remarked to his aides, “Do you realize that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, and we’re sitting around on our hands instead of taking it back from the king of Aram?”

4-5 He turned to Jehoshaphat and said, “Will you join me in fighting for Ramoth Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat said, “You bet. I’m with you all the way—my troops are your troops, my horses are your horses.” He then continued, “But before you do anything, ask God for guidance.”

6 The king of Israel got the prophets together—all four hundred of them—and put the question to them: “Should I attack Ramoth Gilead? Or should I hold back?”

“Go for it,” they said. “God will hand it over to the king.”

7 But Jehoshaphat dragged his heels: “Is there still another prophet of God around here we can consult?”

8 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “As a matter of fact, there is still one such man. But I hate him. He never preaches anything good to me, only doom, doom, doom—Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king shouldn’t talk about a prophet like that,” said Jehoshaphat.

9 So the king of Israel ordered one of his men, “On the double! Get Micaiah son of Imlah.”

10-12 Meanwhile, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat were seated on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes, resplendent in front of the Samaria city gates. All the prophets were staging a prophecy-performance for their benefit. Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had even made a set of iron horns, and brandishing them called out, “God’s word! With these horns you’ll gore Aram until there’s nothing left of him!” All the prophets chimed in, “Yes! Go for Ramoth Gilead! An easy victory! God’s gift to the king!”

13 The messenger who went to get Micaiah said, “The prophets have all said Yes to the king. Make it unanimous—vote Yes!”

14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as God lives, what God says, I’ll say.”

15 With Micaiah before him, the king asked him, “So Micaiah—do we attack Ramoth Gilead, or do we hold back?”

“Go ahead,” he said. “An easy victory. God’s gift to the king.”

16 “Not so fast,” said the king. “How many times have I made you promise under oath to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth?”

17 “All right,” said Micaiah, “since you insist.

I saw all of Israel scattered over the hills,

    sheep with no shepherd.

Then God spoke: ‘These poor people

    have no one to tell them what to do.

Let them go home and do

    the best they can for themselves.’”

18 Then the king of Israel turned to Jehoshaphat, “See! What did I tell you? He never has a good word for me from God, only doom.”

19-23 Micaiah kept on: “I’m not done yet; listen to God’s word:

I saw God enthroned,

    and all the angel armies of heaven

Standing at attention

    ranged on his right and his left.

And God said, ‘How can we seduce Ahab

    into attacking Ramoth Gilead?’

Some said this,

    and some said that.

Then a bold angel stepped out,

    stood before God, and said,

‘I’ll seduce him.’

    ‘And how will you do it?’ said God.

‘Easy,’ said the angel,

    ‘I’ll get all the prophets to lie.’

‘That should do it,’ said God.

    ‘On your way—seduce him!’

“And that’s what has happened. God filled the mouths of your puppet prophets with seductive lies. God has pronounced your doom.”

24 Just then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came up and punched Micaiah in the nose, saying, “Since when did the Spirit of God leave me and take up with you?”

25 Micaiah said, “You’ll know soon enough; you’ll know it when you’re frantically and futilely looking for a place to hide.”

26-27 The king of Israel had heard enough: “Get Micaiah out of here! Turn him over to Amon the city magistrate and to Joash the king’s son with this message, ‘King’s orders: Lock him up in jail; keep him on bread and water until I’m back in one piece.’”

28 Micaiah said, “If you ever get back in one piece, I’m no prophet of God.”

He added, “When it happens, O people, remember where you heard it!”

29-30 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Wear my kingly robe; I’m going into battle disguised.” So the king of Israel entered the battle in disguise.

31 Meanwhile, the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders (there were thirty-two of them): “Don’t bother with anyone, whether small or great; go after the king of Israel and him only.”

32-33 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they said, “There he is! The king of Israel!” and took after him. Jehoshaphat yelled out, and the chariot commanders realized they had the wrong man—it wasn’t the king of Israel after all. They let him go.

34 Just then someone, without aiming, shot an arrow randomly into the crowd and hit the king of Israel in the chink of his armor. The king told his charioteer, “Turn back! Get me out of here—I’m wounded.”

35-37 All day the fighting continued, hot and heavy. Propped up in his chariot, the king watched from the sidelines. He died that evening. Blood from his wound pooled in the chariot. As the sun went down, shouts reverberated through the ranks, “Abandon camp! Head for home! The king is dead!”

37-38 The king was brought to Samaria and there they buried him. They washed down the chariot at the pool of Samaria where the town whores bathed, and the dogs lapped up the blood, just as God’s word had said.

39-40 The rest of Ahab’s life—everything he did, the ivory palace he built, the towns he founded, and the defense system he built up—is all written up in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. He was buried in the family cemetery and his son Ahaziah was the next king.

Jehoshaphat of Judah

41-44 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. He continued the kind of life characteristic of his father Asa—no detours, no dead ends—pleasing God with his life. But he failed to get rid of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines. People continued to pray and worship at these idolatrous shrines. And he kept on good terms with the king of Israel.

45-46 The rest of Jehoshaphat’s life, his achievements and his battles, is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Also, he got rid of the sacred prostitutes left over from the days of his father Asa.

47 Edom was kingless during his reign; a deputy was in charge.

48-49 Jehoshaphat built ocean-going ships to sail to Ophir for gold. But they never made it; they shipwrecked at Ezion Geber. During that time Ahaziah son of Ahab proposed a joint shipping venture, but Jehoshaphat wouldn’t go in with him.

50 Then Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the family cemetery in the City of David his ancestor. Jehoram his son was the next king.

Ahaziah of Israel

51-53 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He ruled Israel for two years. As far as God was concerned, he lived an evil life, reproducing the bad life of his father and mother, repeating the pattern set down by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin. Worshiping at the Baal shrines, he made God, the God of Israel, angry, oh, so angry. If anything, he was worse than his father.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 08, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 68:4–14

Up with God!

    Down with his enemies!

        Adversaries, run for the hills!

Gone like a puff of smoke,

    like a blob of wax in the fire—

        one look at God and the wicked vanish.

When the righteous see God in action

    they’ll laugh, they’ll sing,

        they’ll laugh and sing for joy.

Sing hymns to God;

    all heaven, sing out;

        clear the way for the coming of Cloud-Rider.

Enjoy God,

    cheer when you see him!

5-6 Father of orphans,

    champion of widows,

        is God in his holy house.

God makes homes for the homeless,

    leads prisoners to freedom,

        but leaves rebels to rot in hell.

7-10 God, when you took the lead with your people,

    when you marched out into the wild,

Earth shook, sky broke out in a sweat;

    God was on the march.

Even Sinai trembled at the sight of God on the move,

    at the sight of Israel’s God.

You pour out rain in buckets, O God;

    thorn and cactus become an oasis

For your people to camp in and enjoy.

    You set them up in business;

    they went from rags to riches.

11-14 The Lord gave the word;

    thousands called out the good news:

“Kings of the armies

    are on the run, on the run!”

While housewives, safe and sound back home,

    divide up the plunder,

    the plunder of Canaanite silver and gold.

