Philippians 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WHAT MATTERS - May 11, 2023

A man once went to a minister for counseling. “I’ve lost everything!” he bemoaned.

“Oh,” the preacher said, “I’m so sorry to hear you’ve lost your faith.”

“No,” the man corrected him, “I haven’t lost my faith.”

“Oh well then,” the minister said, “I’m sad to hear you’ve lost your character.”

“I didn’t say that,” the man corrected. “I still have my character.”

“Then I’m so sorry to hear you’ve lost your salvation.”

“That’s not what I said,” the man objected, beginning to lose his patience.

The preacher explained, “You have your faith, your character, your salvation. Seems to me, you’ve lost none of the things that really matter.”

We haven’t either. You and I could pray like the Puritan who sat down to a meal of bread and water. He bowed his head and declared, “All this and Jesus too?”

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Philippians 2

He Took on the Status of a Slave

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Rejoicing Together

12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

14-16 Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing.

17-18 Even if I am executed here and now, I’ll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ’s altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout’s fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don’t feel sorry for me.

19-24 I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I’m hoping and praying to be right on his heels.

25-27 But for right now, I’m dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I’m sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he’s been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others.

28-30 So you can see why I’m so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, strong and strapping, how you’ll rejoice and how relieved I’ll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren’t able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 147:1–5

Hallelujah!

It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God;

    praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.

2-6 God’s the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,

    who regathers Israel’s scattered exiles.

He heals the heartbroken

    and bandages their wounds.

He counts the stars

    and assigns each a name.

Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;

    we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does.

God puts the fallen on their feet again

    and pushes the wicked into the ditch.

Insight

Psalm 147, near the end of the Hebrew psalter, is toward the end of Book Five—in a set of psalms focused on giving praise to God. Psalm 147 fits well into this group, as it both begins and ends with the words “Praise the Lord” (Hebrew, halelu-yah). Some scholars speculate that these psalms were assembled to celebrate the rebuilding of Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity of the southern tribe of Judah (see v. 2). But the praise for God isn’t limited to that expression of gratitude. There’s also celebration for God’s creation (vv. 4, 8), care for the weak (v. 6), provision of rain (v. 8), and provision of food (v. 14). Additionally, the people of God are to praise Him for the provision of His Word (vv. 19–20). No wonder the psalmist says that it’s both “pleasant and fitting to praise him!” (v. 1). By: Bill Crowder

God Sees, Understands, and Cares

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:5

Sometimes, living with chronic pain and fatigue leads to being isolated at home and feeling alone. I’ve often felt unseen by God and others. During an early morning prayer-walk with my service dog, I struggled with these feelings. I noticed a hot-air balloon in the distance. The people in its basket could enjoy a bird’s-eye view of our quiet neighborhood, but they couldn’t really see me. As I continued walking past my neighbors’ houses, I sighed. How many people behind those closed doors feel unseen and insignificant? As I finished my walk, I asked God to give me opportunities to let my neighbors know that I see them and care for them, and so does He.

God determined the exact number of stars that He spoke into existence. He identified each star with a name (Psalm 147:4), an intimate act that demonstrates His attention to the smallest details. His strength—insight, discernment, and knowledge—have “no limit” in the past, present, or future (v. 5).

God hears each desperate cry and sees each silent tear as clearly as He notices each sigh of contentment and belly laugh. He sees when we’re stumbling and when we’re standing in triumph. He understands our deepest fears, our innermost thoughts, and our wildest dreams. He knows where we’ve been and where we’re going. As God helps us see, hear, and love our neighbors, we can trust Him to see, understand, and care for us. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

How have your neighbors loved you? How can you love others today?

God, please help me see, hear, and love others in practical ways.

For further study, read Loving Our Neighbors.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, May 11, 2023

“Love One Another”

…add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7

Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.

The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “…love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.

“The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally. The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 13-14; John 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, May 11, 2023

LIVING FOR THINGS YOU CANNOT LOSE - #9479

I've stood on a lot of beaches in my lifetime. There's one beach I'll never forget. It wasn't at some exotic resort location believe me. It was in the middle of the jungle along the Curaray River in Ecuador. I'd been flown there by a missionary pilot to record an important radio program there - to tell a new generation perhaps the most amazing missionary story of the 20th Century. It's the story of the five gifted and successful young Americans on whose hearts God had laid a deep burden for an Indian tribe who lived in the jungles that I was now visiting. They were called the Aucas back then - today we know them by the name Waoranis. They were described as living like people might have lived in the Stone Age. Jim Elliott, pilot Nate Saint, and three other outstanding young men were determined that these people would have a chance to hear about Jesus for the very first time - even though the tribe was known as savage killers.

After months of communication through gifts that they lowered by a cable from their plane, they finally landed on that beach to make that risky personal contact. With their American sense of humor, they called the desolate beach Palm Beach - although there was little about it that would make you think of a famous resort beach. Within days, all five of these brave ambassadors for Christ were dead with Auca lances in their bodies.

The word of their deaths flashed around the world and reached even a boy like me. Poor Jim Elliott. Poor Jim Elliott and his friends. So much potential - and by most earth measures, they wasted their lives. Or did they? No, they invested their lives. Jim Elliott's widow and Nate Saint's sister went to those tribal people, lived among them, and gave them Jesus. Ten years later, Nate Saint, the pilot, his 16-year-old son wanted to be baptized - in the Curaray River where his Dad's body had been found. And he was baptized - by one of the men who had killed his father - a man who was now one of the pastors of the Waorani church. The killers came to Jesus. Much of the tribe came to Jesus.

And as the example of those missionary martyrs reached a world of Christian young people, thousands surrendered their lives to the service of Jesus Christ. One was my wife. One was me. Today, their living legacy is telling about Jesus around the world. Which underscores in blazing color how Jim Elliott summed up his view of life. He said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.'

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Living For Things You Cannot Lose."

Years ago, through the example of a yielded life, God called me to give what I could not keep, to gain what I could not lose. Today, He may be calling you. Listen to this word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 2, beginning with verse 15, "Do not love the world or anything in the world...The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." Could it be it's time in your life for an honest evaluation of what you're really living for; what's getting the best of your energy, your abilities, your time? Is it something you can't lose - or something you will never lose?

God's been stirring your heart before you heard this, hasn't He? And it's because He wants you to make a far greater difference with the rest of your life than you've made until now. It will probably require releasing some of the earth-stuff and the earth-plans that have filled so much of your life. That's called, in the Bible's words, loving this world.

But this world is the Titanic. It's going down. But the person who devotes their life to the eternal things they were created for, they'll see their years on this planet count for all eternity. It's not cheap, but it's worth it. Just ask Jim Elliott. Just ask Jesus. Some will think what you're doing is foolish. But then, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.

