2 Chronicles 34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WHAT KIND OF MAN - March 8, 2024

When I was six years old, my dad let me stay up with the rest of the family and watch the movie The Wolf Man. Boy, did he regret that decision! I was convinced that the Wolf Man spent each night prowling our den. More than once I retreated to my father’s bedroom and awoke him. He would then climb out of bed, arm himself with super-human courage, and escort me through the valley of the shadow of death, and pour me a glass of milk.

Might it be that God views our storms the way my father viewed my Wolf Man angst? He handles the great quaking with great calm, and the disciples are left wondering, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:27 NCV). What kind of man indeed.

2 Chronicles 34

King Josiah

1–2  34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He behaved well before God. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to the left or right.

3–7  When he had been king for eight years—he was still only a teenager—he began to seek the God of David his ancestor. Four years later, the twelfth year of his reign, he set out to cleanse the neighborhood of sex-and-religion shrines, and get rid of the sacred Asherah groves and the god and goddess figurines, whether carved or cast, from Judah. He wrecked the Baal shrines, tore down the altars connected with them, and scattered the debris and ashes over the graves of those who had worshiped at them. He burned the bones of the priests on the same altars they had used when alive. He scrubbed the place clean, Judah and Jerusalem, clean inside and out. The cleanup campaign ranged outward to the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and the surrounding neighborhoods—as far north as Naphtali. Throughout Israel he demolished the altars and Asherah groves, pulverized the god and goddess figures, chopped up the neighborhood shrines into firewood. With Israel once more intact, he returned to Jerusalem.

8–13  One day in the eighteenth year of his kingship, with the cleanup of country and Temple complete, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the mayor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the historian to renovate The Temple of God. First they turned over to Hilkiah the high priest all the money collected by the Levitical security guards from Manasseh and Ephraim and the rest of Israel, and from Judah and Ben-jamin and the citizens of Jerusalem. It was then put into the hands of the foremen managing the work on The Temple of God who then passed it on to the workers repairing God’s Temple—the carpenters, construction workers, and masons—so they could buy the lumber and dressed stone for rebuilding the foundations the kings of Judah had allowed to fall to pieces. The workmen were honest and diligent. Their foremen were Jahath and Obadiah, the Merarite Levites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites—these managed the project. The Levites—they were all skilled musicians—were in charge of the common laborers and supervised the workers as they went from job to job. The Levites also served as accountants, managers, and security guards.

14–17  While the money that had been given for The Temple of God was being received and dispersed, Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of The Revelation of Moses. He reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve just found the Book of God’s Revelation, instructing us in God’s way—found it in The Temple!” He gave it to Shaphan, who then gave it to the king. And along with the book, he gave this report: “The job is complete—everything you ordered done is done. They took all the money that was collected in The Temple of God and handed it over to the managers and workers.”

18  And then Shaphan told the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan proceeded to read it out to the king.

19–21  When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and what’s left of Israel and Judah. Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book of God, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”

22–25  Hilkiah and those picked by the king went straight to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, who was in charge of the palace wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. The men consulted with her. In response to them she said, “God’s word, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you here, ‘God has spoken, I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods; they’ve made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses. My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.’

26–28  “And also tell the king of Judah, since he sent you to ask God for direction, God’s comment on what he read in the book: ‘Because you took seriously the doom of judgment I spoke against this place and people, and because you responded in humble repentance, tearing your robe in dismay and weeping before me, I’m taking you seriously. God’s word. I’ll take care of you; you’ll have a quiet death and be buried in peace. You won’t be around to see the doom that I’m going to bring upon this place and people.’ ”

The men took her message back to the king.

29–31  The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and then proceeding to The Temple of God bringing everyone in his train—priests and prophets and people ranging from the least to the greatest. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of God. The king stood by his pillar and before God solemnly committed himself to the covenant: to follow God believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to confirm with his life the entire covenant, all that was written in the book.

32  Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Ben-jamin commit themselves. And they did it. They committed themselves to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

33  Josiah did a thorough job of cleaning up the pollution that had spread throughout Israelite territory and got everyone started fresh again, serving and worshiping their God. All through Josiah’s life the people kept to the straight and narrow, obediently following God, the God of their ancestors.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 08, 2024

Today's Scripture

Exodus 4:1–5

 Moses objected, “They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They’re going to say, ‘God? Appear to him? Hardly!’ ”

2  So God said, “What’s that in your hand?”

“A staff.”