On that day that Shaddai scattered the kings,

    snow fell on Black Mountain.

Insight

Psalm 68 is one of David’s psalms that doesn’t provide a historical context. As a result, scholars speculate as to what prompted him to pen its words. Some say it’s a song commemorating his conquering of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5)—the Jebusite city he would make his and Israel’s capital. Others see the language more symbolically, referring to when David brought the ark of the covenant—representing the presence of God, Israel’s true and great king—into Jerusalem (ch. 6). Clearly, the song’s lyrics speak of God’s repeated rescues of His people in the past and celebrates those deliverances (Psalm 68:20). Still other scholars see in these references a call to spiritual renewal and a return to walking with the God of their rescue. In the very least, the king is calling on the people to celebrate Israel’s God as their true king. By: Bill Crowder

God’s Powerful Presence

The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng. Psalm 68:11

In 2020, celebrations marked the one hundredth anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Old photographs show marchers with banners emblazoned with the words of Psalm 68:11: “The Lord giveth the word. The women that publish the tidings are a great host” (asv).

In Psalm 68, David describes God as the One who leads the oppressed from their captivity (v. 6), refreshing and renewing His weary people from His bountiful riches (vv. 9–10). In this psalm’s thirty-five verses, David references God forty-two times, revealing how He’s constantly been with them, at work to rescue them from injustice and suffering. And a mighty throng of women proclaim this truth (v. 11).

Whether the women who marched for voting rights fully understood all that Psalm 68 was declaring, their banners proclaimed a timeless truth. God, the “father to the fatherless” and “a defender of widows” (v. 5), goes out before His people leading them to places of blessing, refreshment, and joy.

Be encouraged today, remembering that God’s presence has always been with His people, and in a special way with the vulnerable and suffering. As in the past through His Spirit, God is still powerfully present with us today. By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced God’s care during a difficult struggle? What encouragement does that bring you?

Father, thank You for Your constant presence in my life, guiding me and fighting for me when I face suffering and injustice.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 08, 2023

The Surrendered Life

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

To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.

Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?

We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.

If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.

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: Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 11:1-18

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 08, 2023

A BIGGER PURPOSE THAN YOU EVER DREAMED - #9433

Ashley Smith was just getting her life back together. A 26-year-old single mom, she had had a pretty rough journey. A Christian upbringing but a youthful rebellion - brushes with the law, some drug issues, jobs found and lost - and finally marriage and a little girl. Four years earlier, her husband had died in her arms from stab wounds in a violent attack. On that night in March of 2005, she was just getting settled in the apartment she had moved into two days earlier. When she returned from her 2:00 A.M. run to the store, accused killer, Brian Nichols, forced his way into her apartment at gunpoint.

Nichols was the object of the largest manhunt in Georgia history up to that time. He had had a deadly escape from a downtown courtroom where he left the judge and three others shot to death. Later, he shot another man. Initially, he bound and gagged Ashley. Eventually, he began to trust her enough to give her some freedom. For seven hours, she began to talk to the killer in her living room. She talked about the battles of her life, about the little daughter she was supposed to pick up the next morning, and about her newly reborn faith. With his permission, she read to him from the book she was reading, "The Purpose-Driven Life."

Ultimately, unbelievably, he allowed Ashley to leave - after she seemingly had persuaded him to consider ending the killing and to give up peacefully. After she called law enforcement - as he almost surely knew she would - they swarmed around that apartment only to see him come out and quietly surrender. Later, Ashley Smith recalled some extraordinary things that Brian Nichols had said to her. He told her he thought she was an angel sent from God, that he was lost and that God had led him right to her so she could tell him, from the well of her own hurt, how the people he had hurt were feeling.

She told him he was a child of God and she wanted him to do God's will. Then she said, "I guess he began to want to." For days, the national media talked over and over again about those extraordinary seven hours and the incredible young woman who had helped end a bloodbath. She said it wasn't her at all. It was the God who was leading her now "purpose-driven life."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Bigger Purpose Than You Ever Dreamed."

Ashley Smith, unlikely hero for God, was on assignment from God that night. So are you. With her life on the line, she did not miss the divine opportunity in front of her to save a life and maybe even a soul. Make sure you don't miss yours.

Because every one of us is like Esther in Bible days, who was chosen Queen of Persia so she would ultimately be in a position to save her people from the king's decree to destroy them. The challenge from the man who raised her is recorded in Esther 4:14, our word for today from the Word of God: "Who knows but that you have come into your royal position for such a time as this?"

Just like Esther, just like Ashley Smith, you have been divinely positioned to save the lives of people you live close to, you work with, and you go to school with. God does these life-saving divine match-ups as He did that amazing night in Ashley Smith's apartment. Who would have guessed? He puts you with people who can be reached by someone like you, however unqualified you may feel. But God knows that your background, your battles, your interests, even your failures, your abilities uniquely qualify you to rescue a particular lost person that He brings into your life.

Life suddenly becomes amazingly exciting when you live it assuming God is setting up divine match-ups - and using those match-ups so you can tell about your Jesus. Rescuing people that God has assigned to you becomes the eternal purpose that drives your life.

Wherever God puts you - whoever God puts you with - remember that purpose. And help the people He brings your way be in heaven with you someday! 

1 Kings 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE LONGINGS OF YOUR HEART - March 7, 2023

“Enjoy serving the Lord, and he will give you what you want” (Psalm 37:4 NCV).

What are my longings? When we submit to God’s plan, we can trust our desires. Our assignment is found at the intersection of God’s plan and our pleasures. So what do you love to do? What gives you a sense of satisfaction? You are a custom design; you are tailor-made. God prescribed your birth. Regardless of the circumstances that surrounded your arrival, you are not an accident. God planned you before you were born.

The longings of your heart, then, are not incidental; they are critical messages. The desires of your heart are not to be ignored; they are to be consulted. As the wind turns the weather vane, so God uses your passions to turn your life. God is too gracious to ask you to do something you hate.

1 Kings 21

 And then, to top it off, came this: Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel that bordered the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. One day Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard so I can use it as a kitchen garden; it’s right next to my house—so convenient. In exchange I’ll give you a far better vineyard, or if you’d prefer I’ll pay you money for it.”

3-4 But Naboth told Ahab, “Not on your life! So help me God, I’d never sell the family farm to you!” Ahab went home in a black mood, sulking over Naboth the Jezreelite’s words, “I’ll never turn over my family inheritance to you.” He went to bed, stuffed his face in his pillow, and refused to eat.

5 Jezebel his wife came to him. She said, “What’s going on? Why are you so out of sorts and refusing to eat?”

6 He told her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite. I said, ‘Give me your vineyard—I’ll pay you for it or, if you’d rather, I’ll give you another vineyard in exchange.’ And he said, ‘I’ll never give you my vineyard.’”