Psalm 71, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED - May 10, 2023

When one of the wealthiest men in history, John D. Rockefeller, died, his accountant was asked, “How much did John D. leave?” His reply? “All of it!” No one takes anything with him. Think about the things you own—all your stuff—then let me remind you: your stuff isn’t yours.

And you know what else? Your stuff isn’t you. Jesus said in Luke 12:15 life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot. Contentment comes when we can honestly say with Paul, “I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have. I know how to live when I’m poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty” (Philippians 4:12).

You have so much. You have a God who hears you, the power of his love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. You have everything you need.

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 71

 I run for dear life to God,

    I’ll never live to regret it.

Do what you do so well:

    get me out of this mess and up on my feet.

Put your ear to the ground and listen,

    give me space for salvation.

Be a guest room where I can retreat;

    you said your door was always open!

You’re my salvation—my vast, granite fortress.

4-7 My God, free me from the grip of Wicked,

    from the clutch of Bad and Bully.

You keep me going when times are tough—

    my bedrock, God, since my childhood.

I’ve hung on you from the day of my birth,

    the day you took me from the cradle;

    I’ll never run out of praise.

Many gasp in alarm when they see me,

    but you take me in stride.

8-11 Just as each day brims with your beauty,

    my mouth brims with praise.

But don’t turn me out to pasture when I’m old

    or put me on the shelf when I can’t pull my weight.

My enemies are talking behind my back,

    watching for their chance to knife me.

The gossip is: “God has abandoned him.

    Pounce on him now; no one will help him.”

12-16 God, don’t just watch from the sidelines.

    Come on! Run to my side!

My accusers—make them lose face.

    Those out to get me—make them look

Like idiots, while I stretch out, reaching for you,

    and daily add praise to praise.

I’ll write the book on your righteousness,

    talk up your salvation all the day long,

    never run out of good things to write or say.

I come in the power of the Lord God,

    I post signs marking his right-of-way.

17-24 You got me when I was an unformed youth,

    God, and taught me everything I know.

Now I’m telling the world your wonders;

    I’ll keep at it until I’m old and gray.

God, don’t walk off and leave me

    until I get out the news

Of your strong right arm to this world,

    news of your power to the world yet to come,

Your famous and righteous

    ways, O God.

God, you’ve done it all!

    Who is quite like you?

You, who made me stare trouble in the face,

    Turn me around;

Now let me look life in the face.

    I’ve been to the bottom;

Bring me up, streaming with honors;

    turn to me, be tender to me,

And I’ll take up the lute and thank you

    to the tune of your faithfulness, God.

I’ll make music for you on a harp,

    Holy One of Israel.

When I open up in song to you,

    I let out lungsful of praise,

    my rescued life a song.

All day long I’m chanting

    about you and your righteous ways,

While those who tried to do me in

    slink off looking ashamed.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Today's Scripture

Genesis 31:19–21; 32:22–30

 Laban was off shearing sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household gods. And Jacob had concealed his plans so well that Laban the Aramean had no idea what was going on—he was totally in the dark. Jacob got away with everything he had and was soon across the Euphrates headed for the hill country of Gilead.

 But during the night he got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He got them safely across the brook along with all his possessions.

24-25 But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint.

26 The man said, “Let me go; it’s daybreak.”

Jacob said, “I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me.”

27 The man said, “What’s your name?”

He answered, “Jacob.”

28 The man said, “But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.”

29 Jacob asked, “And what’s your name?”

The man said, “Why do you want to know my name?” And then, right then and there, he blessed him.

30 Jacob named the place Peniel (God’s Face) because, he said, “I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!”

Insight

Rachel stole her father’s “household gods” (Genesis 31:19). The Hebrew word used here is teraphim. This word is used several times in the Old Testament (see Judges 17:5; 18:14; 1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 23:24), but scholars are uncertain about what such household gods or idols were used for. It’s possible they were used in everything from divination practices to status symbols denoting who was the rightful heir of the household. It’s further unclear why Rachel stole them from her father, as these idols aren’t mentioned again in the rest of the story of Jacob or his offspring. By: J.R. Hudberg

Stolen Gods

You have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. Genesis 32:28

A carved wooden figure—a household god—had been stolen from a woman named Ekuwa, so she reported it to the authorities. Believing they had found the idol, law enforcement officials invited her to identify it. “Is this your god?” they asked. She said sadly, “No, my god is much larger and more beautiful than that.”

People have long tried to give shape to their concept of deity, hoping for a handmade god to protect them. Perhaps that’s why Jacob’s wife Rachel “stole her father’s household gods” as they fled from Laban (Genesis 31:19). But God had His hand on Jacob, despite the idols hidden in his camp (v. 34).

Later, on that same journey, Jacob wrestled all night with “a man” (32:24). He must have understood this opponent was no mere human, because at daybreak Jacob insisted, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (v. 26). The man renamed him Israel (“God fights”) and then blessed him (vv. 28–29). Jacob called the spot Peniel (“face of God”), “because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared” (v. 30).

This God—the one true God—is infinitely larger and more beautiful than anything Ekuwa could have ever imagined. He can’t be carved, stolen, or hidden. Yet, as Jacob learned that night, we can approach Him! Jesus taught His disciples to call this God “our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

How would you describe God? How might your ideas of Him be too limited?

Heavenly Father, forgive me for seeing You as smaller than You really are. Help me embrace the reality of who You truly are.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Take the Initiative

…add to your faith virtue… —2 Peter 1:5

Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us (Philippians 2:12). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.

Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “I will write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.

We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been.

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

Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 10-12; John 1:29-51

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

WHY YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE - #9478

A pastor I heard of was meeting one of the ladies from his large church one day, and he asked her, "What do you do?" Her answer was classic. She said, "Well, Pastor, I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ cleverly disguised as a machine operator!" I love that!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why You Are Where You Are."

Now that lady is a Christian who knows who she is and why she is where she is. She's there to be Jesus' personal representative to other machine operators! I mean, who is a lost machine operator most likely to listen to about a relationship with Jesus? Right, another machine operator! A lost mom is most likely to listen to another mom, a student, well they'll listen to a student, a computer programmer to another computer programmer, a cancer survivor to a cancer survivor, a guy at the gym to another guy at the gym. Everybody's got a tribe. People listen to somebody from their tribe.

This strategy of sending someone who lives where the unreached people live is at least 2,000 years old. In our word for today from the Word of God in John 4, Jesus is on a mission to reach the people of Samaria. So, how does He go about it? They didn't really like Jewish guys there; a lot of walls there to tear down.

Well, He reaches one of their own. He reaches a Samaritan woman at the well, who is notorious in her village, apparently, for her promiscuity. By the end of Jesus' visit, the Bible says, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him." Why? Ready for the answer? It says, "Because of the woman's testimony." (John 4:39). It doesn't say it was because of Jesus' sermon, but because of the testimony of a new disciple of Jesus Christ, cleverly disguised as their neighbor.

