James 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: FINISH THE RIGHT THING - March 17, 2023

Any unfinished projects under your roof? Perhaps an exercise machine with the primary function thus far of holding towels? And let’s not even touch the topic of diets and weight loss, okay? Relax. “Don’t start what you can’t finish” is not the theme of this little message. To be honest, there are certain quests better left undone, some projects wisely abandoned.

We can become so obsessed with completion that we become blind to effectiveness. No, my desire is not to convince you to finish everything. My desire is to encourage you to finish the right thing. Certain races are optional—like washboard abs and speed-reading. Other races are essential—like the race of faith. Consider this admonition from the author of Hebrews who said: “Let us run the race that is before us and never give up” (Hebrews 12:1 NCV).

James 2

The Royal Rule of Love

My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?

5-7 Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name—“Christian”—used in your baptisms?

8-11 You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: “Love others as you love yourself.” But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period.

12-13 Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.

Faith in Action

14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

18 I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”

Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that weave of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 17, 2023

Today's Scripture

Revelation 3:14–22

To Laodicea

14 Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God’s creation, says:

15-17 “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

18 “Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

19 “The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they’ll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!

20-21 “Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!

22 “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.”

Insight

The letter to Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–22) is the only one to the seven churches in Asia Minor (see chs. 2–3) with no praise at all for the church. Regardless, we find comfort amid God’s warnings. The reference to “salve to put on your eyes” (3:18) has relevance for Laodicea because the region was known for its medicines, including an eye salve. But the Laodiceans’ vision problem wasn’t physical but spiritual. Their wealth had given them the illusion of self-sufficiency (vv. 15–17), prompting what seems like a threat from God: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline” (v. 19). Yet this signaled that God hadn’t abandoned the church. He loved them enough to correct them. By: Tim Gustafson

We’re Not Alone

I stand at the door and knock. Revelation 3:20

In Fredric Brown's short story thriller “Knock,” he wrote, “The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.” Yikes! Who could that be, and what do they want? What mysterious being has come for him? The man is not alone.

Neither are we.

The church in Laodicea heard a knock on their door (Revelation 3:20). What supernatural Being had come for them? His name was Jesus, “the First and the Last . . . the Living One” (1:17–18). His eyes blazed like fire, and His face “like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (v. 16). When His best friend, John, caught a glimpse of His glory, he “fell at his feet as though dead” (v. 17). Faith in Christ begins with the fear of God.

We’re not alone, and this is also comforting. Jesus “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). Yet Christ uses His strength not to slay us but to love us. Hear His invitation, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20). Our faith begins with fear—Who is at the door?—and it ends in a welcome and strong embrace. Jesus promises to always stay with us, even if we’re the last person on earth. Thank God, we’re not alone. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray

Why can’t we separate Christ’s power from His love? Why are both vitally important?

Dear Jesus, I welcome You into my heart and life.

For further study, read Unknown Caller: Recognizing Jesus and the Kingdom.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 17, 2023

The Servant’s Primary Goal

We make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him. —2 Corinthians 5:9

“We make it our aim….” It requires a conscious decision and effort to keep our primary goal constantly in front of us. It means holding ourselves to the highest priority year in and year out; not making our first priority to win souls, or to establish churches, or to have revivals, but seeking only “to be well pleasing to Him.” It is not a lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but a lack of working to keep our eyes focused and on the right goal. At least once a week examine yourself before God to see if your life is measuring up to the standard He has for you. Paul was like a musician who gives no thought to audience approval, if he can only catch a look of approval from his Conductor.

Any goal we have that diverts us even to the slightest degree from the central goal of being “approved to God” (2 Timothy 2:15) may result in our rejection from further service for Him. When you discern where the goal leads, you will understand why it is so necessary to keep “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). Paul spoke of the importance of controlling his own body so that it would not take him in the wrong direction. He said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest…I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

I must learn to relate everything to the primary goal, maintaining it without interruption. My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life. Is my primary goal in life to please Him and to be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how lofty it may sound?

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 30-31; Mark 15:1-25

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 17, 2023

HOW TO HOLD YOUR CHILD - #9440

It's an old Asian parable with a lot of "right now" wisdom. A little boy had been trying for many days to capture one of the little birds that snacked in the family fields. And he'd tried over and over again to hide in the bushes and surprise one of those birds enough to get his hands on it. Finally, after many failed attempts, he captured his prize. And he couldn't wait to show his mommy. He wrapped his hands around that little bird and he ran all the way to his house. As soon as the little guy saw his mother, he proudly extended his cupped hands and said, "Mommy, I got a bird! He's really cute!" But his joy didn't last long. As he slowly opened his hands for his mother to see, he noticed the bird wasn't moving - or breathing. It was one heartbroken boy who cried, "Mommy, I was afraid I'd lose him. But I held him so tight, I crushed him."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How To Hold Your Child."

The story is just that - only a story. But the mistake the little boy made, well that's not just a story. It's a mistake made by many a mom or dad with a son or daughter they love very much. They held them so tightly that they lost them.

We tend to forget that a child is a trust from God; a gift He's given us to help care for, provide for, and develop. But they belong to Him, not to us. So a mom or dad who parent by God's design understand the power of these simple words: love them deeply, but hold them loosely.

God has even provided examples for us in His Book. Like Hannah, the mother of Samuel, God's man to be the greatest judge who ever governed His people. Hannah had been unable to conceive for many years. But the Bible says, "she kept on praying to the Lord." Ultimately, God wonderfully gave her that much-prayed-for boy, and she named him Samuel, which means "heard of God." In Hannah's eyes, the sun must have risen and set on that boy. But she understood that while you love your child deeply, you hold him loosely.

Listen to her prayer in 1 Samuel 1:27-28, our word for today from the Word of God: "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." What a prayer for you to pray each new day as a mom, as a dad, no matter how young or how old your child is. "For his whole life or her whole life, he/she will be given over to the Lord." Each day, you give that child back to the One who gave that child to you.

When you do that, you can avoid that unhealthy kind of love that crushes a child and often loses a child. A controlling parent, a manipulating parent, a guilt-tripping parent, a shaming parent, a dominating parent - those are parents who may ultimately produce the very results they fear by holding too tight. You may get some immediate compliance, but you're either going to cripple or drive away that child. Nagging and criticizing and pressuring; they only end up pushing them away from the very choices you so desperately were trying to get them to make.

You've got to ask yourself, "Whose needs am I really working on here - my child's or mine?" So many times, we're trying to fill some hole in our life through our child. So we try to hold them tightly, to make them what we want - or what we need them to be. And in the process, we may crush the life right out of them.

You just keep sowing good seed in their life, knowing you don't reap that the day you sow. You keep offering them the safety of your unconditional love. You keep showing them how to make good decisions, but not making all the decisions for them. You keep reminding them of the awesome person God made when He made them. You keep setting reasonable boundaries with reasonable penalties, and you be consistent with them. You keep listening to their heart. And you keep giving them back to God, and stop trying to be "God" in their life. Only He can be that.

Love them deeply - hold them loosely so they can learn to fly as God made them to.

2 Kings 6 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD CAN STILL CHANGE FAMILIES - March 16, 2023

Having your family’s approval is desirable but not necessary for happiness and not always possible. Jesus did not let the difficult dynamic of his family overshadow his call from God.