7 Jezebel said, “Is this any way for a king of Israel to act? Aren’t you the boss? On your feet! Eat! Cheer up! I’ll take care of this; I’ll get the vineyard of this Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”

8-10 She wrote letters over Ahab’s signature, stamped them with his official seal, and sent them to the elders in Naboth’s city and to the civic leaders. She wrote “Call for a fast day and put Naboth at the head table. Then seat a couple of stool pigeons across from him who, in front of everybody will say, ‘You! You blasphemed God and the king!’ Then they’ll throw him out and stone him to death.”

11-14 And they did it. The men of the city—the elders and civic leaders—followed Jezebel’s instructions that she wrote in the letters sent to them. They called for a fast day and seated Naboth at the head table. Then they brought in two stool pigeons and seated them opposite Naboth. In front of everybody the two degenerates accused him, “He blasphemed God and the king!” The company threw him out in the street, stoned him mercilessly, and he died.

15 When Jezebel got word that Naboth had been stoned to death, she told Ahab, “Go for it, Ahab—take the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for your own, the vineyard he refused to sell you. Naboth is no more; Naboth is dead.”

16 The minute Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he set out for the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite and claimed it for his own.

17-19 Then God stepped in and spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, “On your feet; go down and confront Ahab of Samaria, king of Israel. You’ll find him in the vineyard of Naboth; he’s gone there to claim it as his own. Say this to him: ‘God’s word: What’s going on here? First murder, then theft?’ Then tell him, ‘God’s verdict: The very spot where the dogs lapped up Naboth’s blood, they’ll lap up your blood—that’s right, your blood.’”

20-22 Ahab answered Elijah, “My enemy! So, you’ve run me down!”

“Yes, I’ve found you out,” said Elijah. “And because you’ve bought into the business of evil, defying God. ‘I will most certainly bring doom upon you, make mincemeat of your descendants, kill off every sorry male wretch who’s even remotely connected with the name Ahab. And I’ll bring down on you the same fate that fell on Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah—you’ve made me that angry by making Israel sin.’”

23-24 As for Jezebel, God said, “Dogs will fight over the flesh of Jezebel all over Jezreel. Anyone tainted by Ahab who dies in the city will be eaten by stray dogs; corpses in the country will be eaten by carrion crows.”

25-26 Ahab, pushed by his wife Jezebel and in open defiance of God, set an all-time record in making big business of evil. He indulged in outrageous obscenities in the world of idols, copying the Amorites whom God had earlier kicked out of Israelite territory.

27 When Ahab heard what Elijah had to say, he ripped his clothes to shreds, dressed in penitential rough burlap, and fasted. He even slept in coarse burlap pajamas. He tiptoed around, quiet as a mouse.

28-29 Then God spoke to Elijah the Tishbite: “Do you see how penitently submissive Ahab has become to me? Because of his repentance I’ll not bring the doom during his lifetime; Ahab’s son, though, will get it.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, March 07, 2023

Today's Scripture

Luke 22:31–34, 54–62

 “Simon, stay on your toes. Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from me, like chaff from wheat. Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.”

33 Peter said, “Master, I’m ready for anything with you. I’d go to jail for you. I’d die for you!”

34 Jesus said, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Peter, but before the rooster crows you will have three times denied that you know me.”

A Rooster Crowed

54-56 Arresting Jesus, they marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a safe distance. In the middle of the courtyard some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, “This man was with him!”

57 He denied it, “Woman, I don’t even know him.”

58 A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, “You’re one of them.”

But Peter denied it: “Man, I am not.”

59 About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really adamant: “He’s got to have been with him! He’s got ‘Galilean’ written all over him.”

60-62 Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

Insight

Jesus warned Peter that Satan had asked permission to test him and that he would falter in his faith (Luke 22:31–34). When Christ was arrested, all the disciples fled. But Peter and John had a change of heart and followed Jesus to the high priest’s house and were allowed to enter because John was “known to the high priest” (John 18:15–16). In the courtyard, Peter mingled with the high priest’s servants. There he crumbled under pressure and denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54–61). Years later, Peter warned us: “Be alert . . . . Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). By: K. T. Sim

Never Too Far

When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. Luke 22:32

Raj had trusted Jesus as Savior in his youth, but soon afterward, he drifted from the faith and led a life apart from God. Then one day, he made the decision to renew his relationship with Jesus and go back to church—only to be scolded by a woman who berated him for being absent for all these years. The scolding added to Raj’s sense of shame and guilt for his years of drifting. Am I beyond hope? he wondered. Then he recalled how Christ had restored Simon Peter (John 21:15–17) even though he’d denied Him (Luke 22:34, 60–61).

Whatever scolding Peter might have expected, all he received was forgiveness and restoration. Jesus didn’t even mention Peter’s denial but instead gave him a chance to reaffirm his love for Christ and take care of His followers (John 21:15–17). Jesus’ words before Peter disowned Him were being fulfilled: “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). 

Raj asked God for that same forgiveness and restoration, and today he’s not only walking closely with Jesus but serving in a church and supporting other believers as well. No matter how far we’ve strayed from God, He’s always ready not only to forgive us and welcome us back but also to restore us so we can love, serve, and glorify Him. We’re never too far from God: His loving arms are wide open. By:  Leslie Koh

Reflect & Pray

What fears might you have about turning back to God? How can knowing His heart of forgiveness help you to return to Him?

Father, thank You for Your endless mercy and patience with me. Thank You that I can trust in Your everlasting love.

For further study, read Walking Free: Overcoming What Keeps Us from Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, March 07, 2023

The Source of Abundant Joy

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. —Romans 8:37

Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of a saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be. Paul said this is the reason that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.

Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against— tribulation, suffering, and persecution— are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).

The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 3-4; Mark 10:32-52

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, March 07, 2023

It's hard to believe there was a time when you had to be carried by someone in order to get anywhere, right? You know, there was a time when it was a major, major breakthrough for you to finally figure out how to move yourself places. Well, years ago, I had a chance to see our six-month-old granddaughter in that milestone struggle to figure out how to crawl. We stopped the presses when she had learned how to sit up by herself. Now, that's a good start. I mean, I'd been sitting on the living room carpet with her. (In fact, I recently learned to sit up by myself too!) Well, I lay down a few feet from her, I held a favorite toy on the rug in front of me, and I started drumming my fingers rhythmically on the carpet. She was definitely intrigued. And you could tell she really wanted to get to my fingers and to that toy. She finally figured out there was no easy way to get what she wanted. She managed to fall forward from her sitting position, get up on all fours, and then rock back and forth in neutral. She reached my direction with one hand. She was risking her delicate balance. Didn't quite make it. But I knew she would soo, because I knew she would eventually do whatever she had to do to get where she wanted to be.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When the Goal Is Beyond Your Reach."

Sometimes you have to do things you've never done to reach what you've never had before, if you're a baby...or if you're a child of God. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always have what you've always had. And that's all. And much of what you need in your life, much of what you're restless for, and much of what God wants to give you is beyond your reach. As long as you stay in your comfort zone, it always will be.

Peter learned a lot about the life-stretching ways of Jesus one day on the lake called the Sea of Galilee. It's in Luke 5, beginning with verse 5, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. Peter, the veteran fisherman, had nothing to show for a whole night of fishing. Then, in the middle of the day (when fish are hard to find), Jesus tells him to put out into the deep water and let down the nets that Peter has just finished cleaning. Well, the Bible says, "Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.'" They caught so many fish it almost sank their boats!