It's one reason why Jesus came into your life one day; to send you back to your neighborhood, your workplace, your school, your tribe, to introduce people like you to Him. You're His chosen link between the people in your world and Him. So, how are you doing at bringing those folks together with Jesus?

The best person to tell folks who do what you do, live where you live, and face what you face about Jesus is you. In a post-Christian culture like ours, most lost people don't ever plan to go to a religious meeting to hear a religious speaker talk on a religious subject in a religious place. They will probably only be rescued spiritually if someone takes the Good News about Jesus to where they are! And who is already where they are? You are.

The woman Jesus sent back to her village could have said, as you may, "Oh, man! My past! I'm so messed up. I'm so far from perfect." Isn't it something that Jesus sends flawed ambassadors to be living examples of His great grace? This woman could have said, as you may, "Oh, but I'm not trained." Training is good. Our ministry is constantly in the business of equipping someone like you to represent Him. But your ultimate credentials are what Jesus has done in your life and your love for that lost person.

Your message is the same as part of the Samaritan woman's. She simply said to her fellow villagers, "Come, see a Man!" (John 4:29). Not a religion - a man. Your message is a person; not your religion, not your church, not your beliefs, not your rules. It's all about Jesus! Aren't you glad? You're taking someone you know in one hand. You're taking Jesus in the other hand, and prayerfully you are bringing them together forever!

What a place God has entrusted to you, divinely positioned so you can take someone to heaven with you. Where you live, what you do, well that's all just your clever disguise!

Psalm 67, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE PRISON OF WANT - May 9, 2023

Come with me to the most populated prison in the world. It’s name is WANT – the prison of want.

You’ve seen her prisoners. They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want a new job. A new house. A new spouse. If you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less, you’re in the prison of want. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it – you’re in the prison of want.

The good news is, you have a visitor: the psalmist David. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispers, “the secret of satisfaction.” From Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” David found a place where discontent goes to die. It’s as if he’s saying, “What I have in God is greater than what I don’t have in this life.” Think you and I could learn to say the same?

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 67

God, mark us with grace

    and blessing! Smile!

The whole country will see how you work,

    all the godless nations see how you save.

God! Let people thank and enjoy you.

    Let all people thank and enjoy you.

Let all far-flung people become happy

    and shout their happiness because

You judge them fair and square,

    you tend the far-flung peoples.

God! Let people thank and enjoy you.

    Let all people thank and enjoy you.

Earth, display your exuberance!

    You mark us with blessing, O God, our God.

You mark us with blessing, O God.

    Earth’s four corners—honor him!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, May 09, 2023

Today's Scripture

John 20:11–18

But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”

13-14 “They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.

15 Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”

She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Sir, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”

16 Jesus said, “Mary.”

Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”

17 Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.

Insight

When Jesus called Mary’s name (John 20:16), He spoke to her in Aramaic, which was the native tongue of Jesus and the people of His day. In speaking to Mary, He addressed her as Miriam. Commentator William Hendriksen notes: “When Mary hears this word—her own name in her own language—spoken in that familiar way as only one person could ever pronounce it, she quickly turns away from the tomb and toward the speaker.” The term by which Mary addressed Jesus is Rabboni, which John interpreted for those less familiar with the Aramaic term (see 19:13, 17 where other Aramaic terms are explained). The term, akin to rabbi, means “my master” or “my teacher” and was one of respect, so honorable that it was given to just a few Jewish rabbis. By: Arthur Jackson

Known by God

[Mary] turned toward him and cried out . . . “Rabboni!” John 20:16

After two brothers were separated by adoption, a DNA test helped to reunite them almost twenty years later. When Kieron texted Vincent, the man he believed was his brother, Vincent thought, Who is this stranger? When Kieron asked him what name he’d been given at birth, he immediately answered, “Tyler.” Then he knew they were brothers. He was recognized by his name!

Consider how a name plays a key role in the Easter story. As it unfolds, Mary Magdalene comes to Christ’s tomb, and she weeps when she finds His body missing. “Woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asks (John 20:15). She didn’t recognize Him, however, until He spoke her name: “Mary” (v. 16).

Hearing Him say it, she “cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (Which means ‘Teacher’)” (v. 16). Her reaction expresses the joy believers in Jesus feel on Easter morning, recognizing that our risen Christ conquered death for all, knowing each of us as His children. As He told Mary, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (v. 17).

In Georgia, two reunited brothers bonded by name, vowed to take “this relationship to the next level.” On Easter, we praise Jesus for already taking the utmost step to rise in sacrificial love for those He knows as His own. For you and me, indeed, He’s alive! By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

How does it feel knowing that Jesus rose again and knows you by name? How can you know Him better?

Your knowledge of me is humbling, dear Jesus. Thank You for the sacrificial gift of Your knowing love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, May 09, 2023

Reaching Beyond Our Grasp

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint… —Proverbs 29:18

There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “…I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.

Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what’s a heaven for?

“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]….” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 7-9; John 1:1-28

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, May 09, 2023

LIFE-SAVING PAIN - #9477

It was such a neat surprise to see our longtime friends, Bob and Marcy, at a conference where I was speaking. We hadn't seen them for several years, and we didn't know they were coming. After one session, my wife was talking with them in the hall outside the auditorium, and my observant honey noticed Bob's color suddenly turned pale. And within moments, he was crumpling to the floor. My first thought was, "Is that what my speaking does to people?" When Bob finally came around, he sat in a chair wondering what had hit him. His wife wanted to drive him six hours to their home, but others were really urging him to get to a local hospital...preferable in an ambulance. Men usually resist ideas like that, but Bob was wise enough, and maybe just concerned enough, to agree. And that was a good thing. His heart stopped once on the way to the hospital, and again in the emergency room. Within two days, he had a pacemaker implanted, and he left that hospital feeling great. Had he not had that scary incident in the lobby, he might not have made it.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life-Saving Pain."

Things going wrong can be your friend if they show you a problem that could really hurt you and if it gets you to the help that you need. Now, that just might be what's happening in your life right now, and it may explain the real reason for what's going wrong. In short, God wants you back before some really damaging things happen because you're not where you're supposed to be with Him.

You'll better understand how He pursues those He loves when you hear our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Hosea 2, beginning with verse 5. God likens His spiritual wanderer to a woman loved by her husband who's been unfaithful to him. She says, "I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water." Okay, so when we get away from God when we turn to other people and other things to meet our needs. But God says, "I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go back to my husband as at first, for I was better off than now.'" Then God says, "She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold."

See, your best days were the days when you were closest to Jesus. But you've "pursued other lovers." You've forgotten He was the only one who ever loved you enough to die for you, and that sense of peace and worth you had when you were close to Him is not there now. God loves you too much to let you go, so He's been as the Bible says here, "blocking your path with thornbushes" and "walling you in." He's been making your sin more painful, more expensive, more disappointing. If that hasn't happened, it will. More and more you'll keep chasing what you're after, and you won't catch it because only God has it.