3  “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it. It became a snake; Moses jumped back—fast!

4–5  God said to Moses, “Reach out and grab it by the tail.” He reached out and grabbed it—and he was holding his staff again. “That’s so they will trust that God appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Insight

In Exodus 3–4, Moses’ humanity is on full display. This great prophet of God is also a human being we can relate to. In fear, he refuses to accept God’s commission to lead His people out of slavery. This occurs even as God performs miracles in Moses’ presence—the bush unconsumed by fire (3:1-3) and his staff turning into a snake (4:3). When Moses’ staff becomes a serpent, he reacts as most of us would: “he ran from it” (v. 3). He did, however, show courage and faith when he grabbed the snake by the tail (v. 4). The safest way to hold a venomous snake (don’t do it!) is behind the head, preventing it from striking. The power wasn’t in Moses’ staff, nor was it in himself. The power was in the God of Israel, who was infinitely greater than the gods of Egypt, including the snake. By: Tim Gustafson

Using What God Provides

Then the Lord said to [Moses], “What is that in your hand?” Exodus 4:2

The Brisbane City Hall in Australia was a dazzling 1920s project. White stairs boasted marble from the same quarry Michelangelo used for his David sculpture. The tower reflected Venice’s St. Mark’s Basilica, and the copper dome was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The builders intended for a massive Angel of Peace to adorn the pinnacle, but there was a problem: no money left. Plumber Fred Johnson came to the rescue. He used a toilet cistern, an old lamp post, and bits of scrap metal to craft the iconic orb that’s crowned the tower for nearly one hundred years.

Much like Fred Johnson and his use of what he had, we can join God’s work with whatever we have—large or small. When He asked Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, Moses balked: “What if they do not . . . listen to me?” (Exodus 4:1) God answered with a simple question: “What is that in your hand?” (v. 2). Moses held a staff, a simple stick. God told him to throw the staff on the ground, “and it became a snake” (v. 3). Then He instructed Moses to pick up the snake, and it turned back into a staff. All Moses needed to do, God explained, was carry the staff and trust Him to do the rest. Remarkably, He would use that stick in Moses’ hand to rescue Israel from the Egyptians (7:10–12; 17:5–7).

What we have might not seem like much to us, but with God, whatever we have will be enough. He takes our ordinary resources and uses them for His work. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

What small thing can you use for God? Why is it vital that you trust Him with it?

Dear God, I surrender what I have to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 08, 2024

The Surrendered Life

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

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 11:1-18

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 08, 2024

Cleverly-Disguised Poison - #9695

The movie opened in theaters on Valentine's Weekend. It was called Fifty Shades of Grey. A hundred million copies of the book had been sold. It was known for its portrayal of a young virgin seduction into sado-masochistic sex in a charming man's "room of pain." I know, gross. A friend told me that it was the talk of all the women in her office; 40- and 50-year-old women "giggling like schoolgirls." Dying to see it. To see a woman submitting to sexual violence in the name of "exploring her dark desires."

The top ten advance ticket sales were from Bible Belt states mostly. A lot of anecdotal evidence and Facebook postings suggested a great "buzz" about that movie from people with Christian backgrounds.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Cleverly-Disguised Poison."

Christian. That's the ones of whom the Bible says, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). To whom God says in our word for today from the Word of God (Ephesians 5 beginning with verse 3), "Among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity...you are light in the Lord...have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness."

It's not that God is against sexual passion. Far from it. He invented it! To unite, to ignite the lifetime love of a husband and wife. "Rejoice in the wife of your youth," He says. "Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love" (Proverbs 5:18-19 NLT).

But sex the Inventor's way always means honoring a woman, respecting a woman, uplifting a woman; never hurting her, using her, violating her. Ephesians 5:28 (NLT) says, "Husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies." "The two will become one flesh," Jesus said. A holy, tender, loving merging of two lives, expressed with the passionate merging of their bodies together.

But "Christian" interest in a morally bankrupt, "must-see" movie exposes much larger issues; more troubling issues, like the compartmentalizing of our faith. "Hey, I believe in Jesus. But this is my business, this is my love life, and this is my entertainment."