Jesus was beckoning Peter to do something he had never done so he could experience something he had never experienced, just like I was doing with my little granddaughter. And that day Peter decided to take an even riskier step. He left the only life he knew as a fisherman, and chose to follow Jesus wherever He took him. Which was to give to his life a spiritual significance he could never have imagined. But he had to move beyond what was safe, and so do you.

God's been trying to get you to make that move. Maybe that's why that door closed, that chapter ended, why those plans changed, or why you've "worked hard all night and caught nothing." He's not trying to frustrate you. He's trying to move you to something bigger...something better. Jesus wants to take you to another level. But you'll never get there if you just keep sitting where it's safe, settling only for what you can be sure of. Remember what faith is: "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

You'll never grow, you'll never see what you could be if you stay where you've always been. Your Father's beckoning to you. He's inviting you to make a move in the direction of something greater. Don't just sit there!

Acts 13:26-52, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A PART OF GOD’S PLAN - March 6, 2023

Our lives tend to be so scattered. Lives with no strategy, no goal, no defining priority. We are easily distracted by the small things and forget the big things.

God wants us to be just like Jesus and have focused hearts. Romans 8:28 (TLB) says, “We know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.” The first step for focusing your heart is to ask the question Am I fitting into God’s plan? If God’s goal is the salvation of the world, then my goal should be the same.

Regardless of what you don’t know about your future, one thing is certain: you are intended to contribute to the good plan of God, to tell others about the God who loves them and longs to bring them home.

Acts 13:26-52

 “Dear brothers and sisters, children of Abraham, and friends of God, this message of salvation has been precisely targeted to you. The citizens and rulers in Jerusalem didn’t recognize who he was and condemned him to death. They couldn’t find a good reason, but demanded that Pilate execute him anyway. They did just what the prophets said they would do, but had no idea they were following to the letter the script of the prophets, even though those same prophets are read every Sabbath in their meeting places.

29-31 “After they had done everything the prophets said they would do, they took him down from the cross and buried him. And then God raised him from death. There is no disputing that—he appeared over and over again many times and places to those who had known him well in the Galilean years, and these same people continue to give witness that he is alive.

32-35 “And we’re here today bringing you good news: the Message that what God promised the fathers has come true for the children—for us! He raised Jesus, exactly as described in the second Psalm:

My Son! My very own Son!

Today I celebrate you!

“When he raised him from the dead, he did it for good—no going back to that rot and decay for him. That’s why Isaiah said, ‘I’ll give to all of you David’s guaranteed blessings.’ So also the psalmist’s prayer: ‘You’ll never let your Holy One see death’s rot and decay.’

36-39 “David, of course, having completed the work God set out for him, has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now. But the One God raised up—no dust and ashes for him! I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.

40-41 “Don’t take this lightly. You don’t want the prophet’s revelation to describe you:

Watch out, cynics;

Look hard—watch your world fall to pieces.

I’m doing something right before your eyes

That you won’t believe, though it’s staring you in the face.”

42-43 When the service was over, Paul and Barnabas were invited back to preach again the next Sabbath. As the meeting broke up, a good many Jews and converts to Judaism went along with Paul and Barnabas, who urged them in long conversations to stick with what they’d started, this living in and by God’s grace.

44-45 When the next Sabbath came around, practically the whole city showed up to hear the Word of God. Some of the Jews, seeing the crowds, went wild with jealousy and tore into Paul, contradicting everything he was saying, making an ugly scene.

46-47 But Paul and Barnabas didn’t back down. Standing their ground they said, “It was required that God’s Word be spoken first of all to you, the Jews. But seeing that you want no part of it—you’ve made it quite clear that you have no taste or inclination for eternal life—the door is open to all the outsiders. And we’re on our way through it, following orders, doing what God commanded when he said,

I’ve set you up

    as light to all nations.

You’ll proclaim salvation

    to the four winds and seven seas!”

48-49 When the non-Jewish outsiders heard this, they could hardly believe their good fortune. All who were marked out for real life put their trust in God—they honored God’s Word by receiving that life. And this Message of salvation spread like wildfire all through the region.

50-52 Some of the Jews convinced the most respected women and leading men of the town that their precious way of life was about to be destroyed. Alarmed, they turned on Paul and Barnabas and forced them to leave. Paul and Barnabas shrugged their shoulders and went on to the next town, Iconium, brimming with joy and the Holy Spirit, two happy disciples.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, March 06, 2023

Today's Scripture

Genesis 21:9–19

One day Sarah saw the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, poking fun at her son Isaac. She told Abraham, “Get rid of this slave woman and her son. No child of this slave is going to share inheritance with my son Isaac!”

11-13 The matter gave great pain to Abraham—after all, Ishmael was his son. But God spoke to Abraham, “Don’t feel badly about the boy and your maid. Do whatever Sarah tells you. Your descendants will come through Isaac. Regarding your maid’s son, be assured that I’ll also develop a great nation from him—he’s your son, too.”

14-16 Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, “I can’t watch my son die.” As she sat, she broke into sobs.

17-18 Meanwhile, God heard the boy crying. The angel of God called from Heaven to Hagar, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy and knows the fix he’s in. Up now; go get the boy. Hold him tight. I’m going to make of him a great nation.”

19 Just then God opened her eyes. She looked. She saw a well of water. She went to it and filled her canteen and gave the boy a long, cool drink.

Insight

In ancient times, the offspring of servants could be considered as one’s own child. Sarai (Sarah) had intended to raise a family through the offspring of her servant Hagar (see Genesis 16:1–2). When Ishmael was born to Hagar and Abraham, Abraham was eighty-six years old (v. 16). Sarah didn’t give birth to Isaac for another thirteen or fourteen years when Abraham was one hundred years old (21:5). Today’s passage (vv. 9–19) describes how Sarah treated Ishmael and Hagar on the day Isaac was weaned. The reader might wonder what the intervening years had been like between Sarah and Ishmael.

By: J.R. Hudberg

All Alone?

God heard the boy crying. Genesis 21:17

Sue’s family was falling apart before her eyes. Her husband had suddenly left the home, and she and her children were confused and angry. She asked him to go for marriage counseling with her, but he wouldn’t because he claimed the problems were hers. Panic and hopelessness set in when she realized he might never come back. Would she be able to care for herself and her children alone?

Hagar, a servant of Abraham and Sarah, faced those thoughts as well. Impatient for God to give them a son as promised (Genesis 12, 15), Sarah gave Hagar to her husband, and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (16:1–4, 15). However, when God fulfilled His promise and Sarah gave birth to Isaac, family tensions erupted such that Abraham sent Hagar away with their son Ishmael with just some water and food (21:–21). Can you imagine her desperation? Soon they ran out of provisions in the desert. Not knowing what to do and not wanting to see her son die, Hagar put Ishmael under a bush and walked a distance away. They both began to sob. But “God heard the boy crying” (v. 17). He heard their cries, provided for their needs, and was with them.