If someone you love is the one who's away from the Lord, you can pray in accordance with God's recovery plan here in Hosea 2. Pray for the thorn bushes and the walls and the frustrating pursuits that can cause someone you love to think about what they're doing and to remember the better days...the Jesus-days.

If you're the one who's away from Jesus right now, the one whose love you were made for, the one who died for you, and things are only going to get worse because He loves you. Things are going wrong, not to hurt you, not to destroy you, but to help you wake up to something far more serious that's going on in your soul. You've got a deadly heart condition, and you need to get to the doctor before it does serious damage. You need to get to Dr. Jesus. It stinks away from Him. The porch light is on, the door is open, and Jesus is coming down the road to welcome you home. And home? Home is where you belong.

Philippians 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: LIKE SHEEP - May 8, 2023

Isaiah 53:6 says, “We have all wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.”

You wouldn’t think sheep would be obstinate. Of all God’s animals, the sheep is the least able to take care of himself. Sheep are dumb. Have you ever met a sheep trainer? Ever seen sheep tricks? Know anyone who has taught his sheep to roll over? No, sheep are just too dumb.

When David said in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” couldn’t he have come up with a better metaphor than a shepherd for sheep? When David, who was a warrior and ambassador for God, searched for an illustration of God he remembered his days as a shepherd. He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep, how he watched over them. And David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” And in doing so he proudly declared, “I am his sheep!”

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Philippians 1

Paul and Timothy, both of us committed servants of Christ Jesus, write this letter to all the followers of Jesus in Philippi, pastors and ministers included. We greet you with the grace and peace that comes from God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.

A Love That Will Grow

3-6 Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

7-8 It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!

9-11 So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

They Can’t Imprison the Message

12-14 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.

15-17 It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them.

18-21 So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.

22-26 As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

27-30 Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, May 08, 2023

Today's Scripture

Luke 1:1–4

So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught.

Insight

Why do we have four gospels? Basically, each one presents a unique perspective on Jesus, and having more than one account adds to their credibility. The Holy Spirit inspired the writers to pen their accounts. Though the four books have many similarities, each author emphasizes a different theme for an intended audience. Matthew wrote mainly for Jews, emphasizing that Jesus, the son of David, was the Messiah for whom they were waiting. That’s why he began with a genealogy and includes multiple references to Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. Mark emphasizes Jesus as the Suffering Servant of God. This was especially relevant to believers in Jesus who were suffering for their faith. Luke was written to Theophilus, a gentile. Luke presents Jesus as the Son of Man and Savior of all people. John presents Christ as the Son of God and Creator of the world.  By: Alyson Kieda

Truth Seekers

[Having] carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you.  Luke 1:3

A woman once told me about a disagreement that was tearing her church apart. “What’s the disagreement about?” I asked. “Whether the earth is flat,” she said. A few months later, news broke of a Christian man who’d burst into a restaurant, armed, to rescue children supposedly being abused in its back room. There was no back room, and the man was arrested. In both cases, the people involved were acting on conspiracy theories they’d read on the internet.

Believers in Jesus are called to be good citizens (Romans 13:1–7), and good citizens don’t spread misinformation. In Luke’s day, numerous stories circulated about Jesus (Luke 1:1), some of them were inaccurate. Instead of passing on everything he heard, Luke essentially became an investigative journalist, talking to eyewitnesses (v. 2), researching “everything from the beginning” (v. 3), and writing his findings into a gospel that contains names, quotes, and historical facts based on people with firsthand knowledge, not unverified claims.

We can do the same. Since false information can split churches and put lives at risk, checking facts is an act of loving our neighbor (10:27). When a sensational story comes our way, we can verify its claims with qualified, accountable experts, being truth seekers—not error spreaders. Such an act brings credibility to the gospel. After all, we worship the One who’s full of truth (John 1:14). By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

Why do you think conspiracy theories spread so quickly? How can you be a truth seeker?

Father, help me discern truth from error as Your Spirit guides me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, May 08, 2023

The Faith to Persevere

Because you have kept My command to persevere… —Revelation 3:10

Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).

Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life— throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.

God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet— places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus.  Facing Reality, 34 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 4-6; Luke 24:36-53

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, May 08, 2023

WHICH WAY TO LOOK WHEN IT'S OVERWHELMING - #9476

It was a time I had the opportunity to be in London. I got to see some things that we don't see much of in America: the palace, the double-decker buses; buildings that represent up to 1,000 years of history. And there's one thing that was very new there for an American, and It could be dangerous. Yeah, the direction of traffic.

Cars drive on the left side, and it really messes up American drivers and in this case an American pedestrian. You step off a curb, looking to the left of course. We've been conditioned for a lifetime - look left. You do that in London, and you may not be using your return ticket. As in any city, there's busy traffic. But the British must know there will be confused Yanks there like me. So they paint these signs and arrows on the pavement that say "Look Right." They saved my life! It's very important. If you're not looking the right way, you can get run over.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Which Way to Look When It's Overwhelming"

Our word for today from the Word of God, Luke 9, and we're in the middle of that feeding of the 5,000 where the disciples have seen the size of the crowd and said, "Boy, they've got to eat, Jesus, and we'd better send them away." And Jesus said, "You give them something to eat." The disciples aren't quite sure what to do with that command. They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish - unless we go and buy food for all this crowd. But He said to His disciples, 'Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.' Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied."

Okay, Jesus and the disciples are facing an overwhelming need. Maybe like you are right now. Maybe you're looking at a financial need, or a family need, and it's like a Mission Impossible. See, that's when miracles happen. It's kind of like crossing streets in London. The outcome depends on which way you're looking.

There are three ways you can look when you're facing an overwhelming situation. First, you can look out at the need. That's what the disciples did. It's a huge crowd; a huge need. Secondly, you can look down at your resources. In John 6 that's what the disciples did. Andrew said, "Here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" "Hey, our resources are no match for this need, Jesus!" Maybe that's how you feel right now. You just don't have the money, or the wisdom, the people, the strength, the help. Well, in both cases you're going to be paralyzed or you;re going to be panicky.

There's a third way to look, and that's what Jesus did. It says, "And looking up to heaven He gave thanks for the loaves." Jesus chose to look in the Lord's direction, not out at the need, not down at the resources, but where the resources are unlimited. The Bible says in Philippians 4:19, "God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." So Jesus thanked God for what He did have, though it was nowhere near enough. And not enough was miraculously multiplied into more than enough.