What happened to Jesus’ family? Mine with me a golden nugget hidden in a vein of the book of Acts. Acts chapter one: “Then [the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers” (Acts 1:12, 14 NCV). What a change! The ones who had mocked him now worship him. The ones who had pitied him now pray to him.

What if Jesus had disowned them? Or worse still, what if he’d suffocated his family with his demand for change? He didn’t. He instead gave them space, time, and grace. So don’t lose heart – God still changes families.

2 Kings 6

 One day the guild of prophets came to Elisha and said, “You can see that this place where we’re living under your leadership is getting cramped—we have no elbow room. Give us permission to go down to the Jordan where each of us will get a log. We’ll build a roomier place.”

Elisha said, “Go ahead.”

3 One of them then said, “Please! Come along with us!”

He said, “Certainly.”

4-5 He went with them. They came to the Jordan and started chopping down trees. As one of them was felling a timber, his axhead flew off and sank in the river.

“Oh no, master!” he cried out. “And it was borrowed!”

6 The Holy Man said, “Where did it sink?”

The man showed him the place.

He cut off a branch and tossed it at the spot. The axhead floated up.

7 “Grab it,” he said. The man reached out and took it.

8 One time when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, after consulting with his officers, he said, “At such and such a place I want an ambush set.”

9 The Holy Man sent a message to the king of Israel: “Watch out when you’re passing this place, because Aram has set an ambush there.”

10 So the king of Israel sent word concerning the place of which the Holy Man had warned him.

This kind of thing happened all the time.

11 The king of Aram was furious over all this. He called his officers together and said, “Tell me, who is leaking information to the king of Israel? Who is the spy in our ranks?”

12 But one of his men said, “No, my master, dear king. It’s not any of us. It’s Elisha the prophet in Israel. He tells the king of Israel everything you say, even what you whisper in your bedroom.”

13 The king said, “Go and find out where he is. I’ll send someone and capture him.”

The report came back, “He’s in Dothan.”

14 Then he dispatched horses and chariots, an impressive fighting force. They came by night and surrounded the city.

15 Early in the morning a servant of the Holy Man got up and went out. Surprise! Horses and chariots surrounding the city! The young man exclaimed, “Oh, master! What shall we do?”

16 He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.”

17 Then Elisha prayed, “O God, open his eyes and let him see.”

The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!

18 When the Arameans attacked, Elisha prayed to God, “Strike these people blind!” And God struck them blind, just as Elisha said.

19 Then Elisha called out to them, “Not that way! Not this city! Follow me and I’ll lead you to the man you’re looking for.” And he led them into Samaria.

20 As they entered the city, Elisha prayed, “O God, open their eyes so they can see where they are.” God opened their eyes. They looked around—they were trapped in Samaria!

21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “Father, shall I massacre the lot?”

22 “Not on your life!” said Elisha. “You didn’t lift a hand to capture them, and now you’re going to kill them? No sir, make a feast for them and send them back to their master.”

23 So he prepared a huge feast for them. After they ate and drank their fill he dismissed them. Then they returned home to their master. The raiding bands of Aram didn’t bother Israel anymore.

24-25 At a later time, this: Ben-Hadad king of Aram pulled together his troops and launched a siege on Samaria. This brought on a terrible famine, so bad that food prices soared astronomically. Eighty shekels for a donkey’s head! Five shekels for a bowl of field greens!

26 One day the king of Israel was walking along the city wall. A woman cried out, “Help! Your majesty!”

27 He answered, “If God won’t help you, where on earth canI go for help? To the granary? To the dairy?”

28-29 The king continued, “Tell me your story.”

She said, “This woman came to me and said, ‘Give up your son and we’ll have him for today’s supper; tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her, ‘Your turn—bring your son so we can have him for supper.’ But she had hidden her son away.”

30-31 When the king heard the woman’s story he ripped apart his robe. Since he was walking on the city wall, everyone saw that next to his skin he was wearing coarse burlap. And he called out, “God do his worst to me—and more—if Elisha son of Shaphat still has a head on his shoulders at this day’s end.”

32 Elisha was sitting at home, the elders sitting with him. The king had already dispatched an executioner, but before the man arrived Elisha spoke to the elders: “Do you know that this murderer has just now sent a man to take off my head? Look, when the executioner arrives, shut the door and lock it. Don’t I even now hear the footsteps of his master behind him?”

33 While he was giving his instructions, the king showed up, accusing, “This trouble is directly from God! And what’s next? I’m fed up with God!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Timothy 3:1–9, 14–17

Difficult Times Ahead

Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

6-9 These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax.

But don’t let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

Insight

Timothy first appears on the pages of Scripture in Acts 16:1, where he joins Paul and Silas on their missionary journey. He’s described there as having a Greek father but a Jewish mother who was a believer in Jesus. This corresponds with Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 1:5, where he cites Timothy’s grandmother (Lois) and mother (Eunice) as being positive spiritual influences in his development. It seems that this is the influence to which the apostle refers in 2 Timothy 3:15, where Paul says that Timothy had been taught the Scriptures “from infancy.” By: Bill Crowder

Scripture Training

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

In the late 1800s, people in different places developed similar ministry resources at the same time. The first was in Montreal, Canada, in 1877. In 1898, another concept was launched in New York City. By 1922, some five thousand of these programs were active in North America each summer.

Thus began the early history of Vacation Bible School. The passion that fueled those VBS pioneers was a desire for young people to know the Bible.

Paul had a similar passion for his young protégé Timothy, writing that “Scripture is God-breathed” and equips us “for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). But this wasn’t just the benign suggestion that “it’s good to read your Bible.” Paul’s admonition follows the dire warning that “there will be terrible times in the last days” (v. 1), with false teachers who are “never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (v. 7). It’s essential we protect ourselves with Scripture, for it immerses us in the knowledge of our Savior, making us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 15).

Studying the Bible isn’t just for kids; it’s for adults too. And it isn’t just for summer; it’s for every day. Paul wrote to Timothy, “from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures” (v. 15), but it’s never too late to begin. Whatever stage of life we’re in, the wisdom of the Bible connects us to Jesus. This is God’s VBS lesson to us all. By:  Kenneth Petersen

Reflect & Pray

What are your favorite Scripture passages? How do they point to Christ?

Loving God, thank You for the gift of Scripture and how it helps me learn about Jesus.

Learn effective Bible study methods.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 16, 2023

The Master Will Judge

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… —2 Corinthians 5:10

Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, “Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there.” If you don’t, your heart will become hardened through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.

“If we walk in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7). For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 28-29; Mark 14:54-72

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 16, 2023

HOW TO ACCESS ALL YOU NEED - #9439

I've got this card in my wallet that has bailed me out on several occasions. It has the simple word "Treasurer" on it. No, it has nothing to do with any offices that I hold; it's my bank card. Okay, so I go to the money machine at my bank, the ATM. You can just stick your card in it and you get the money you need, provided there are some resources in your account to cover it. I guess the faster paced our lives get the more we need these quick fixes. I mean, we need instant access to the resources we need.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Access All You Need."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 4, and I'm going to read a verse that might be familiar to you in verse 16. "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." There you go. You just heard about God's treasury account, and this is His instant access plan. You come to His Throne with confidence it says; that's the invitation.