Times of desperation when we feel all alone cause us to cry out to God. What a comfort to know that during those moments and throughout our lives, He hears us, provides for us, and stays near to us. By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

How has God provided for you when you’ve felt alone? How have you responded to Him?

I’m grateful, God, that I never really walk alone. Help me in my desperation.

Learn more about communicating with God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, March 06, 2023

Taking the Next Step

…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. —2 Corinthians 6:4

When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.

Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham.  The Highest Good, 548 L

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 10:1-31

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, March 06, 2023

DON'T MISS THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR - #9431

A college student was supposed to pick me up at this small town airport, and I was going to go to his college to speak. He had my press photo in his hand; just one of those typical head shots...you know, you have to send out to newspapers sometimes. I didn't, of course, have a photo of him. So who would you expect to find who in that airport? It wasn't exactly LaGuardia or Kennedy or Newark Airport. There were only two gates.

My flight came in and I kept waiting for someone to come up and identify themselves. But pretty soon, everybody cleared out and there were only two people left. There was me and there was this college student walking back and forth looking at a photo in his hand, looking at me, looking at the photo, looking at me..

Well, I knew his name was Jeff. I had talked to him on the phone. I said, "Is that you, Jeff?" He looked at the picture again and said, "Is that you, Ron?" I said, "It sure is!" He said, "Oh, in the picture you look tall." What? I have a tall head? I guess I just got the wrong body. Well now, anyone who wants a picture in advance, they ought to recognize the man when He comes. Right?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Miss the One You've Been Looking For."

Our word for today from the Word of God actually comes from Matthew 1:21. It's part of the Christmas Story, but it's good all year. And the angel is speaking to Joseph. "'She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said to the prophet; 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, (That's actually a quote from the book of Isaiah.) and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us.'"

God says here "When My Son comes He'll be the fulfillment of a prophecy." He will, in fact, be the fulfillment of scores of prophecies. For two thousand years God had been sending ahead a picture of what His Son would look like when He came to earth. It's sort of like an inverted pyramid. It starts out very broad and comes down to a very narrowly focused picture in advance of what the Messiah will look like.

In Genesis 3:15, way back in the Garden of Eden, God says the answer to sin would be a descendent of Eve. In other words, a man would come. Then in Genesis 12:15, He says what nation He'll come from. Of all the nations on earth, it says that the Messiah's blessings will come through the Nation of Israel. Then in Genesis 49, God narrows it down a little more; gives us a little more focused photograph. He says what tribe He will come from out of the twelve tribes of Israel...look for Him to come from the tribe of Judah.

Now in Isaiah 11:1 He narrows it down to the family. He says He'll come out of the family of David. Isaiah 7, the method - a virgin birth. How could you miss it? Micah 5:2 - He says, "Now, here's the place. He'll be born in a little village called Bethlehem." Isaiah 53 describes His death. The book of Zachariah even tells the number of pieces of silver He'll be betrayed for.

They had the picture in their hands back then and they didn't recognize Him. John 1:11, "He came to His own and His own did not receive Him." You say, "How could they miss Him?" Well how can we? We don't just have prophecies, we've got history. We know He walked out of His grave under His own power.

He's identified himself to you as the one you've been looking for. Could it be you're still withholding your allegiance? Could it be you're circling Him like that fellow did at the airport with me; checking out who He is? Well, sometime you've got to do something with Jesus. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God."

Maybe sometime for you is today. You don't need evidence now, you need faith. Don't circle Jesus any more. Come to Him and say, "Lord, you're the one I've spent a lifetime searching for."

I would invite you to join me at our website. It's called ANewStory.com. It could be the beginning of your new story. If you'll tell Jesus, "I'm Yours," you will finally be home in a relationship you were created for. 

1 Kings 20 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Spiritual Heart Transplant

Grace!  The bank gives us a grace period.  The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note.  We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings and pre-meal prayers.  We talk as though we know what grace means.

You turn the page of your Bible and look at the words.  You might as well be gazing at a cemetery.  Lifeless, stony.  Nothing moves you.  But you don't dare close the book, no sirree.  You dare not miss a deed for fear that God will erase your name.

God's grace has a drenching about it.  Grace comes after you.  It re-wires you.  From insecure to God secure.  From regret riddled to better-because-of-it.  From afraid to die to ready to fly.

As Paul said in Galatians 2:20:  "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

You might call it a spiritual heart transplant!

From GRACE

1 Kings  20

At about this same time Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his troops. He recruited in addition thirty-two local sheiks, all outfitted with horses and chariots. He set out in force and surrounded Samaria, ready to make war. He sent an envoy into the city to set his terms before Ahab king of Israel: “Ben-Hadad lays claim to your silver and gold, and to the pick of your wives and sons.”

4 The king of Israel accepted the terms: “As you say, distinguished lord; I and everything I have is yours.”

5-6 But then the envoy returned a second time, saying, “On second thought, I want it all—your silver and gold and all your wives and sons. Hand them over—the whole works. I’ll give you twenty-four hours; then my servants will arrive to search your palace and the houses of your officials and loot them; anything that strikes their fancy, they’ll take.”

7 The king of Israel called a meeting of all his tribal elders. He said, “Look at this—outrageous! He’s just looking for trouble. He means to clean me out, demanding all my women and children. And after I already agreed to pay him off handsomely!”

8 The elders, backed by the people, said, “Don’t cave in to him. Don’t give an inch.”

9 So he sent an envoy to Ben-Hadad, “Tell my distinguished lord, ‘I agreed to the terms you delivered the first time, but this I can’t do—this I won’t do!’”

The envoy went back and delivered the answer.

10 Ben-Hadad shot back his response: “May the gods do their worst to me, and then worse again, if there’ll be anything left of Samaria but rubble.”

11 The king of Israel countered, “Think about it—it’s easier to start a fight than end one.”

12 It happened that when Ben-Hadad heard this retort he was into some heavy drinking, boozing it up with the sheiks in their field shelters. Drunkenly, he ordered his henchmen, “Go after them!” And they attacked the city.

13 Just then a lone prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “God’s word: Have you taken a good look at this mob? Well, look again—I’m turning it over to you this very day. And you’ll know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I am God.”

14 Ahab said, “Really? And who is going to make this happen?”

God said, “The young commandos of the regional chiefs.”

“And who,” said Ahab, “will strike the first blow?”

God said, “You.”

15 Ahab looked over the commandos of the regional chiefs; he counted 232. Then he assessed the available troops—7,000.

16-17 At noon they set out after Ben-Hadad who, with his allies, the thirty-two sheiks, was busy at serious drinking in the field shelters. The commandos of the regional chiefs made up the vanguard.

A report was brought to Ben-Hadad: “Men are on their way from Samaria.”

18 He said, “If they’ve come in peace, take them alive as hostages; if they’ve come to fight, the same—take them alive as hostages.”

19-20 The commandos poured out of the city with the full army behind them. They hit hard in hand-to-hand combat. The Arameans scattered from the field, with Israel hard on their heels. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram got away on horseback, along with his cavalry.