Do you know that's exactly what happens when somebody puts their life into Jesus' hands? Jesus said, "I've come that you may have life and have it to the full." And we do as much as we can do with our lives, until one day we say, "Jesus, You died on the cross to pay for my sin. You walked out of your grave under your own power. It's time I took this life that I have thwarted and put it in the hands of the One who was meant to be controlling it all along."

That's your "Jesus day." It could be today. The One who loved you enough to die for you, You begin your relationship with Him. Say, "Jesus, I'm yours." You want to be sure you belong to Him, check out our website. It will help you. Go to ANewStory.com.

You know, if we hadn't looked the right way in heavy traffic, we would have been run over. But God has written in this feeding of the 5,000, clear direction. Don't look out at the need. Don't look down at the resources. Look up to heaven where the riches in glory in Christ Jesus are.

Psalm 66, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Want

Come with me to the world’s most oppressive prison. The name of the prison? You’ll see it over the entrance. WANT! The prison of want. They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want just one thing. One new job. One new car. One new spouse. They want just one. And when they have “one,” they’ll be happy. But then it happens. The new car smell passes. The new job gets old. The new spouse has bad habits.

Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. But there’s good news. You have a visitor—with a message that can get you parole. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispers., “the secret of satisfaction.”

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want!” What you have in God is greater than what you don’t have in life!

From Traveling Light

Psalm 66

 All together now—applause for God!

    Sing songs to the tune of his glory,

    set glory to the rhythms of his praise.

Say of God, “We’ve never seen anything like him!”

    When your enemies see you in action,

    they slink off like scolded dogs.

The whole earth falls to its knees—

    it worships you, sings to you,

    can’t stop enjoying your name and fame.

5-6 Take a good look at God’s wonders—

    they’ll take your breath away.

He converted sea to dry land;

    travelers crossed the river on foot.

    Now isn’t that cause for a song?

7 Ever sovereign in his high tower, he keeps

    his eye on the godless nations.

Rebels don’t dare

    raise a finger against him.

8-12 Bless our God, O peoples!

    Give him a thunderous welcome!

Didn’t he set us on the road to life?

    Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch?

He trained us first,

    passed us like silver through refining fires,

Brought us into hardscrabble country,

    pushed us to our very limit,

Road-tested us inside and out,

    took us to hell and back;

Finally he brought us

    to this well-watered place.

13-15 I’m bringing my prizes and presents to your house.

    I’m doing what I said I’d do,

What I solemnly swore I’d do

    that day when I was in so much trouble:

The choicest cuts of meat

    for the sacrificial meal;

Even the fragrance

    of roasted lamb is like a meal!

Or make it an ox

    garnished with goat meat!

16-20 All believers, come here and listen,

    let me tell you what God did for me.

I called out to him with my mouth,

    my tongue shaped the sounds of music.

If I had been cozy with evil,

    the Lord would never have listened.

But he most surely did listen,

    he came on the double when he heard my prayer.

Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear,

    he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, May 07, 2023

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 61:1–3

Announce Freedom to All Captives

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me

    because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor,

    heal the heartbroken,

Announce freedom to all captives,

    pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace—

    a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—

    and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,

    give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom,

    a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.

Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”

    planted by God to display his glory.

They’ll rebuild the old ruins,

    raise a new city out of the wreckage.

They’ll start over on the ruined cities,

    take the rubble left behind and make it new.

You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks

    and foreigners to work your fields,

But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,”

    honored as ministers of our God.

You’ll feast on the bounty of nations,

    you’ll bask in their glory.

Because you got a double dose of trouble

    and more than your share of contempt,

Your inheritance in the land will be doubled

    and your joy go on forever.

Insight

The book of Isaiah, the longest in the Old Testament aside from the book of Psalms, breaks down into two major sections. Chapters 1–33 declare judgment upon Judah and the nations, with the promise of restoration included in the “warning” section. Chapters 34–66 focus on the restoration of Israel in the kingdom of the Messiah. Because of Isaiah’s heavy emphasis on the person and role of the Messiah, it’s often quoted in the New Testament as having been fulfilled in Jesus. Some scholars even refer to Isaiah as the “fifth gospel.” The book of Isaiah is quoted or alluded to at least sixty-two times in the New Testament. Today’s reading was quoted by Jesus in His synagogue message at Nazareth (Luke 4:17–19) when He publicly announced His messiahship. By: Bill Crowder

Hunt for Inner Healing

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. Isaiah 61:1

Always a busy guy, Carson hunted, fished, rode dirt bikes, and skateboarded. He loved everything outdoors. But he was in a motorcycle accident and became paralyzed from the chest down. Soon depression sank in, and he didn’t see much of a future. Then one day some of his buddies got him to go hunting again. For a time he forgot about his injury as he enjoyed the beauty around him. This experience brought him inner healing and inspired a new purpose for his life—to provide the same experience for others like him through a nonprofit organization, Hunt 2 Heal. He says his accident was “a blessing in disguise. . . . Now I’m able to give back, which I’ve always wanted to do. I’m happy.” He’s excited about providing a place for those with severe mobility disabilities and their caregivers to find healing.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of One who would bring healing for brokenness (Isaiah 61). He would “bind up the brokenhearted” and “comfort all who mourn” (vv. 1–2). After Jesus read this Scripture in His hometown synagogue, He said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Jesus came to save us and make us whole.

Are you in need of inner healing? Turn to Jesus and He’ll give you “a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3). By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

In what ways do you need Jesus’ healing? Who can you tell about Him and the salvation and wholeness He offers?

Thank You, Jesus, for the healing You’ve brought to me and many others. I look forward to complete healing in heaven one day.

For further study, read New Life: The Transforming Power of the Gospel.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, May 07, 2023

Building For Eternity

Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it… —Luke 14:28

Our Lord was not referring here to a cost which we have to count, but to a cost which He has already counted. The cost was those thirty years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal, and hatred, the unfathomable agony He experienced in Gethsemane, and the assault upon Him at Calvary— the central point upon which all of time and eternity turn. Jesus Christ has counted the cost. In the final analysis, people are not going to laugh at Him and say, “This man began to build and was not able to finish” (Luke 14:30).

The conditions of discipleship given to us by our Lord in verses 26, 27, and 33 mean that the men and women He is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom He has done everything. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple ” (Luke 14:26). This verse teaches us that the only men and women our Lord will use in His building enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately, and with great devotion— those who have a love for Him that goes far beyond any of the closest relationships on earth. The conditions are strict, but they are glorious.

All that we build is going to be inspected by God. When God inspects us with His searching and refining fire, will He detect that we have built enterprises of our own on the foundation of Jesus? (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-15). We are living in a time of tremendous enterprises, a time when we are trying to work for God, and that is where the trap is. Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God. Jesus, as the Master Builder, takes us over so that He may direct and control us completely for His enterprises and His building plans; and no one has any right to demand where he will be put to work.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. Approved Unto God, 11 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 1-3; Luke 24:1-35

Psalm 43, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The Lord is My Shepherd

We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way. Forget the best way. Forget God’s way.  We want to do things our way. And according Isaiah 53:6, that’s precisely our problem. “We all have wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.”