Now, the word confidence, if you look it up in the original Greek that the New Testament was written in, literally means "outspokenness" or "plainness of speech." And it's often used to describe seriousness in the presence of someone of high rank. So the first invitation, the way that you access God's grace for your particular need - the card you stick in - is to come to the Throne of Grace talking straight, reverently but honestly.

So when you come to pray, don't come with all your religious rhetoric. You come with straight talk just like you really are. You go to the treasury machine in our neighborhood and you don't pretend you're rolling in money. I go there and I know I'm broke. Well, I'm honest about that. It's my broke that brought me to the machine; that's why I'm there. This giving isn't automatic. You do have to go to the machine. You do have to approach the Throne of Grace with confidence. And you come, talking plainly and honestly about your need, about your sin, about your feelings, your doubts, you're honest.

When you do that, you find grace. The word found there means to discover or come upon. Surprise! I didn't expect to find this much grace! When you come and honestly unload your need on the Lord at His Throne of Grace He gives surprising grace. You say, "I didn't know there was grace available like this before." And it says when that happens it will help us in our time of need. And in our time of need, that phrase in the Greek language, was one word meaning "well timed." God's grace will come to you in a personal, customized way at just the right time.

The word "help" there is used only one other time in the Bible, in Acts 27, when they had to pull ropes underneath a ship to keep it from coming apart during a storm. And the word rope is that word help. It's what holds you together during your storm - God's grace. So let's put it all together. God invites you to come confidently, talking straight. And we come to His Throne so that we can find surprising grace to hold us together during our storm. Wow!

Now, I wonder if you have ever experienced the grace of God for yourself. You know it begins - your first approach to the Throne of God - when you come to Him with the sin of a lifetime and say, "Jesus' death on the cross is my only hope of having my sins erased." You don't come to God because you deserve it, because of what you've got in your moral bank. You come bankrupt and He says, "I will pour out My grace." It is amazing grace! If you have never experienced that, I hope you will today. Say, today, "God, I want today...I want my record to be clean. I want to go to heaven. I want to be with You forever."

If I can help you begin that relationship with Him, then would you go to our website at ANewStory.com. I hope you will. See, at the Throne of Grace, you'll find powerful grace. But you've got to go for the grace this moment requires. And you'll find there a bottomless account supplied by the resources of Almighty God. You don't ever have to be emotionally or spiritually broke again.

2 Kings 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER - March 15, 2023

It’s possible that your family will never give you the blessing you seek, but God will. If your earthly father doesn’t affirm you, then let your heavenly Father take his place.

To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign and supreme in the universe. To accept him as Savior is to accept his gift of salvation offered on the cross. To regard him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects, and that is exactly what God has done. God has proven himself to be a faithful father. Now it falls to us to be trusting children.

Rely upon him for your affirmation and encouragement. “You are God’s child, and God will give you the blessing he promised, because you are his child” (Galatians 4:7 NCV).

2 Kings 5

Naaman was general of the army under the king of Aram. He was important to his master, who held him in the highest esteem because it was by him that God had given victory to Aram: a truly great man, but afflicted with a grievous skin disease. It so happened that Aram, on one of its raiding expeditions against Israel, captured a young girl who became a maid to Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her mistress, “Oh, if only my master could meet the prophet of Samaria, he would be healed of his skin disease.”

4 Naaman went straight to his master and reported what the girl from Israel had said.

5 “Well then, go,” said the king of Aram. “And I’ll send a letter of introduction to the king of Israel.”

So he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothes.

6 Naaman delivered the letter to the king of Israel. The letter read, “When you get this letter, you’ll know that I’ve personally sent my servant Naaman to you; heal him of his skin disease.”

7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he was terribly upset, ripping his robe to pieces. He said, “Am I a god with the power to bring death or life that I get orders to heal this man from his disease? What’s going on here? That king’s trying to pick a fight, that’s what!”

8 Elisha the man of God heard what had happened, that the king of Israel was so distressed that he’d ripped his robe to shreds. He sent word to the king, “Why are you so upset, ripping your robe like this? Send him to me so he’ll learn that there’s a prophet in Israel.”

9 So Naaman with his horses and chariots arrived in style and stopped at Elisha’s door.

10 Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be as good as new.”

11-12 Naaman lost his temper. He spun around saying, “I thought he’d personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of the rivers in Israel. Why not bathe in them? I’d at least get clean.” He stomped off, mad as a hornet.

13 But his servants caught up with him and said, “Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?”

14 So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.

15 He then went back to the Holy Man, he and his entourage, stood before him, and said, “I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no God anywhere on earth other than the God of Israel. In gratitude let me give you a gift.”

16 “As God lives,” Elisha replied, “the God whom I serve, I’ll take nothing from you.” Naaman tried his best to get him to take something, but he wouldn’t do it.

17-18 “If you won’t take anything,” said Naaman, “let me ask you for something: Give me a load of dirt, as much as a team of donkeys can carry, because I’m never again going to worship any god other than God. But there’s one thing for which I need God’s pardon: When my master, leaning on my arm, enters the shrine of Rimmon and worships there, and I’m with him there, worshiping Rimmon, may you see to it that God forgive me for this.”

19-21 Elisha said, “Everything will be all right. Go in peace.”

But he hadn’t gone far when Gehazi, servant to Elisha the Holy Man, said to himself, “My master has let this Aramean Naaman slip through his fingers without so much as a thank-you. By the living God, I’m going after him to get something or other from him!” And Gehazi took off after Naaman.

Naaman saw him running after him and jumped down from his chariot to greet him, “Is something wrong?”

22 “Nothing’s wrong, but something’s come up. My master sent me to tell you: ‘Two young men just showed up from the hill country of Ephraim, brothers from the guild of the prophets. Supply their needs with a gift of 75 pounds of silver and a couple of sets of clothes.’”

23 Naaman said, “Of course, how about 150 pounds?” Naaman insisted. He tied up the money in two sacks and gave him the two sets of clothes; he even gave him two servants to carry the gifts back with him.

24 When they got to the fort on the hill, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants, stored them inside, then sent the servants back.

25 He returned and stood before his master. Elisha said, “So what have you been up to, Gehazi?”

“Nothing much,” he said.

26-27 Elisha said, “Didn’t you know I was with you in spirit when that man stepped down from his chariot to greet you? Tell me, is this a time to look after yourself, lining your pockets with gifts? Naaman’s skin disease will now infect you and your family, with no relief in sight.”

Gehazi walked away, his skin flaky and white like snow.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 46

God is a safe place to hide,

    ready to help when we need him.

We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,

    courageous in seastorm and earthquake,

Before the rush and roar of oceans,

    the tremors that shift mountains.

    Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,

    this sacred haunt of the Most High.

God lives here, the streets are safe,

    God at your service from crack of dawn.

Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,

    but Earth does anything he says.

7     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!

    He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,

Bans war from pole to pole,

    breaks all the weapons across his knee.

“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,

    loving look at me, your High God,

    above politics, above everything.”