21 The king of Israel cut down both horses and chariots—an enormous defeat for Aram.

22 Sometime later the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “On the alert now—build up your army, assess your capabilities, and see what has to be done. Before the year is out, the king of Aram will be back in force.”

23-25 Meanwhile the advisors to the king of Aram said, “Their god is a god of the mountains—we don’t stand a chance against them there. So let’s engage them on the plain where we’ll have the advantage. Here’s the strategy: Remove each sheik from his place of leadership and replace him with a seasoned officer. Then recruit a fighting force equivalent in size to the army that deserted earlier—horse for horse, chariot for chariot. And we’ll fight them on the plain—we’re sure to prove stronger than they are.”

It sounded good to the king; he did what they advised.

26-27 As the new year approached, Ben-Hadad rallied Aram and they went up to Aphek to make war on Israel. The Israelite army prepared to fight and took the field to meet Aram. They moved into battle formation before Aram in two camps, like two flocks of goats. The plain was seething with Arameans.

28 Just then a holy man approached the king of Israel saying, “This is God’s word: Because Aram said, ‘God is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,’ I’ll hand over this huge mob of an army to you. Then you’ll know that I am God.”

29-30 The two armies were poised in a standoff for seven days. On the seventh day fighting broke out. The Israelites killed 100,000 of the Aramean infantry in one day. The rest of the army ran for their lives back to the city, Aphek, only to have the city wall fall on 27,000 of the survivors.

30-31 Ben-Hadad escaped into the city and hid in a closet. Then his advisors told him, “Look, we’ve heard that the kings of Israel play by the rules; let’s dress in old gunnysacks, carry a white flag of truce, and present ourselves to the king of Israel on the chance that he’ll let you live.”

32 So that’s what they did. They dressed in old gunnysacks and carried a white flag, and came to the king of Israel saying, “Your servant Ben-Hadad said, ‘Please let me live.’”

Ahab said, “You mean to tell me that he’s still alive? If he’s alive, he’s my brother.”

33 The men took this as a good sign and concluded that everything was going to be all right: “Ben-Hadad is most certainly your brother!”

The king said, “Go and get him.” They went and brought him back by chariot.

34 Ahab said, “I am prepared to return the cities that my father took from your father. And you can set up your headquarters in Damascus just as my father did in Samaria; I’ll send you home under safe conduct.” Then he made a covenant with him and sent him off.

35 A man who was one of the prophets said to a bystander, “Hit me; wound me. Do it for God’s sake—it’s his command. Hit me; wound me.” But the man wouldn’t do it.

36 So he told him, “Because you wouldn’t obey God’s orders, as soon as you leave me a lion will attack you.” No sooner had the man left his side than a lion met him and attacked.

37 He then found another man and said, “Hit me; wound me.” That man did it—hit him hard in the face, drawing blood.

38-40 Then the prophet went and took a position along the road, with a bandage over his eyes, waiting for the king. It wasn’t long before the king happened by. The man cried out to the king, “Your servant was in the thick of the battle when a man showed up and turned over a prisoner to me, saying, ‘Guard this man with your life; if he turns up missing you’ll pay dearly.’ But I got busy doing one thing after another and the next time I looked he was gone.”

The king of Israel said, “You’ve just pronounced your own verdict.”

41 At that, the man ripped the bandage off his eyes and the king recognized who he was—one of the prophets!

42 The man said to the king, “God’s word: Because you let a man go who was under sentence by God, it’s now your life for his, your people for his.”

43 The king of Israel went home in a sulk. He arrived in Samaria in a very bad mood.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, March 05, 2023

Today's Scripture

Jeremiah 12:1–3

What Makes You Think You Can Race Against Horses?

You are right, O God, and you set things right.

    I can’t argue with that. But I do have some questions:

Why do bad people have it so good?

    Why do con artists make it big?

You planted them and they put down roots.

    They flourished and produced fruit.

They talk as if they’re old friends with you,

    but they couldn’t care less about you.

Meanwhile, you know me inside and out.

    You don’t let me get by with a thing!

Make them pay for the way they live,

    pay with their lives, like sheep marked for slaughter.

How long do we have to put up with this—

    the country depressed, the farms in ruin—

And all because of wickedness, these wicked lives?

    Even animals and birds are dying off

Because they’ll have nothing to do with God

    and think God has nothing to do with them.

Insight

Jeremiah 1:1 reads, “The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.” This opening for the book gives us a surprising amount of information about this prophet—information we don’t receive about some other prophets in the Old Testament. He’s of the Levitical priestly line and starts his journey as a resident of Anathoth, a village a few miles northeast of Jerusalem—a city given to Aaron’s descendants (Joshua 21:15–19). His father, Hilkiah, was himself a priest who no doubt would’ve expected his son to follow in his footsteps. Jeremiah, however, pursued his calling as a prophet rather than following his father as a priest. The name Jeremiah can mean “Jehovah establishes or exalts” or “Jehovah hurls down.” That last option may in fact speak into the prophet’s message, which has to do with God’s judgment of Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. By: Bill Crowder

God Knows Us

You know me, Lord. Jeremiah 12:3

I recently saw a photograph of Michelangelo’s sculpture Moses, in which a close-up view showed a small bulging muscle on Moses’ right arm. This muscle is the extensor digiti minimi, and the contraction only appears when someone lifts their pinky. Michelangelo, known as a master of intricate details, paid close attention to the human bodies he sculpted, adding intimate features most everyone else would miss. Michelangelo knew the human body in ways few other sculptors have, but the details he carved into granite were his attempts to reveal something deeper—the soul, the interior life of human beings. And, of course, there Michelangelo always fell short.

Only God knows the deepest realities of the human heart. Whatever we see of one another, no matter how attentive or insightful it might be, is only a shadow of the truth. But God sees deeper than the shadows. “You know me, Lord,” the prophet Jeremiah said; “you see me” (12:3). God’s knowledge of us isn’t theoretical or cerebral. He doesn’t observe us from a distance. Rather, He peers into the hidden realities of who we are. God knows the depths of our interior lives, even those things we struggle to understand ourselves.  

No matter our struggles or what’s going on in our hearts, God sees us and truly knows us. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

What makes you feel alone, isolated, or unseen? How does it change things to realize that God knows you?

Dear God, this world can be a lonely place, but I’m astounded at how truly You know me. It fills me with wonder and joy.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, March 05, 2023

Is He Really My Lord?

…so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus… —Acts 20:24

Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.

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: Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50

1 Kings 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God Answers the Mess of Life

You stare into the darkness. The ceiling fan whirls above you. Your husband slumbers next to you. In minutes the alarm will sound, and the demands of the day will shoot you like a clown out of a cannon into a three-ring circus of meetings, bosses, and baseball practices.

And for the millionth time you'll make breakfast, schedules, and payroll…  but for the life of you, you can't make sense of this thing called life. Its beginnings and endings.  Cradles and cancers and cemeteries and questions.

The meaning of life!  The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word:  grace!  Do we really understand it?