Sheep are dumb. Ever see sheep tricks? Know anyone who has ever taught his sheep to roll over? No, sheep are just too dumb. Instead of “the Lord is my shepherd,” couldn’t David  have thought of a better metaphor than sheep? How about “The Lord is my commander in chief, and I am his warrior!”

When David, who was a warrior, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd.  He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep day and night. David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” And in so doing he proudly implied, “I am His sheep.”

From Traveling Light

Psalm 43

 Clear my name, God; stick up for me

    against these loveless, immoral people.

Get me out of here, away

    from these lying degenerates.

I counted on you, God.

    Why did you walk out on me?

Why am I pacing the floor, wringing my hands

    over these outrageous people?

3-4 Give me your lantern and compass,

    give me a map,

So I can find my way to the sacred mountain,

    to the place of your presence,

To enter the place of worship,

    meet my exuberant God,

Sing my thanks with a harp,

    magnificent God, my God.

5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

    Why are you crying the blues?

Fix my eyes on God—

    soon I’ll be praising again.

He puts a smile on my face.

    He’s my God.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, May 06, 2023

Today's Scripture

Luke 17:11–19

 It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14-16 Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.

17-19 Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

Insight

Luke 17:15 notes that only one of the ten lepers healed by Jesus returned to give thanks, and he was a Samaritan—a foreigner (v. 18). The word translated “foreigner” (allogen?s) is a compound word that means “from another race.” Though it’s used a number of times in the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), it’s used only here in the New Testament (see OT passages like Genesis 17:27; Exodus 12:43; Leviticus 22:10). The Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament notes that this is “the same term that appears on the inscriptions found on the balustrades surrounding the temple warning that ‘no alien’. . . may go beyond this point and will suffer the penalty of death if they are caught doing so.” While restricted by religious protocols from specific areas of the temple, those who were considered outsiders weren’t barred from God’s saving and healing mercy. By: Arthur Jackson

Thankful Hearts

Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? Luke 17:18

Hansle Parchment was in a predicament. He caught the bus to the wrong place for his semifinal in the Tokyo Olympics and was left stranded with little hope of getting to the stadium on time. But thankfully he met Trijana Stojkovic, a volunteer helping out at the games. She gave him some money to take a taxi. Parchment made it to the semifinal on time and eventually clinched the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdle. Later, he went back to find Stojkovic and thanked her for her kindness.

In Luke 17, we read of the Samaritan leper who came back to thank Jesus for healing him (vv. 15–16). Jesus had entered a village where He met ten lepers. All of them asked Jesus for healing, and all of them experienced His grace and power. Ten were happy that they’d been healed, but only one returned to express his gratitude. He “came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him” (vv. 15–16).

Every day, we experience God’s blessings in multiple ways. It could be as dramatic as an answered prayer to an extended time of suffering or receiving timely help from a stranger. Sometimes, His blessings can come in ordinary ways too, such as good weather to accomplish an outdoor task. Like the Samaritan leper, let’s remember to thank God for His kindness toward us. By:  Poh Fang Chia

Reflect & Pray

What can you thank God for today? How can you cultivate a heart of gratitude?

Dear God, You’ve been so good to me. I give thanks to You today for

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, May 06, 2023

Liberty and the Standards of Jesus

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free… —Galatians 5:1

A spiritually-minded person will never come to you with the demand— “Believe this and that”; a spiritually-minded person will demand that you align your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39-40). We are called to present liberty for the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and opinions. And if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty— the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.

Always measure your life solely by the standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one true liberty— the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.

Don’t get impatient with others. Remember how God dealt with you— with patience and with gentleness. But never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, “Go…and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19), not, “Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried.  He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 21-22; Luke 23:26-56

Psalm 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DO IT GOD’S WAY - May 5, 2023

Logic says, “Don’t go for the green.” Golf 101 says, “Don’t go for the green.” Give me my driver, I’m going for the green! Golf reveals a lot about a person. I don’t need advice—whack! I can handle this myself—clang!

Can you relate? We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way, the best way. Forget God’s way. Too much stubbornness, too much independence, too much self-reliance. All I needed to do was apologize, but I had to argue. All I needed to do was listen, but I had to open my big mouth. All I needed to do was be patient, but I had to take control. All I had to do was give it to God, but I tried to fix it myself.

Scripture says, “Do it God’s way.” Experience says, “Do it God’s way.” And every so often, we do. You know, we might even make the green.

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 33

Good people, cheer God!

    Right-living people sound best when praising.

Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!

    Play his praise on a grand piano!

Compose your own new song to him;

    give him a trumpet fanfare.

4-5 For God’s Word is solid to the core;

    everything he makes is sound inside and out.

He loves it when everything fits,

    when his world is in plumb-line true.

Earth is drenched

    in God’s affectionate satisfaction.

6-7 The skies were made by God’s command;

    he breathed the word and the stars popped out.

He scooped Sea into his jug,

    put Ocean in his keg.

8-9 Earth-creatures, bow before God;

    world-dwellers—down on your knees!

Here’s why: he spoke and there it was,

    in place the moment he said so.

10-12 God takes the wind out of Babel pretense,

    he shoots down the world’s power-schemes.

God’s plan for the world stands up,

    all his designs are made to last.

Blessed is the country with God for God;

    blessed are the people he’s put in his will.

13-15 From high in the skies God looks around,

    he sees all Adam’s brood.

From where he sits

    he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.

He has shaped each person in turn;

    now he watches everything we do.

16-17 No king succeeds with a big army alone,

    no warrior wins by brute strength.

Horsepower is not the answer;

    no one gets by on muscle alone.

18-19 Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him,

    the ones who are looking for his love.

He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times;

    in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

20-22 We’re depending on God;

    he’s everything we need.

What’s more, our hearts brim with joy

    since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.

Love us, God, with all you’ve got—

    that’s what we’re depending on.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, May 05, 2023

Today's Scripture

Exodus 2:11–15

 Time passed. Moses grew up. One day he went and saw his brothers, saw all that hard labor. Then he saw an Egyptian hit a Hebrew—one of his relatives! He looked this way and then that; when he realized there was no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

13 The next day he went out there again. Two Hebrew men were fighting. He spoke to the man who started it: “Why are you hitting your neighbor?”

14 The man shot back: “Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? Are you going to kill me the way you killed that Egyptian?”

Then Moses panicked: “Word’s gotten out—people know about this.”