11     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

Insight

According to John Gill’s commentary, the words of Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God,” are not a call to cease activity and be silent and unconcerned. Instead, they’re words of great comfort. “Be still” is a call to God’s people to “not be fearful, nor fretful and impatient, or restless or tumultuous; but be quiet and easy, resigned to the will of God.” And “know” means to “own and acknowledge that he is God, a sovereign Being,” who is unchangeable, omnipotent (all-powerful and able to help and deliver), and omniscient (knows them and their troubles). He knows how and where “to hide them until the storm is over.” We can rest in the assurance that God “works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Charles Spurgeon called this psalm, “The Song of Holy Confidence.” God’s people are secure in Him. By: Alyson Kieda

Still Before God

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

The first photograph of a living person was taken by Louis Daguerre in 1838. The photo depicts a figure on an otherwise empty avenue in Paris in the middle of an afternoon. But there’s an apparent mystery about it; the street and sidewalks should have been bustling with the traffic of carriages and pedestrians at that time of day, yet none can be seen.

The man wasn’t alone. People and horses were there on the busy Boulevard du Temple, the popular area where the photo was taken. They just didn’t show up in the picture. The exposure time to process the photograph (known as a Daguerreotype) took seven minutes to capture an image, which had to be motionless during that time. It appears that the man on the sidewalk was the sole person photographed because he was the only one standing still—he was having his boots shined.

Sometimes stillness accomplishes what motion and effort can’t. God tells His people in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” Even when nations are “in uproar” (v. 6) and “the earth” shakes (v. 2), those who quietly trust in Him will discover in Him “an ever-present help in trouble” (v. 1).

The Hebrew verb rendered “be still” can also be translated “cease striving.” When we rest in God instead of relying on our limited efforts, we discover Him to be our unassailable “refuge and strength” (v. 1). By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

How will you “show up” for God by being still before Him today? Where do you need to trust Him more?

Heavenly Father, please help me to trust in You and to rest in the quiet awareness of Your unfailing love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

The Discipline of Dismay

As they followed they were afraid. —Mark 10:32

At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— “Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed” (Mark 10:32).

There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple’s heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set “like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.

Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don’t know Him. We don’t recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don’t know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.

The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 50:10-11). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 26-27; Mark 14:27-53

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

A PRESIDENT AND YOUR PURPOSE - #9438

Nancy Reagan called it "the long goodbye." Her beloved husband's slow slide into the black hole of Alzheimer's Disease. America said goodbye to Nancy Reagan too, and we remember her as a great First Lady and a wife forever in love with her "Ronnie." Her boundless devotion to him became almost legendary. And at her funeral service, more people talked about that than anything else. See, when he was the famous Hollywood star and when he was a transformative leader of the Western World, Nancy stood by his side, but especially through his long, ten-year goodbye.

As Ronald Reagan's memory began to fade through the ravages of Alzheimer's, his Nancy wanted to make sure that he could still maintain the dignity of going to his office at Century City. Several times a week he'd get all dressed up, he'd go to the office. And even though as time went by there wasn't a whole lot he could do there.

This is where the story comes in that has affected me profoundly ever since I read it years ago. Actually, I read it in a national news magazine's special commemorative edition of Reagan's life. It reported how visitors would come to visit Mr. Reagan. And, of course, they'd ask him about when he was governor of California, when he was a movie star, and when he was President. But slowly, the conversations about the past became more frustrating, because as Alzheimer's began to erase various memories, his years as a movie star vanished from his memory bank. And then you might as well not talk about being Governor of California. He didn't remember anything.

And finally, he couldn't even remember even the great accomplishments as President of the United States. Amazingly, though, there was one memory that remained almost to the end.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A President and Your Purpose."

The memory actually explained a picture on his wall. People would go, "Now, what's the picture of that river over there, Mr. Reagan?" groping for some conversation that could have some traction. And he'd smile and he would say, "Oh, wait! That's the Rock River in Illinois. That's where I was a lifeguard." Then came the recollection that brought me up short. He said, "That's where I saved 77 lives!"

Wow! Long after the traces of all his massive achievements were gone; Hollywood, Governor, the White House, there was one legacy of his life that remained; the lives he had saved. And so it will be for me. And so it will be for all of us who follow Jesus. When every other achievement of our life has faded to dust, one will remain - the lives we have saved.

In our word for today from the Word of God, Proverbs 24:11, God says, "Rescue those who are being led away to death and hold back those who are staggering toward slaughter." Jude 23 says, "Snatch others from the fire and save them." See, the Bible says we're "Christ's ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20). You're His face, you're His hands, you're His voice to the people around you.

Like any ambassador, we carry a message from the One who assigned us. Here's the message in 2 Corinthians 5, "We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God..." I have nothing - nothing - more important to do than to get to that plea; to get the good news of Christ's death for them to people I know and care about. That's the only way their eternity can be changed. It's the only way they can be rescued. This is life-or-death information, and He's trusted you and He's trusted me to deliver it.

So after all is said and done, this is what we will have to show for this life that God gave us to live. It's the lives we've reached out to. It's the lives that God used us to save.

2 Kings 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A DIFFICULT FAMILY - March 14, 2023

It may surprise you to know that Jesus had a difficult family. You may not be aware that Jesus had brothers and sisters. There was a time when they were seen with him in public. Mark 3:21 (NCV) says, “His family…went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind.” They weren’t proud—they were embarrassed!

It’s worth noting that Jesus didn’t try to control his family’s behavior, nor did he let their behavior control his. He didn’t demand that they agree with him. Look how he defined his family in verse 35. He said, “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants” (Mark 3:35 NCV).

Jesus recognized that his spiritual family could provide what his physical family did not. If Jesus himself couldn’t force his family to share his convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?

2 Kings 4

One day the wife of a man from the guild of prophets called out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead. You well know what a good man he was, devoted to God. And now the man to whom he was in debt is on his way to collect by taking my two children as slaves.”

2 Elisha said, “I wonder how I can be of help. Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Well, I do have a little oil.”

3-4 “Here’s what you do,” said Elisha. “Go up and down the street and borrow jugs and bowls from all your neighbors. And not just a few—all you can get. Then come home and lock the door behind you, you and your sons. Pour oil into each container; when each is full, set it aside.”

5-6 She did what he said. She locked the door behind her and her sons; as they brought the containers to her, she filled them. When all the jugs and bowls were full, she said to one of her sons, “Another jug, please.”

He said, “That’s it. There are no more jugs.”

Then the oil stopped.

7 She went and told the story to the man of God. He said, “Go sell the oil and make good on your debts. Live, both you and your sons, on what’s left.”

* * *

8 One day Elisha passed through Shunem. A leading lady of the town talked him into stopping for a meal. And then it became his custom: Whenever he passed through, he stopped by for a meal.

9-10 “I’m certain,” said the woman to her husband, “that this man who stops by with us all the time is a holy man of God. Why don’t we add on a small room upstairs and furnish it with a bed and desk, chair and lamp, so that when he comes by he can stay with us?”

11 And so it happened that the next time Elisha came by he went to the room and lay down for a nap.

12 Then he said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the Shunammite woman I want to see her.” He called her and she came to him.

13 Through Gehazi Elisha said, “You’ve gone far beyond the call of duty in taking care of us; what can we do for you? Do you have a request we can bring to the king or to the commander of the army?”

She replied, “Nothing. I’m secure and satisfied in my family.”

14 Elisha conferred with Gehazi: “There’s got to be something we can do for her. But what?”

Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man.”

15 “Call her in,” said Elisha. He called her and she stood at the open door.

16 Elisha said to her, “This time next year you’re going to be nursing an infant son.”

“O my master, O Holy Man,” she said, “don’t play games with me, teasing me with such fantasies!”