Ezekiel 36:26 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you!"

Grace calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off!

From GRACE

1 Kings 19

Revenge from Jezebel

 Ahab reported to Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, including the massacre of the prophets. Jezebel immediately sent a messenger to Elijah with her threat: “The gods will get you for this and I’ll get even with you! By this time tomorrow you’ll be as dead as any one of those prophets.”

3-5 When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all—to just die: “Enough of this, God! Take my life—I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush.

Suddenly an angel shook him awake and said, “Get up and eat!”

6 He looked around and, to his surprise, right by his head were a loaf of bread baked on some coals and a jug of water. He ate the meal and went back to sleep.

7 The angel of God came back, shook him awake again, and said, “Get up and eat some more—you’ve got a long journey ahead of you.”

8-9 He got up, ate and drank his fill, and set out. Nourished by that meal, he walked forty days and nights, all the way to the mountain of God, to Horeb. When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep.

Then the word of God came to him: “So Elijah, what are you doing here?”

10 “I’ve been working my heart out for the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,” said Elijah. “The people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”

11-12 Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.

13-14 When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?” Elijah said it again, “I’ve been working my heart out for God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, because the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed your places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”

15-18 God said, “Go back the way you came through the desert to Damascus. When you get there anoint Hazael; make him king over Aram. Then anoint Jehu son of Nimshi; make him king over Israel. Finally, anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Anyone who escapes death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu; and anyone who escapes death by Jehu will be killed by Elisha. Meanwhile, I’m preserving for myself seven thousand souls: the knees that haven’t bowed to the god Baal, the mouths that haven’t kissed his image.”

19 Elijah went straight out and found Elisha son of Shaphat in a field where there were twelve pairs of yoked oxen at work plowing; Elisha was in charge of the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak over him.

20 Elisha deserted the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please! Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye—then I’ll follow you.”

“Go ahead,” said Elijah, “but, mind you, don’t forget what I’ve just done to you.”

21 So Elisha left; he took his yoke of oxen and butchered them. He made a fire with the plow and tackle and then boiled the meat—a true farewell meal for the family. Then he left and followed Elijah, becoming his right-hand man.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 04, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Chronicles 35:20–27

Some time later, after Josiah’s reformation of The Temple, Neco king of Egypt marched out toward Carchemish on the Euphrates River on his way to war. Josiah went out to fight him.

21 Neco sent messengers to Josiah saying, “What do we have against each other, O King of Judah? I haven’t come to fight against you but against the country with whom I’m at war. God commanded me to hurry, so don’t get in my way; you’ll only interfere with God, who is on my side in this, and he’ll destroy you.”

22-23 But Josiah was spoiling for a fight and wouldn’t listen to a thing Neco said (in actuality it was God who said it). Though King Josiah disguised himself when they met on the plain of Megiddo, archers shot him anyway.

The king said to his servants, “Get me out of here—I’m badly wounded.”

24-25 So his servants took him out of his chariot and laid him down in an ambulance chariot and drove him back to Jerusalem. He died there and was buried in the family cemetery. Everybody in Judah and Jerusalem attended the funeral. Jeremiah composed an anthem of lament for Josiah. The anthem is still sung by the choirs of Israel to this day. The anthem is written in the Laments.

26 The rest of the history of Josiah, his exemplary and devout life, conformed to The Revelation of God. The whole story, from start to finish, is written in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah. By popular choice, Jehoahaz son of Josiah was made king at Jerusalem, succeeding his father.

Insight

The arrangement of the Old Testament books in our modern-day Bibles differs from the Hebrew Scriptures of the first century ad; the content, however, is the same. The book divisions in our Bibles are based on the type of literature (history, poetry, and prophecy). The Hebrew Scriptures in Jesus’ day were a compilation of twenty-four books (scrolls) that were divided into three major sections: the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings. The arrangement was essentially chronological. Second Chronicles was in the “Writings” section. It was the last book of the Hebrew Bible. By: Arthur Jackson

Listening to God

[Josiah] would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command. 2 Chronicles 35:22

Back when I was driving to college and back home again, the road to our house in the desert seemed painfully dull. Because it was long and straight, I found myself driving faster than I should have more than once. First, I was given a warning from the highway patrol. Then I received a ticket. Then I was cited a second time in the very same place.

Refusing to listen can have unfortunate consequences. One tragic example of this is from the life of Josiah, a good and faithful king. When Necho, the king of Egypt, marched through Judah’s territory to help Assyria in battle against Babylon, Josiah went out to counter him. Necho sent messengers telling Josiah, “God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me” (2 Chronicles 35:21). God really did send Necho, but Josiah “would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo” (v. 22). Josiah was fatally injured in the battle, “and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him” (v. 24).

Josiah, who loved God, discovered that insisting on his own way without taking the time to listen to Him or His wisdom through others never ends well. May God give us the humility we need to always check ourselves and take His wisdom to heart. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

What do you need God’s wisdom for in your life? What will you do to listen to Him today?

Ever wise and loving God, help me to be humble and to listen for Your wisdom today. Thank You that when I ask for wisdom, You give “generously . . . without finding fault” (James 1:5).

Learn more lessons from the kings of Israel.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 04, 2023

His Commission to Us

Feed My sheep. —John 21:17

This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ‘Feed My sheep.’ ” Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Numbers 28-30; Mark 8:22-38

Acts 13:1-25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD AND MAN - March 3, 2023

“For our high priest [Jesus] is able to understand our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15 NCV).

God became flesh in the form of Jesus Christ. He was miraculously conceived, yet naturally delivered.

Had Jesus simply descended to earth in the form of a mighty being, we would respect him but would never draw near to him. After all, how could God understand what it means to be human? Had Jesus been biologically conceived with two earthly parents, we would draw near to him, but would we ever want to worship him? After all, he would be no different than you and me.

But if Jesus was both—God and man at the same time—then we have the best of both worlds. He was fully human. He was fully divine. Because of the first, we draw near. Because of the latter, we worship.

Acts 13:1-25

Barnabas, Saul, and Doctor Know-It-All

 The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers:

Barnabas,

Simon, nicknamed Niger,

Lucius the Cyrenian,

Manaen, an advisor to the ruler Herod,

Saul.

One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.”

3 So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on their heads and sent them off.

4-5 Sent off on their new assignment by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia and caught a ship for Cyprus. The first thing they did when they put in at Salamis was preach God’s Word in the Jewish meeting places. They had John along to help out as needed.

6-7 They traveled the length of the island, and at Paphos came upon a Jewish wizard who had worked himself into the confidence of the governor, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man not easily taken in by charlatans. The wizard’s name was Bar-Jesus. He was as crooked as a corkscrew.

7-11 The governor invited Barnabas and Saul in, wanting to hear God’s Word firsthand from them. But Dr. Know-It-All (that’s the wizard’s name in plain English) stirred up a ruckus, trying to divert the governor from becoming a believer. But Saul (or Paul), full of the Holy Spirit and looking him straight in the eye, said, “You bag of wind, you parody of a devil—why, you stay up nights inventing schemes to cheat people out of God. But now you’ve come up against God himself, and your game is up. You’re about to go blind—no sunlight for you for a good long stretch.” He was plunged immediately into a shadowy mist and stumbled around, begging people to take his hand and show him the way.