Nope. "You must be holy in everything you do" (1 Peter 1:15 NLT). Everything. If I'm deciding where Jesus is in charge and where He isn't, then He's not Lord. I am. I have dethroned the Son of God and made me my de facto God.

Then there's our naiveté about entertainment. "It's only a movie. It's only a song. It's only a TV show. It's only a website" See, entertainment is our hellish enemy's "stealth bomber" that slips death into our soul under the radar.

James 1:15 - what a hammer this verse is! "Desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." We'd run from a frontal temptation to do this thing we think we'll never do. So the enemy of our soul just plants a thought, a desire, an indelible image. First, sin fascinates you. Then, it assassinates you.

The terrorist from hell says, "Watch this. It won't hurt." The Savior who loves you says, "Guard your heart...it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23). A little poison in the reservoir becomes death in the water.

There are a thousand shades of dark, inviting us to what looks like a party but ends up in a prison; a prison that Jesus Christ, Prince of Heaven, came to save us from. To show us we are more than a body to be used. We are a soul to be cherished.

This very day, if you've never experienced this most genuine, lasting, satisfying love of all, for yourself - the love of Christ demonstrated on a cross, dying for your sin. Let your search for love end today by giving yourself to Him. You can find out how that relationship begins at our website ANewStory.com.

You're too precious to degrade, too precious to defile; you, Jesus thought, were worth dying for.

2 Chronicles 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: EVERYTHING IS SECURE - March 7, 2024

My father had a bedtime routine that makes me smile to think about it. About ten o’clock each night, he would meander into the kitchen, crumble a piece of corn bread into a glass of buttermilk, and drink it. He then made the rounds to the front and back doors, checking the locks. Then he would step into the bedroom I shared with my brother and say, “Everything is secure, boys. You can go to sleep now.”

I believe God loves his children. He monitors your life. He doesn’t need to check the doors; he is the door. Nothing will come your way apart from his permission. Listen carefully and you will hear him say, “Everything is secure. You can rest now.” By his power you will “be anxious for nothing…” and discover the “peace…which passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV).

2 Chronicles 33

King Manasseh

1–6  33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country when God dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. He rebuilt the sex-and-religion shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down, he built altars and phallic images for the sex god Baal and the sex goddess Asherah and worshiped the cosmic powers, taking orders from the constellations. He built shrines to the cosmic powers and placed them in both courtyards of The Temple of God, the very Jerusalem Temple dedicated exclusively by God’s decree to God’s Name (“in Jerusalem I place my Name”). He burned his own sons in a sacrificial rite in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced witchcraft and fortunetelling. He held séances and consulted spirits from the underworld. Much evil—in God’s view a career in evil. And God was angry.

7–8  As a last straw he placed a carved image of the sex goddess Asherah that he had commissioned in The Temple of God, a flagrant and provocative violation of God’s well-known command to both David and Solomon, “In this Temple and in this city Jerusalem, my choice out of all the tribes of Israel, I place my Name—exclusively and forever.” He had promised, “Never again will I let my people Israel wander off from this land I’ve given to their ancestors. But on this condition, that they keep everything I’ve commanded in the instructions my servant Moses passed on to them.”

9–10  But Manasseh led Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem off the beaten path into practices of evil exceeding even the evil of the pagan nations that God had earlier destroyed. When God spoke to Manasseh and his people about this, they ignored him.

11–13  Then God directed the leaders of the troops of the king of Assyria to come after Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose, shackles on his feet, and took him off to Babylon. Now that he was in trouble, he went to his knees in prayer asking for help—total repentance before the God of his ancestors. As he prayed, God was touched; God listened and brought him back to Jerusalem as king. That convinced Manasseh that God was in control.

14–17  After that Manasseh rebuilt the outside defensive wall of the City of David to the west of the Gihon spring in the valley. It went from the Fish Gate and around the hill of Ophel. He also increased its height. He tightened up the defense system by posting army captains in all the fortress cities of Judah. He also did a good spring cleaning on The Temple, carting out the pagan idols and the goddess statue. He took all the altars he had set up on The Temple hill and throughout Jerusalem and dumped them outside the city. He put the Altar of God back in working order and restored worship, sacrificing Peace-Offerings and Thank-Offerings. He issued orders to the people: “You shall serve and worship God, the God of Israel.” But the people didn’t take him seriously—they used the name “God” but kept on going to the old pagan neighborhood shrines and doing the same old things.