* * *

15 Pharaoh heard about it and tried to kill Moses, but Moses got away to the land of Midian. He sat down by a well.

Insight

Moses, the son of Amram and Jochebed (Numbers 26:59), was born toward the end of the four-hundred-year captivity of the Israelites in Egypt. In Exodus 1, we read of the plight of Moses’ people under the cruel oppression of a “new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing” (v. 8). This Pharaoh saw how fruitful the Israelites were and out of fear increased the labor of the people and ordered the midwives to kill the baby boys they delivered (vv. 8–19). In our text, we read of Moses’ impulsive act of killing an Egyptian and his desperate flight into Midian, where he worked for forty years as a shepherd. In chapter 3, Moses received his call from God: “I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (v. 10). Moses balked. Yet despite his flaws and reluctance, God used him to lead the Israelites to the doorstep of the promised land. By: Alyson Kieda

Grace and Change

Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” Exodus 2:14

The crime was shocking, and the man who committed it was sentenced to life in prison. In the years that followed, the man—in solitary confinement—began a process of mental and spiritual healing. It led to repentance and a restored relationship with Jesus. These days he’s been allowed limited interactions with other inmates. And, by God’s grace, through his witness some fellow prisoners have received Christ as Savior—finding forgiveness in Him.

Moses, though now recognized as a great man of faith, also committed a shocking crime. After he witnessed “an Egyptian beating a Hebrew,” he looked “this way and that” and “killed the Egyptian” (Exodus 2:11–12). Despite this sin, God in His grace wasn’t done with His imperfect servant. Later, He chose Moses to free His people from their oppression (3:10). In Romans 5:14, we read, “Death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command.” But in the following verses Paul states that “God’s grace” makes it possible for us, regardless of our past sins, to be changed and made right with Him (vv. 15–16).

We might think that what we’ve done disqualifies us from knowing God’s forgiveness and being used for His honor. But because of His grace, in Jesus we can be changed and set free to help others be changed for eternity. By:  Tom Felten

Reflect & Pray

How has God and His grace changed you? What are the changes He’s calling you to make these days?

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your life-changing grace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, May 05, 2023

Judgment and the Love of God

The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God… —1 Peter 4:17

The Christian servant must never forget that salvation is God’s idea, not man’s; therefore, it has an unfathomable depth. Salvation is the great thought of God, not an experience. Experience is simply the door through which salvation comes into the conscious level of our life so that we are aware of what has taken place on a much deeper level. Never preach the experience— preach the great thought of God behind the experience. When we preach, we are not simply proclaiming how people can be saved from hell and be made moral and pure; we are conveying good news about God.

In the teachings of Jesus Christ the element of judgment is always brought out— it is the sign of the love of God. Never sympathize with someone who finds it difficult to get to God; God is not to blame. It is not for us to figure out the reason for the difficulty, but only to present the truth of God so that the Spirit of God will reveal what is wrong. The greatest test of the quality of our preaching is whether or not it brings everyone to judgment. When the truth is preached, the Spirit of God brings each person face to face with God Himself.

If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account. Every element of our own self-reliance must be put to death by the power of God. The moment we recognize our complete weakness and our dependence upon Him will be the very moment that the Spirit of God will exhibit His power.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 19-20; Luke 23:1-25

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, May 05, 2023

WHEN THE BIBLE COMES ALIVE - #9475

They call it the "terrible twos" (remember?) because of the new challenges a toddler presents when they hit that two-year mark and they issue their first declarations of independence. Now, I remember when our granddaughter was two years old and doing human "terribles." Maybe because there were a lot more "terrific twos." Now, one exciting thing was an incredible word explosion she had. Sometimes, she seemed to not only know the words, but even some pretty important meaning behind the words. She's been known to sit down right next to her daddy as he was reading his Bible with her Bible open. Now, she knew what the book was called. She would say "Bible." But more and more, when she picked up her Bible, she said two words that she knew went together, "Bible...Jesus."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When The Bible Comes Alive."

Those two words are always supposed to go together. Because ultimately our Bible reading isn't supposed to be about a book. It's about a person. It's about Jesus. Much like when I used to read love letters from my wife-to-be. I read those same words over and over again. There was no new information the second time, but see, I wasn't just with a letter. When I read what she wrote to me, I was with her; the person who wrote it until I could be "with" with her in person.

That's how it's supposed to be when we pick up God's love letter to us - the Bible. We're not with a book. We're with the person who wrote it to us, and that changes everything. Sometimes we get into the rut of thinking, "It's my Bible reading time again." And frankly, maybe we're not all excited about it. It's like our Christian duty. And all too many times, the Bible just sits there as we run through all the "really important" other things we have to do.

When you read God's Word, it should be something like the picture God gives us in Luke 10, beginning with verse 39. It's our word for today from the Word of God. Martha has invited Jesus to have dinner with her and her sister, Mary. The Bible says, "Mary...sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." Martha pipes up and criticizes Mary for not running around like she is. But Jesus says, "Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her." Jesus, of course, wasn't condoning laziness. He was applauding the priority of loving Him over serving Him...of spending time with Him over doing things for Him. Yes, our love will result in serving and doing things for Him, but it has to be anchored in spending time with Him.

Your Bible reading time needs to be the time each day that you, like it says here, "sit at the Lord's feet, listening to what He says." David called God's Word "the law from your mouth" and he said it was precious to him (Psalm 119:72). You read the words of the Bible as if Jesus is sitting across from you saying those words to you, because those are His words to you.

So when you go through a day without time in God's Word, it's not the Bible that you're reading there - it's Jesus. The Bible doesn't care if you show up. Jesus does. That's why you need to make your time with Him and with His Word, the highest priority of your personal schedule - the sun around which all the other planets of your day must revolve.

Jesus wept over His people one day and He expressed His sadness about the number of times He wanted to have time with them but, in His words, "you were not willing" (Matthew 23:37). I wonder if He's been saying that about you and me? It's time to recover your time with Jesus from the margins of your life and put it back in the center. Put Him back in the center. And when you pick up His Book, remember (like the little girl said) "Bible...Jesus."

Acts 16:22-40 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MIDDLE C - May 4, 2023

When author Lloyd Douglas attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse with a retired music professor who lived on the first floor. Douglas would stick his head in the door and ask, “Well, what’s the good news?” The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tape it on the side of his chair and say, “That’s middle C. It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C!”

You and I need a middle C. A still point in a turning world. An unchanging shepherd. A God who can still the storm. A Lord who can declare the meaning of life. And, according to David in Psalm 23, you have one. The Lord is your shepherd – your middle C!

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Acts 16:22-40

When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace—dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.

22-24 The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.

25-26 Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.

27-28 Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”

29-31 The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”

32-34 They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.

35-36 At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, “Release these men.” The jailer gave Paul the message, “The judges sent word that you’re free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!”