17 The woman conceived. A year later, just as Elisha had said, she had a son.

18-19 The child grew up. One day he went to his father, who was working with the harvest hands, complaining, “My head, my head!”

His father ordered a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

20 The servant took him in his arms and carried him to his mother. He lay on her lap until noon and died.

21 She took him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut him in alone, and left.

22 She then called her husband, “Get me a servant and a donkey so I can go to the Holy Man; I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

23 “But why today? This isn’t a holy day—it’s neither New Moon nor Sabbath.”

She said, “Don’t ask questions; I need to go right now. Trust me.”

24-25 She went ahead and saddled the donkey, ordering her servant, “Take the lead—and go as fast as you can; I’ll tell you if you’re going too fast.” And so off she went. She came to the Holy Man at Mount Carmel.

25-26 The Holy Man, spotting her while she was still a long way off, said to his servant Gehazi, “Look out there; why, it’s the Shunammite woman! Quickly now. Ask her, ‘Is something wrong? Are you all right? Your husband? Your child?’”

She said, “Everything’s fine.”

27 But when she reached the Holy Man at the mountain, she threw herself at his feet and held tightly to him.

Gehazi came up to pull her away, but the Holy Man said, “Leave her alone—can’t you see that she’s in distress? But God hasn’t let me in on why; I’m completely in the dark.”

28 Then she spoke up: “Did I ask for a son, master? Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t tease me with false hopes’?”

29 He ordered Gehazi, “Don’t lose a minute—grab my staff and run as fast as you can. If you meet anyone, don’t even take time to greet him, and if anyone greets you, don’t even answer. Lay my staff across the boy’s face.”

30 The boy’s mother said, “As sure as God lives and you live, you’re not leaving me behind.” And so Gehazi let her take the lead, and followed behind.

31 But Gehazi arrived first and laid the staff across the boy’s face. But there was no sound—no sign of life. Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and said, “The boy hasn’t stirred.”

32-35 Elisha entered the house and found the boy stretched out on the bed dead. He went into the room and locked the door—just the two of them in the room—and prayed to God. He then got into bed with the boy and covered him with his body, mouth on mouth, eyes on eyes, hands on hands. As he was stretched out over him like that, the boy’s body became warm. Elisha got up and paced back and forth in the room. Then he went back and stretched himself upon the boy again. The boy started sneezing—seven times he sneezed!—and opened his eyes.

36 He called Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman in here!” He called her and she came in.

Elisha said, “Embrace your son!”

37 She fell at Elisha’s feet, face to the ground in reverent awe. Then she embraced her son and went out with him.

38 Elisha went back down to Gilgal. There was a famine there. While he was consulting with the guild of prophets, he told his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire and cook up some stew for the prophets.”

39-40 One of the men went out into the field to get some herbs; he came across a wild vine and picked gourds from it, filling his gunnysack. He brought them back, sliced them up, and put them in the stew, even though no one knew what kind of plant it was. The stew was then served up for the men to eat. They started to eat, and then exclaimed, “Death in the pot, O man of God! Death in the pot!” Nobody could eat it.

Elisha ordered, “Get me some meal.” Then he sprinkled it into the stew pot.

41 “Now serve it up to the men,” he said. They ate it, and it was just fine—nothing wrong with that stew!

42 One day a man arrived from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God twenty loaves of fresh-baked bread from the early harvest, along with a few apples from the orchard.

Elisha said, “Pass it around to the people to eat.”

43 His servant said, “For a hundred men? There’s not nearly enough!”

Elisha said, “Just go ahead and do it. God says there’s plenty.”

44 And sure enough, there was. He passed around what he had—they not only ate, but had leftovers.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Today's Scripture

Luke 6:27–31

“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more payback. Live generously.

31-34 “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

Insight

The challenging commands that Jesus gives in Luke 6:27–31 are clear: we’re to love, bless, and do good to others. By reading further, however, we see the rationale for these exhortations: “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (vv. 35–36). When followers of Jesus “flip the script” on hate, abuse, and selfishness, they demonstrate their kinship to their heavenly Father whose care is shared without discrimination. Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:1–2 carry the same sentiment: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” By: Arthur Jackson

Game of Change

Love your enemies. Luke 6:27

The handshake spoke volumes. On a March night in 1963, two college basketball players—one Black, one White—defied the hate of segregationists and shook hands, marking the first time in Mississippi State’s history that its all-White men’s team played against an integrated team. To compete in the “game of change” against Loyola University Chicago in a national tournament, the Mississippi State squad avoided an injunction to stop them by using decoy players to leave their state. Loyola’s Black players, meantime, had endured racial slurs all season, getting pelted with popcorn and ice, and faced closed doors while traveling.

Yet the young men played. The Loyola Ramblers beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs 61–51, and Loyola eventually went on to win the NCAA national championship. But what really won that night? A move from hate toward love. As Jesus taught, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27).

God’s instruction was a life-changing concept. To love our enemies as Christ taught, we must obey His revolutionary mandate to change. As Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But how does His new way in us defeat the old? With love. Then, in each other, we can finally see Him. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

In your life, what leads you to see others as enemies? What changes can you make to confront hate with Jesus’ love?

Help me, loving God, to see others not as enemies, but as Your precious people to love like Jesus does.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

…you are that one’s slaves whom you obey… —Romans 6:16

The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.

If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding. For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is— “I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.) No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “…He has anointed Me…to proclaim liberty to the captives…” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).

When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t. You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 23-25; Mark 14:1-26

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

THE ANGER MONSTER - #9437

As an airline passenger, those video images from the Los Angeles airport that day were just plain disturbing: a human stampede, terrified passengers, fleeing from a gunman on the loose in the terminal.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Anger Monster."

These explosions of violence have happened in a theater, a mall, a school, an office, a church. The bullets may start flying any place, leaving behind lost and shattered lives. And you can be pretty sure the person pulling the trigger is an angry man. Whose anger - often hidden from those who know him, one day erupts like a volcano, destroying whatever is in its path.

My sense is that there are a lot of angry people around us these days, seething inside, sinking into a darker and more dangerous place each day. You see it surface as road rage, angry parents at their kids' games, frustrated shoppers, bullies at school and on the Internet creating anger in their victims.

Usually, behind anger is pain. Angry people feel wounded, wronged, unheard, victimized, and taking it out on whoever inadvertently pushes their buttons. Many times there are, in fact, things in their past that have left them broken inside, but never with an excuse to wound or do violence to someone else because of it.

I suppose, at one time or another, each of us is the angry person. Not on a rampage to end lives, but angry enough to inflict some serious damage on people around us. Most often the people we love the most.

Mount St. Helens in Washington used to be considerably higher until she literally blew her top in an eruption one day. The eruption didn't last long. The damage? That's there forever. Underlying a lot of our explosive moments is this full glass thing. If I pour water into a half-empty glass, it will take quite a bit to make it spill, right? But if I'm going through life with a glass that's already full, it only takes a drop to make it spill. And there are plenty of "drops" in a day's time; aggravations, conflict, and difficulties.

And with the spill comes the lashing out. Usually the violence is the verbal kind. The world's best-selling book, the Bible, describes it as "reckless words (that) pierce like a sword." See, long after the wounder has forgotten, the wounded carries the scars of that anger.