18–19  The rest of the history of Manasseh—his prayer to his God, and the sermons the prophets personally delivered by authority of God, the God of Israel—this is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. His prayer and how God was touched by his prayer, a list of all his sins and the things he did wrong, the actual places where he built the pagan shrines, the installation of the sex-goddess Asherah sites, and the idolatrous images that he worshiped previous to his conversion—this is all described in the records of the prophets.

20  When Manasseh died, they buried him in the palace garden. His son Amon was the next king.

King Amon

21–23  Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He was king for two years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he lived an evil life, just like his father Manasseh, but he never did repent to God as Manasseh repented. He just kept at it, going from one thing to another.

24–25  In the end Amon’s servants revolted and assassinated him—killed the king right in his own palace. The citizens in their turn then killed the king’s assassins. The citizens then crowned Josiah, Amon’s son, as king.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 07, 2024

Today's Scripture

Proverbs 18:10–12

God’s name is a place of protection—

good people can run there and be safe.

11  The rich think their wealth protects them;

they imagine themselves safe behind it.

12  Pride first, then the crash,

but humility is precursor to honor.

Insight

The Hebrew word saghav is used twenty times in the Old Testament, and except for one occurrence in Deuteronomy 2:36, it’s only found in poetry passages. It occurs three times in the book of Proverbs (18:10, 11; 29:25). The word is rendered “safe” in Proverbs 18:10 and “too high to scale” in verse 11. It means “high,” “lofty,” “inaccessibly high”; something or someone who is safe, secure, out of reach.

Furthermore, the word fortified is used in Proverbs 18:10 and 11. “Might” or “strength” is what’s in view—physical, material, social, political. The contrast in these verses is between those who find their refuge in God and those who find security in possessions. In Psalm 20:7, David declares where our allegiance should be: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Discover the life-altering wisdom of Proverbs. By: Arthur Jackson

God Our Refuge

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10

The remarkable 2019 movie Little Women sent me back to my worn copy of the novel, especially the comforting words of Marmee, the wise and gentle mother. I’m drawn to the novel’s depiction of her steadfast faith, which underlies many of her words of encouragement to her daughters. One that stood out to me was this: “Troubles and temptations . . . may be many, but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your heavenly Father.” 

Marmee’s words echo the truth found in Proverbs that “the name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (18:10). Towers were built in ancient cities to be places of safety during danger, perhaps because of an enemy attack. In the same way, it’s through running to God that believers in Jesus can experience peace in the care of the One who’s “our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1).

Proverbs 18:10 tells us protection comes from God’s “name”—which refers to all of who He is. Scripture describes God as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). God’s protection comes from His mighty strength, as well as His tenderness and love, which causes Him to long to provide refuge to the hurting. For all who are struggling, our heavenly Father offers a place of refuge in His strength and tenderness.

By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced God’s strength in times of trouble? Where have you seen His comforting care?

Heavenly Father, please help me to run to You in both good times and times of struggle.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 07, 2024

The Source of Abundant Joy

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 07, 2024

Getting it By Letting Go of it - #9694

Some years I traveled to Alaska with my family to do some speaking up there. What an awesome place it is! You know, it says on the license plates The Last Frontier, and it really is. Now, we had one magnificent obsession while we were there. We wanted to see moose! We didn't see too many of those when we lived in New Jersey. So we wanted to see those moose.

Now, people there are literally running into moose with their cars all the time; kind of like deer in the lower 48. There are just so many moose on the roads. And we thought, "Hey, we're going to see one for sure." Well, my family had not yet seen one, and so while I was out speaking at a high school, they went into the Moose Range and said, "Alrighty, we're going to see them on the Moose Range." When I got back I said, "How did the great moose hunt go?" My son said, "Oh, did we have fun today, Dad. We spent two hours looking at trees." I said, "No moose?" He said, "No moose."

Well, we had looked and looked at all the places that they were supposed to be. The next morning we were coming out of our driveway and suddenly my son yelled, "Moose!" Yeah, well, after I totaled the car (no, not really), I looked around and there they were. We weren't even looking for them. Here are two moose just kind of nibbling the bark off a tree. And all of a sudden I remembered the advice we had received on our first day in Alaska. Someone told us, "As long as you're looking for a moose, you won't see one. But as soon as you stop looking, you'll find one." You know, that's true not only for moose, but maybe for some other quarry you might really want to find.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Getting it By Letting Go of it."