37 But Paul wouldn’t budge. He told the officers, “They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.”

38-40 When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They hurried over and apologized, personally escorted them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn’t please leave the city. Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia’s house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, May 04, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Chronicles 20:1–12

Some time later the Moabites and Ammonites, accompanied by Meunites, joined forces to make war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat received this intelligence report: “A huge force is on its way from beyond the Dead Sea to fight you. There’s no time to waste—they’re already at Hazazon Tamar, the oasis of En Gedi.”

3-4 Shaken, Jehoshaphat prayed. He went to God for help and ordered a nationwide fast. The country of Judah united in seeking God’s help—they came from all the cities of Judah to pray to God.

5-9 Then Jehoshaphat took a position before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at The Temple of God in front of the new courtyard and said, “O God, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven above and ruler of all kingdoms below? You hold all power and might in your fist—no one stands a chance against you! And didn’t you make the natives of this land leave as you brought your people Israel in, turning it over permanently to your people Israel, the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived here and built a holy house of worship to honor you, saying, ‘When the worst happens—whether war or flood or disease or famine—and we take our place before this Temple (we know you are personally present in this place!) and pray out our pain and trouble, we know that you will listen and give victory.’

10-12 “And now it’s happened: men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir have shown up. You didn’t let Israel touch them when we got here at first—we detoured around them and didn’t lay a hand on them. And now they’ve come to kick us out of the country you gave us. O dear God, won’t you take care of them? We’re helpless before this vandal horde ready to attack us. We don’t know what to do; we’re looking to you.”

Insight

When the people of ancient Israel thought about time, they reasoned that they couldn’t know the future, but they did know what had already happened and so reflected on God’s faithfulness in the past. That sense of time is key to understanding the way Jehoshaphat prayed in 2 Chronicles 20. He looked back at everything God did from Abraham until the present day (vv. 5–9). He recognized that the future wasn’t sure, but by setting “his face to seek the Lord” (v. 3 esv), he was looking to God’s salvation in the past as confidence in His ability to save again (v. 12). By: Jed Ostoich

Operating with Prayer

Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 20:3

When my son needed orthopedic surgery, I was grateful for the doctor who performed the operation. The doctor, who was nearing retirement, assured us he’d helped thousands of people with the same problem. Even so, before the procedure, he prayed and asked God to provide a good outcome. And I’m so grateful He did.

Jehoshaphat, an experienced national leader, prayed too during a crisis. Three nations had united against him, and they were coming to attack his people. Although he had more than two decades of experience, he decided to ask God what to do. He prayed, “[We] will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us” (2 Chronicles 20:9). He also asked for guidance, saying, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (v. 12).

Jehoshaphat’s humble approach to the challenge opened his heart to God’s involvement, which came in the form of encouragement and divine intervention (vv. 15–17, 22). No matter how much experience we have in certain areas, praying for help develops a holy reliance on God. It reminds us that He knows more than we do, and He’s ultimately in control. It puts us in a humble place—a place where He’s pleased to respond and support us, no matter what the outcome may be. By:  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Reflect & Pray

How has prayer helped you? What current challenge in your life might benefit from prayer?

Dear God, thank You for listening and responding to prayer. I worship You as the all-knowing, all-powerful God. Please help me in each challenge I face today.

Learn how to pray effectively.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, May 04, 2023

Vicarious Intercession

…having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus… —Hebrews 10:19

Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.”

Spiritual stubbornness is the most effective hindrance to intercession, because it is based on a sympathetic “understanding” of things we see in ourselves and others that we think needs no atonement. We have the idea that there are certain good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the atonement by the Cross of Christ. Just the sluggishness and lack of interest produced by this kind of thinking makes us unable to intercede. We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others, and we get irritated with Him. Yet we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies. We have to realize that the identification of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.

Am I stubborn or substituted? Am I spoiled or complete in my relationship to God? Am I irritable or spiritual? Am I determined to have my own way or determined to be identified with Him?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 16-18; Luke 22:47-71

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, May 04, 2023

WHEN POWER IS ABUSED - #9474

We'll put up with a lot from our politicians, but not everything. See, we really don't like it when someone in power abuses that power for personal gain, to cover up wrongdoing, to exploit other people.

I remember some years ago, there was a former governor allegedly using his position to feather his own financial nest. At least that's what he was accused of. And at the same time, there were accusations flying about another governor who some say had used his power to punish people and intimidate people. But accusations sometimes are all it takes to turn public opinion.

Now on the other hand, the press can abuse its power, right? Slanting the news to serve their view of how the world, they think, should be.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Power is Abused."

My first brush with the abuse of power was Boomer. Yeah, he was our neighborhood bully. I'm not sure if his mother predestined him to be a bully by naming him Boomer or if he just earned it. He was the biggest kid on the block. So he intimidated and threatened and ripped off all of us little kids; got away with it just because he was big. We hated it. We still do...all of us.

I find it very easy to see power being abused when it's someone else, but not so much when it's me doing it. Because, in one way or another, most of us have some kind of position that gives us some kind of power in people's lives. You know, being a husband. Well, then I would have the power to elevate my wife or push her down. As a parent, well it gives me all kinds of power to make my children feel very special or very small.

As an employer, well that puts me in a driver's seat where I can dominate or develop people. There are men who use their power to use and abuse and diminish women. Thus exposing what small men they are. There are women who use their power to manipulate and control, and therefore forfeiting the tenderness and the selflessness that makes a woman really beautiful.

There are parents who use the incalculable power they have to crush, to criticize, to belittle their children. Or to use a son or daughter to fulfill what they once were or what they never were and want to be and birthing a robot or a rebel in the process. There are leaders who feel their position entitles them to ignore the rules, be entitled, and treat people as things. Thus failing as humans no matter how high they rise. Power is a trust, not a weapon, not a platform for your personal agenda, not a license to live for yourself.

In my lifetime, there have been people I had to follow just because they were in the power position. Then there have been those that I wanted to follow whether they had the position or not because of their character; leading, not using. Leaving you encouraged, not diminished. Making other people feel important instead of acting like they were important.

That's power. Not being a control freak, which is often why we covet power; to be in control. Tragically, that puts us in the danger zone with the very God who has all the power there is. See, we'd like to be God for us. We've decided we'll take charge of a life that God created. It's called sin. We hijack it from Him.

But defying God has a high price tag. In our word for today from the Word of God, Isaiah 59:2 it says, "Your sins have separated you from your God." Haven't you felt that wall between you and God? Living with that wall means never knowing the purpose and the love you were made for. Dying with it means it'll be there forever.

Our power grab of our life would have cost us everything except for the amazing intervention of the very God we've rebelled against. The Bible says, "He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Picture that cross; Jesus dying there. And you could stand there and say, "For me, Jesus, this is for me." And once you have Him, you have the person who walked out of his grave under his own power, and He's bigger than any Boomer you'll ever face.

Begin a relationship with Him. Go to our website and check out how to get that done. It's ANewStory.com. There's no reason to live one more day without the person who loves you the most.