Part of the problem is that some of us were raised to stuff our emotions. We don't deal with them. That's what fills up the glass. The time bomb's going to keep ticking until we make room in that glass, which means taking a bold healing step; facing that pain that we've stuffed in our closet. It's the match that keeps lighting the fuse of the anger and leaving a trail of burn victims in our wake.

It may mean walking through the pain with a counselor. Or digging deep into spiritual resources for the most liberating step a wounded person can take - forgiving. Even seeking forgiveness from those who've been the victim of my anger.

Maybe the kids are right. There actually is a monster in the closet, a wounded monster, who needs to be dragged out into the light so the healing can begin. Ironically, it is often the "monsters" that we can't control that drive us to a greater power; someone who has repeatedly proven He can subdue the dark forces that control us. The dark side is what drives me to Jesus Christ.

When He was on earth, He encountered a man in the grip of forces so dark no one could control him. And it says, "He tore the chains apart... No one was strong enough to subdue him." No one except Jesus. He expelled the "evil spirit." And the man ended up "sitting at Jesus' feet... in his right mind" (Luke 8). Jesus is still doing miracles like that, fixing what's broken inside us, transforming the evil inside us. That victory over our darkness cost Him his life at the cross.

Our word for today from the Word of God, Revelation 1:5 says, "He loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood." Today He wants to bring peace into the angry storm in your life if you'll open the door of your heart to Him. How to do that? Go to our website. You'll find it there - ANewStory.com - and let Him begin the transforming relationship that tames the monster inside.

James 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DOES GOD CARE ABOUT ME? - March 13, 2023

God still looks for world changers. Men and women who believe God is not through with this world. Common people who serve an uncommon God. Will you be that kind of person? Will you serve, even when you don’t understand?

You know there are many questions about the Bible that we won’t be able to answer until we get home. Many times we muse, “I wonder…” But in our wonderings there is one question we never need to ask: “Does God care about me?” Through the small face of the stable-born baby, he says “yes.”

Yes, your sins are forgiven. Yes, your name is written in heaven. Yes, yes, your death is defeated. And yes, God has entered your world. He is Immanuel, God is with us.

James 1

I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello!

Faith Under Pressure

2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

9-11 When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don’t ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that’s a picture of the “prosperous life.” At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

12 Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

Act on What You Hear

19-21 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

26-27 Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, March 13, 2023

Today's Scripture

Hebrews 11:39–12:3

Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

12 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Insight

What’s the role of “the great cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:1? We might think they’re to serve as our examples of being faithful to run the race God has called us to. However, after telling their stories and connecting their presence to the race of the Jewish believers in Jesus (and by extension to us; see ch. 11), we’re told to “run . . . [while] fixing our eyes on Jesus” (12:1–2) and to “consider him” when we’re tired and taxed by the race before us (v. 3). Our encouragement doesn’t come from those who’ve gone before us and modeled faith; we don’t look to those awaiting perfection to find courage and strength. We find our strength in Christ alone. A witness is someone who’s seen or heard or experienced something. The witnesses have already seen God’s faithfulness and testify to the need to focus on Jesus. They point us to Him. By: J.R. Hudberg

Running for What Matters

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

It was impossible not to tear up at my friend Ira’s status update. Posted in 2022 only days after she’d left her home in Kyiv, the besieged capital of Ukraine, she shared a past image of herself lifting her country’s flag after completing a running event. She wrote, “We are all running to the best of our abilities a marathon called life. Let’s run it these days even better than that. With something that never dies in our hearts.” In the following days, I saw the many ways my friend continued to run that race, as she kept us updated on how to pray for and support those suffering in her country.

Ira’s words brought new depth to the call in Hebrews 12 for believers to “run with perseverance” (v. 1). That call follows chapter 11’s moving account of the heroes of faith, the “great cloud of witnesses” (12:1) who’d lived with courageous, persistent faith—even at risk to their lives (11:33–38). Even though they “only saw . . . and welcomed [God’s promises] from a distance” (v. 13), they were living for something eternal, for something that never dies.

All believers in Jesus are called to live that same way because the shalom—the flourishing and peace—of God’s kingdom is worth giving our all for. Christ’s example and power is what sustains us (12:2–3). By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

What examples have you seen of courageous faith? How does Jesus’ example give you hope?

Dear God, words fail me when I see Your people’s faith and courage in heartbreaking circumstances. Give me the courage to follow You like that.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, March 13, 2023

God’s Total Surrender to Us

For God so loved the world that He gave… —John 3:16

Salvation does not mean merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness. But salvation is so much more! It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.

To say that we are called to preach holiness or sanctification is to miss the main point. We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). The fact that He saves from sin and makes us holy is actually part of the effect of His wonderful and total surrender to us.

If we are truly surrendered, we will never be aware of our own efforts to remain surrendered. Our entire life will be consumed with the One to whom we surrender. Beware of talking about surrender if you know nothing about it. In fact, you will never know anything about it until you understand that John 3:16 means that God completely and absolutely gave Himself to us. In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 20-22; Mark 13:21-37

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, March 13, 2023

READING THE BIBLE, MISSING THE POINT - #9436

I was on the road again so it had to be a fast food lunch. You know, I keep the nutrition guides from several of those fast food places, even if "fast food nutrition guide" sounds like an oxymoron. I try to think calories before I order because my food too often goes from a moment on the lips to forever on the hips. Interesting thing about the food we eat, the same meal can turn into fat or turn into energy. It depends on what you do after you eat it!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Reading the Bible, Missing the Point."

If you exercise, what you consume turns into energy, right? If you don't exercise, it turns into you know. Well, actually, that's how it works with spiritual food, too. Many of us are consuming a lot of Bible input. We're full of sermons, recordings, CDs, websites, radio programs, and Bible studies. But we're just accumulating information. And God has a lot of spiritually overweight children because we don't do anything with what we're learning.

But when you read what God says about His Word to us, it's clear that the purpose of reading it is to change things in your life, not just to know things in your head. Joshua 1:8, our word for today from the Word of God is a good example. Speaking of His Word, God says, "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Notice, when you read something from God, it's supposed to show up in three places. First, in your mind. "Meditate on it." The Hebrew verb here suggests a cow chewing its cud; going over it until you've chewed the meaning out of it. Now, this isn't just gulping down a couple of verses like spiritual vitamins. And it isn't about how much you read. It's about how much you let God's words read you. Sometimes it's better just to read a few verses two or three times, ask yourself questions about what it means and how it should affect something you're doing.

Then, God's Word is supposed to be in your mouth. What helps you make it real is putting it into words to someone else, and saying to them what God said to you in His Word today. Each day, you try to share with someone what God communicated to you through His Word that day. Ultimately, God's Word is supposed to be, not only in your mind and in your mouth, but in your life. We meditate so we may be, in Joshua's words, "careful to do everything written in it." You're not supposed to just factualize what God says, you're supposed to actualize what God says by consciously putting it into practice in some part of your life today. You are reading to change!

So, as you read, ask yourself two questions: "What is God saying here?" And then, "What am I going to do differently today because He said it?" God's Holy Spirit knows all about God's Word and all about your life. Each day ask God to show you how to bring those two together. Each night, before you go to sleep, you should be able to measure a specific difference in your day because of how you put into practice something God told you through His Word. Here's something that will help you do that: keep a Jesus-journal. That's just a notebook where you put into words what God said to you and what you're going to do differently because He did. I've been keeping one of those for years - it's been one of the greatest boosters to my spiritual life I've ever had. See, what you're doing is you're turning spiritual nutrition into energy and growth instead of just spiritual fat.