Once we had spotted our first two moose up there in Alaska, my daughter made an interesting point. She said, "You know, Dad, looking for these moose is a lot like trying to find the right guy to date isn't it?" I thought, "What? You want one with antlers?" No, I said, "What does she mean by that?" She said, "Well, when you stop looking, you finally find him." I thought, "Well, now that's an interesting principle." Does that check out biblically? Guess what? It does.

Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 37:4-5 - "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do this." Now, the part we like in these verses is that little sentence that says, "He will give you the desires of your heart." Well now, what do you really desire right now? What are you really tracking so to speak like we were tracking moose? Maybe right now your great desire is for someone to love you and for you to love...that partner you really want. Or maybe it's a home or a car, an office you desire to hold, a promotion you want, maybe some financial resources you really need or really want.

You say, "Well, my desire is to succeed in this enterprise that I'm involved in right now, or to have a position in ministry that I don't have. Notice what verbs aren't here. How do you get the desires of your heart? Well, the verbs that aren't here...it doesn't say, "Look for it." It doesn't say, "Pursue it." It doesn't say, "Insist on it or find a way to get it."

Notice what the verbs are. "Delight yourself in the Lord..." "Commit your way to the Lord." "Trust in Him." In other words, you let go of it and you get it when you stop looking for it, when you stop chasing it, when you stop insisting on it. You turn your deepest desire over to your Lord, of whom it is said in the Bible, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." That's a promise for a follower of Christ. And then it starts to happen. Let Him send it to you in His way, in His time.

See, if He gave it to you when you wanted it this badly you might make an idol out of it. So, learn a lesson from our surprising Alaskan moose. When you stop looking and stop insisting on the great desire of your life, you're most likely to find it... maybe right on your doorstep.

Acts 23:1-15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TOMORROW’S STRENGTH - March 6, 2024

Doesn’t each day have its share of challenges? The key to tranquility is to face today’s problems and no more. To treat each day like a self-contained unit. Meet today’s problems with God’s strength. But don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet.

When tomorrow’s problems surface, write them down and mentally drive them into a parking garage and leave them there. Don’t over-stress your coping skills. Give yourself permission to say, “I’ll solve this one tomorrow. Each day is a fresh start so I will start fresh in the morning.” Shut the gate on yesterday; don’t touch the gate on tomorrow. You only have today – live in it.

Acts 23:1-15

A Sound Like a Strong Wind

1–4  2 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

5–11  There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;

Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;

Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;

Even Cretans and Arabs!

“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”

12  Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”

13  Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”

Peter Speaks Up

14–21  That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Today's Scripture

Titus 3:4–8

But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.

8–11  I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone.

Insight

Titus, Paul’s gentile convert and protégé (Galatians 2:1), traveled with him on his missionary journeys (Titus 1:4). Paul had left him in Crete to strengthen the church (v. 5)—to teach believers how to live lives that honored Jesus, to set standards for leadership (ch. 1), and to encourage Christ-honoring and gracious behaviors within the church family and the unbelieving community (chs. 2–3). Paul reminds us that “[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (3:5). We’re “justified by his grace” (v. 7). We’re not saved by our good works, but we’re saved so we can do good works. Believers in Jesus must “be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good” (v. 8). We’re reminded that as “a people that are [God’s] very own,” we must be “eager to do what is good” (2:14). By: K. T. Sim

Doing Good for God

Remind the people . . . to be ready to do whatever is good. Titus 3:1

Though he didn’t normally carry money with him, Patrick sensed God was leading him to tuck a five-dollar bill in his pocket before leaving home. During the lunch hour at the school where he worked, he understood how God had prepared him to meet an urgent need. In the midst of the lunchroom buzz, he heard these words: “Scotty [a child in need] needs $5 to put on his account so he can eat lunch for the rest of the week.” Imagine the emotions Patrick experienced as he gave his money to help Scotty!

In Titus, Paul reminded believers in Jesus that they weren’t saved “because of righteous things [they] had done” (3:5), but they should “be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good” (v. 8; see v. 14). Life can be full, extremely busy, and hectic. Attending to our own well-being can be overwhelming. Yet, as believers in Jesus, we’re to be “good-works ready.” Rather than being overwhelmed by what we don’t have and can’t do, let’s think about what we do have and can do as God helps us. In doing so, we get to help others at the point of their needs, and God is honored. “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

What can hinder good-works readiness in your life? How can you reorder your life to be available for helping people who are in need?