12 When the governor saw what happened, he became a believer, full of enthusiasm over what they were saying about the Master.

Don’t Take This Lightly

13-14 From Paphos, Paul and company put out to sea, sailing on to Perga in Pamphylia. That’s where John called it quits and went back to Jerusalem. From Perga the rest of them traveled on to Antioch in Pisidia.

14-15 On the Sabbath they went to the meeting place and took their places. After the reading of the Scriptures—God’s Law and the Prophets—the president of the meeting asked them, “Friends, do you have anything you want to say? A word of encouragement, perhaps?”

16-20 Paul stood up, paused and took a deep breath, then said, “Fellow Israelites and friends of God, listen. God took a special interest in our ancestors, pulled our people who were beaten down in Egyptian exile to their feet, and led them out of there in grand style. He took good care of them for nearly forty years in that godforsaken wilderness and then, having wiped out seven enemies who stood in the way, gave them the land of Canaan for their very own—a span in all of about 450 years.

20-22 “Up to the time of Samuel the prophet, God provided judges to lead them. But then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, out of the tribe of Benjamin. After Saul had ruled forty years, God removed him from office and put King David in his place, with this commendation: ‘I’ve searched the land and found this David, son of Jesse. He’s a man whose heart beats to my heart, a man who will do what I tell him.’

23-25 “From out of David’s descendants God produced a Savior for Israel, Jesus, exactly as he promised—but only after John had thoroughly alerted the people to his arrival by preparing them for a total life-change. As John was finishing up his work, he said, ‘Did you think I was the One? No, I’m not the One. But the One you’ve been waiting for all these years is just around the corner, about to appear. And I’m about to disappear.’

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 03, 2023

Today's Scripture

Romans 5:6-8 

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Insight

Reconciliation restores those who’ve been alienated. Paul uses the word reconcile more than any other New Testament author, often multiple times in a passage; for example, he uses it three times in Romans 5:10–11. He also uses it in Romans 11:15, 2 Corinthians 5:18–19, and 1 Corinthians 7:11 (related to human reconciliation).

Today’s passage highlights the necessity of Jesus’ death for our reconciliation to God. But that isn’t the end. Our reconciliation through His death leads to our salvation through His life. Paul writes, “How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10). Notice that there are two different tenses used: we have been reconciled and we shall be saved. Paul says that both the death of Jesus and His resurrected life are necessary to our salvation. By: J.R. Hudberg

This Love Is Real

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

“I felt like the rug had been pulled from under me,” Jojie said. “The shock of the discovery was like a physical blow.” She’d found out that her fiancé was seeing someone else. Jojie’s previous relationship had ended similarly. So when she later heard about God’s love at a Bible study, she couldn’t help wondering: Is this another scam? Will I get hurt if I believe God when He says He loves me? 

Like Jojie, we may have experienced troubled relationships that left us feeling wary—or even afraid—of trusting someone’s promise of love. We may even feel this way about God’s love, wondering where the catch is. There is, however, no catch. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

“Eventually, I realized God had already proven His love,” Jojie says, “by dying for me.” My friend discovered that since our sinful state separated us from God, He reached out to us by giving Jesus to die on our behalf (Romans 5:10; 1 John 2:2). Because of this, our sins are forgiven, and we can look forward to eternity with Him (John 3:16). 

Whenever we wonder whether we can truly trust God’s love, let’s remember what Christ did for us on the cross. We can trust His promises of love, knowing that He’s faithful. By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

When or why have you found it difficult to trust God’s love? How can knowing Jesus died for you change your response?

Dear Jesus, thank You for the great love You showed me by dying for me. Let Your love change me, heal me, and direct my relationships.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 03, 2023

His Commission to Us

Feed My sheep. —John 21:17

This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ‘Feed My sheep.’ ” Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come.  Shade of His Hand, 1226 L

Bible in a Year: Numbers 28-30; Mark 8:22-38

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 03, 2023

PREPARING FOR THE WORST - #9430

During the high school football season, our Campus Life Club used to have a crowd breaker that provided a lot of entertainment for all of us. We had four cheerleaders up front with a box of football equipment, minus the more personal stuff, of course. They raced to see who was the first to get fully dressed in shoulder pads, hip pads, knee pads, helmets, the rest, you know. Well, they each had a football player providing verbal coaching, but the results were still hilarious. Those cheerleaders had no idea what gear went where. But that's okay. They didn't need to know. You can be sure the players knew. Every day, whether it was for a practice or a game, they got that equipment on. They didn't need it all day in school, of course, because they weren't generally being chased, or run into at high speeds, or thrown to the ground. But when it came time to play, the coaches made sure they had the equipment they needed. The coach wasn't about to send them into the battle without what they would need to protect them.

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

Our missionary son called us one day and, in an uncharacteristically sober tone of voice, he opened with these words: "Mom, Dad, get your grace helmets on." He was preparing us for some bad news. They were in their sixth month of pregnancy with our grandson, and the doctor had just spotted some rare and serious medical problems. Our son knew what he, his wife, and our whole family were going to need for the trying months ahead. We were going to need God's grace; the equipment that God provides to give us that extra strength and protection we will need for the battle we're headed into.

Right now, you may be in one of those seasons where all your human resources are just totally inadequate to keep you going. Here's God's open invitation, recorded in Hebrews 4:16, our word for today from the Word of God. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." See, grace is God's enabling power that sustains us when we're running on empty. It's sort of like a reserve fuel tank that kicks in when our emotional and physical fuel tank has run out.

And it's not just generic grace, you know; not like "one size fits all." No, it's customized grace, specially designed for the kind of situation you need it for. So, God provides parenting grace when that's needed; forgiving grace when forgiving is what you need to do. He'll give you cancer grace, suffering grace, persecution grace, funeral grace. For our family, facing the deep questions, the deep feelings, and the critical decisions about that little baby, God's grace came in like a Daddy's arms picking us up and carrying us when we couldn't walk any farther.

That little guy has had his battles, and he's not a little guy any more, and he's doing okay. But even if we have some more, you know what? His story is already one miracle after another. Not the least of which is the strength and the grace that has protected us like body armor on a soldier, or gear on an athlete. And, as God promised Paul in the pain and limitations of his thorn in the flesh, "My grace is sufficient." (2 Corinthians 12:9) Or, as the original Greek says, "Enough for you - My grace."

His grace really is enough for you, no matter how desperate the situation. Because He's said "your strength will equal your days." (Deuteronomy 33:25) Whatever the burden, He will match it with His grace. More than match it, if you'll go to His throne of grace to get it. You have to go for the grace that this moment requires.

No matter what hits you, God is no less in charge; His plan is no less on target. Things may be out of your control. They are never out of His control. If you trust Him, He will give you just the equipment you need for the battle you're facing right now, because God's plan will not lead you where His grace cannot keep you.