This is the road to something better than that roller coaster faith that you get from basing your relationship with Christ on Christian events and spiritual highs. This is the road to following Jesus consistently, each new day. I know that's what your heart's been hungry for. It's about getting a life, not just getting a high, because you've graduated from just reading the Bible for information to reading it for transformation.

2 Kings 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Voices in our Head

Voices of 'failure' in our world.  Voices of 'not good enough' in our head. Who is this morality patrolman who issues a citation at every stumble?  Does he ever shut up?   No. Because Satan never shuts up!

Revelation 12:9-10 says, "For the Accuser has been thrown down to earth, the one who accused our brothers and sisters before God day and night."

Satan is relentless, tireless.  The Accuser makes a career out of accusing. But he will not have the last word.  Jesus has acted on our behalf.  He stooped…low enough to be spat upon, nailed, and speared.  Low…low enough to be buried. And then he stood…he stood up!

Romans 8:34 promises that Christ is in the presence of God at this very moment standing up for us. We have a clean record. It's by his grace!

From GRACE

2 Kings 3

Joram son of Ahab began his rule over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He was king for twelve years. In God’s sight he was a bad king. But he wasn’t as bad as his father and mother—to his credit he destroyed the obscene Baal stone that his father had made. But he hung on to the sinful practices of Jeroboam son of Nebat, the ones that had corrupted Israel for so long. He wasn’t about to give them up.

4-7 King Mesha of Moab raised sheep. He was forced to give the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and another 100,000 rams. When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Joram set out from Samaria and prepared Israel for war. His first move was to send a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Would you join me and fight him?”

7-8 “I’m with you all the way,” said Jehoshaphat. “My troops are your troops, my horses are your horses. Which route shall we take?”

“Through the badlands of Edom.”

9 The king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom started out on what proved to be a looping detour. After seven days they had run out of water for both army and animals.

10 The king of Israel said, “Bad news! God has gotten us three kings out here to dump us into the hand of Moab.”

11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of God anywhere around through whom we can consult God?”

One of the servants of the king of Israel said, “Elisha son of Shaphat is around somewhere—the one who was Elijah’s right-hand man.”

12 Jehoshaphat said, “Good! A man we can trust!” So the three of them—the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom—went to meet him.

13 Elisha addressed the king of Israel, “What do you and I have in common? Go consult the puppet-prophets of your father and mother.”

“Never!” said the king of Israel. “It’s God who has gotten us into this fix, dumping all three of us kings into the hand of Moab.”

14-15 Elisha said, “As God-of-the-Angel-Armies lives, and before whom I stand ready to serve, if it weren’t for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I wouldn’t give you the time of day. But considering—bring me a minstrel.” (When a minstrel played, the power of God came on Elisha.)

16-19 He then said, “God’s word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here’s what will happen—you won’t hear the wind, you won’t see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for God to do; he will also hand over Moab to you. You will ravage the country: Knock out its fortifications, level the key villages, clear-cut the orchards, clog the springs, and litter the cultivated fields with stones.”

20 In the morning—it was at the hour of morning sacrifice—the water had arrived, water pouring in from the west, from Edom, a flash flood filling the valley with water.

21-22 By this time everyone in Moab had heard that the kings had come up to make war against them. Everyone who was able to handle a sword was called into service and took a stand at the border. They were up and ready early in the morning when the sun rose over the water. From where the Moabites stood, the water reflecting the sun looked red, like blood.

23 “Blood! Look at the blood!” they said. “The kings must have fought each other—a bloody massacre! Go for the loot, Moab!”

24-25 When Moab entered the camp of Israel, the Israelites were up on their feet killing Moabites right and left, the Moabites running for their lives, Israelites relentless in pursuit—a slaughter. They leveled the towns, littered the cultivated fields with rocks, clogged the springs, and clear-cut the orchards. Only the capital, Kir Hareseth, was left intact, and that not for long; it too was surrounded and attacked with thrown and flung rocks.

26-27 When the king of Moab realized that he was fighting a losing battle, he took seven hundred swordsmen to hack a corridor past the king of Edom, but they didn’t make it. Then he took his son, his firstborn who would succeed him as king, and sacrificed him on the city wall. That set off furious anger against Israel. Israel pulled back and returned home.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Today's Scripture

Romans 12:17–21

Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Insight

It may seem odd that Paul tells his readers to “do what is right in the eyes of everyone” (Romans 12:17), especially since “everyone” includes unbelievers (vv. 14, 20). Paul is drawing from the teachings of Jesus, challenging us to treat all people well regardless of how they treat us (Matthew 5:39, 44).

But that involves being “careful,” as Paul puts it (Romans 12:17)—considering our actions carefully so as not to jeopardize the integrity and beauty of the gospel. Throughout his letters, Paul asks believers in Jesus to live well before the unbelieving world so that, in doing so, the changed lives of His followers can bear witness to His worthiness (2 Corinthians 8:21; 1 Timothy 3:7).

It may feel unnatural to repay evil with kindness, but in doing so we follow in the footsteps of Jesus Himself, who gave Himself in our place while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:8). By: Jed Ostoich

Friends and Enemies

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18

Scholar Kenneth E. Bailey told of the leader of an African nation who’d learned to maintain an unusual posture in the international community. He’d established a good relationship with both Israel and the nations surrounding it. When someone asked him how his nation maintained this fragile balance, he responded, “We choose our friends. We do not encourage our friends to choose our enemies [for us].”   

That is wise—and genuinely practical. What that African country modeled on an international level is what Paul encouraged his readers to do on a personal level. In the midst of a lengthy description of the characteristics of a life changed by Christ, he wrote, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). He goes on to reinforce the importance of our dealings with others by reminding us that even the way we treat our enemies (vv. 20–21) reflects our trust in and dependence upon God and His ultimate care.  

To live in peace with everyone may not always be possible (after all, Paul does say “if”). But our responsibility as believers in Jesus is to allow His wisdom to guide our living (James 3:17–18) so that we engage those around us as peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). What better way could there be to honor the Prince of Peace? By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray

Where do you struggle to live at peace? How could being an intentional peacemaker interject grace into that conflict?

Loving Father, I was Your enemy and You called me friend. Enable me to be a peacemaker so I can show that same grace to others.

For further study, read Knowing God Through Romans.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Total Surrender

Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." —Mark 10:28

Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (Mark 10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.

Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).

True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13).  Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 17-19; Mark 13:1-20

2 Kings 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Second Chance

She was only five years old when you took the photo.  Cheeks freckled by the summer sun, hair in pigtails.  That was twenty years ago.  Three marriages ago.  A million flight miles and e-mails ago. Today she walks down the aisle on the arm of another father.  You left your family bobbing in the wake of your high-speed career.  Now that you have what you wanted, you don't want it at all.  Oh, to have a second chance.

1 John 4:15 says, "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."

He re-purposes bad decisions and squalid choices.  Saved by grace is to be saved by Him.  He placed a term limit on sin and danced a victory jig in a graveyard. God can do something with the mess of your life. Grace is what you need!

From GRACE

2 Kings 2

 Just before God took Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on a walk out of Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here. God has sent me on an errand to Bethel.”

Elisha said, “Not on your life! I’m not letting you out of my sight!” So they both went to Bethel.

3 The guild of prophets at Bethel met Elisha and said, “Did you know that God is going to take your master away from you today?”

“Yes,” he said, “I know it. But keep it quiet.”

4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here. God has sent me on an errand to Jericho.”

Elisha said, “Not on your life! I’m not letting you out of my sight!” So they both went to Jericho.

5 The guild of prophets at Jericho came to Elisha and said, “Did you know that God is going to take your master away from you today?”

“Yes,” he said, “I know it. But keep it quiet.”

6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here. God has sent me on an errand to the Jordan.”

Elisha said, “Not on your life! I’m not letting you out of my sight!” And so the two of them went their way together.

7 Meanwhile, fifty men from the guild of prophets gathered some distance away while the two of them stood at the Jordan.

8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and hit the water with it. The river divided and the two men walked through on dry land.

9 When they reached the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I’m taken from you? Ask anything.”

Elisha said, “Your life repeated in my life. I want to be a holy man just like you.”

10 “That’s a hard one!” said Elijah. “But if you’re watching when I’m taken from you, you’ll get what you’ve asked for. But only if you’re watching.”

11-14 And so it happened. They were walking along and talking. Suddenly a chariot and horses of fire came between them and Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it all and shouted, “My father, my father! You—the chariot and cavalry of Israel!” When he could no longer see anything, he grabbed his robe and ripped it to pieces. Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him, returned to the shore of the Jordan, and stood there. He took Elijah’s cloak—all that was left of Elijah!—and hit the river with it, saying, “Now where is the God of Elijah? Where is he?”

When he struck the water, the river divided and Elisha walked through.

15 The guild of prophets from Jericho saw the whole thing from where they were standing. They said, “The spirit of Elijah lives in Elisha!” They welcomed and honored him.

16 They then said, “We’re at your service. We have fifty reliable men here; let’s send them out to look for your master. Maybe God’s spirit has swept him off to some mountain or dropped him into a remote ravine.”

Elisha said, “No. Don’t send them.”

17 But they pestered him until he caved in: “Go ahead then. Send them.”

So they sent the fifty men off. For three days they looked, searching high and low. Nothing.

18 Finally, they returned to Elisha in Jericho. He told them, “So there—didn’t I tell you?”

19 One day the men of the city said to Elisha, “You can see for yourself, master, how well our city is located. But the water is polluted and nothing grows.”

20 He said, “Bring me a brand-new bowl and put some salt in it.” They brought it to him.

21-22 He then went to the spring, sprinkled the salt into it, and proclaimed, “God’s word: I’ve healed this water. It will no longer kill you or poison your land.” And sure enough, the water was healed—and remains so to this day, just as Elisha said.

23 Another time, Elisha was on his way to Bethel and some little kids came out from the town and taunted him, “What’s up, old baldhead! Out of our way, skinhead!”

24 Elisha turned, took one look at them, and cursed them in the name of God. Two bears charged out of the underbrush and knocked them about, ripping them limb from limb—forty-two children in all!

25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel, and then returned to Samaria.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Today's Scripture

1 Samuel 16:14–23

David—An Excellent Musician

At that very moment the Spirit of God left Saul and in its place a black mood sent by God settled on him. He was terrified.

15-16 Saul’s advisors said, “This awful tormenting depression from God is making your life miserable. O Master, let us help. Let us look for someone who can play the harp. When the black mood from God moves in, he’ll play his music and you’ll feel better.”

17 Saul told his servants, “Go ahead. Find me someone who can play well and bring him to me.”

18 One of the young men spoke up, “I know someone. I’ve seen him myself: the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, an excellent musician. He’s also courageous, of age, well-spoken, and good-looking. And God is with him.”

19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse requesting, “Send your son David to me, the one who tends the sheep.”

20-21 Jesse took a donkey, loaded it with a couple of loaves of bread, a flask of wine, and a young goat, and sent his son David with it to Saul. David came to Saul and stood before him. Saul liked him immediately and made him his right-hand man.

22 Saul sent word back to Jesse: “Thank you. David will stay here. He’s just the one I was looking for. I’m very impressed by him.”

23 After that, whenever the bad depression from God tormented Saul, David got out his harp and played. That would calm Saul down, and he would feel better as the moodiness lifted.

Insight

In the ancient Near East, it was common for court musicians to be hired for reasons such as entertainment or religious ceremonies. In the case of Saul in 1 Samuel 16, his attendants believed his mental torment would be eased by lyre music (v. 16). Since David was a skilled lyre player as well as a warrior (v. 18), he became both a musician and armor-bearer (the carrier of shield and weapons) for King Saul (vv. 21–23). David’s father, Jesse, sent gifts of food and wine with David (vv. 19–20), perhaps showing gratitude for the honor of having his son chosen to serve the king. By: Monica La Rose

Musical Medicine

David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul. 1 Samuel 16:23

When five-year-old Bella was hospitalized for cancer in North Dakota, she received music therapy as part of her treatment. Many people have experienced the powerful effect of music on mood without understanding exactly why, but researchers have recently documented a clinical benefit. Music is now being prescribed for cancer patients like Bella, and those suffering from Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and trauma.

King Saul reached for a musical prescription when he was feeling tormented. His attendants saw his lack of peace and suggested they find someone to play the lyre for him in the hope it would make him “feel better” (1 Samuel 16:16). They sent for Jesse’s son David, and Saul was pleased with him and asked that he “remain in [his] service” (v. 22). David played for Saul in his moments of unrest, bringing him relief from his anguish.

We may only just be discovering scientifically what God has known all along about how music can affect us. As the author and creator of both our bodies and music itself, He provided a prescription for our health that’s readily accessible to all, regardless of the era in which we live or how easy it is to visit a doctor. Even when there’s no way to listen, we can sing to God in the midst of our joys and struggles, making music of our own (Psalm 59:16; Acts 16:25). By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

How has God used music to soothe you? How can you bring music to someone as David did to Saul?

Father, thank You for creating music and using it to soothe my heart and mind during times of struggle.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Obedience to the “Heavenly Vision”

I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. —Acts 26:19

If we lose “the heavenly vision” God has given us, we alone are responsible— not God. We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled. The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. This can be accomplished only when we make a determination to continually remember God’s vision. But the acid test is obedience to the vision in the details of our everyday life— sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during times of personal prayer or public meetings.

“Though it tarries, wait for it…” (Habakkuk 2:3). We cannot bring the vision to fulfillment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfills itself. We try to be so practical that we forget the vision. At the very beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it. We rushed off to do our practical work, and once the vision was fulfilled we could no longer even see it. Waiting for a vision that “tarries” is the true test of our faithfulness to God. It is at the risk of our own soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical busy-work, only to miss the fulfillment of the vision.

Watch for the storms of God. The only way God plants His saints is through the whirlwind of His storms. Will you be proven to be an empty pod with no seed inside? That will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of the vision you have seen. Let God send you out through His storm, and don’t go until He does. If you select your own spot to be planted, you will prove yourself to be an unproductive, empty pod. However, if you allow God to plant you, you will “bear much fruit” (John 15:8).

It is essential that we live and “walk in the light” of God’s vision for us (1 John 1:7).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 14-16; Mark 12:28-44