Dear Father, please forgive me for the times I’ve ignored opportunities to do good. Help me to be more available to help others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Taking the Next Step

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Spiritual Dynamite In Your Hands - #9693

I thought I might have to live to 100 to see the widening of this major highway in our area ever get finished. Man, it took forever it seemed like! But the trip north, oh now, it's a breeze. I love it.

And I know why it took so long - mountains. Yeah, see, they were trying to put a road where there were hills and mountains, and those don't just move real easily. After all, they've been there quite a while. But they did move, because even a mountain was no match for explosives like dynamite. It's amazing what dynamite can do. It just blows away whatever is in its way.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Dynamite In Your Hands."

Now, I love the fact that the Bible calls the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, "the power of God." In fact, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 1:16, where Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."

Let's go back to that power word. The original Greek word that God uses is "dunamis." And you can probably figure out what we get in our English from that - dynamite. The message of Jesus' death for us on the cross and His resurrection from the dead is God's dynamite!

I spent July praying for and encouraging a team of Native American young people, and I got to watch them share that explosive Message on several Indian reservations. They were right out in the open; they're on basketball courts in the middle of everything. They were facing obstacles that have hobbled missionaries for centuries; the belief that "Jesus is only the white man's god," "We have our own Native religion; we don't need Jesus." They were facing the belief that "All religions are basically the same." They were facing objections that "Bad things were done to us in the name of Christianity."

But God used these brown-skinned ambassadors as He has summer after summer as they told about our brown-skinned Savior. And He used them to detonate God's dynamite. I saw it happen. I've seen it happen over and over again. I was an eyewitness to hundreds of Native young people doing what so few of them have ever done. They were putting their lives in the hands of Jesus; many of them publicly. I remember telling some of our team members who were weeping over some young people who didn't come to Christ. I said, "Yeah, but you put the stick of dynamite in their heart. Remember, dynamite blows away whatever is in its way."

You know, with the victories, there were tears that summer. They saw a lot of kids turn their back on Jesus, in spite of a young warrior who poured out their heart to reach them. It's a heartache that's not just unique to reservation rescue attempts. A lot of us are carrying a heavy burden for someone who just doesn't seem to care about the Savior who cares so very much for them. And we are wondering, "Will they ever come to Jesus?"

On those nights when I saw the tears of brokenhearted rescuers who had to leave someone lost, I gave them an awesome promise from God and I give it to you today. Psalm 126:5-6 - "Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest."

Remember, when you give someone the Good News about Jesus, you're planting that stick of holy dynamite in their hearts. It's dynamite strong enough to demolish the walls, the defenses they have built around their lost heart. And God knows exactly what time is the right time to push "detonate."

No, it's way too soon to give up on that person you care about. You told them about your Jesus, and God has lit the fuse.

Nahum 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: IN ALL DAYS - March 5, 2024

We point to our sick child, crutches, or famine and say, “This makes no sense!” Yet out of all God’s work, how much do we truly understand? Only a sliver.  What if God’s answer to the question of suffering requires more megabytes than our puny minds have been given?

This was Paul’s opinion. “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV). What is coming will make sense of what is happening now. Let God finish his work. The forecast is simple. Good days, bad days. But God is in all days. He is the Lord of the famine and the Lord of the feast, and he uses both to accomplish his will.

Nahum 3

Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth

1–4  3 Doom to Murder City—

full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence!

Horns blaring, wheels clattering,

horses rearing, chariots lurching,

Horsemen galloping,

brandishing swords and spears,

Dead bodies rotting in the street,

corpses stacked like cordwood,

Bodies in every gutter and alley,

clogging every intersection!

And whores! Whores without end!

Whore City,

Fatally seductive, you’re the Witch of Seduction,

luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells.

5–7  “I’m your enemy, Whore Nineveh—

I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!

I’ll strip you of your seductive silk robes

and expose you on the world stage.

I’ll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth

of who you really are and have been all along.

I’ll pelt you with dog dung

and place you on a pedestal: ‘Slut on Exhibit.’

Everyone who sees you will gag and say,

‘Nineveh’s a pigsty:

What on earth did we ever see in her?

Who would give her a second look? Ugh!’ ”

Past the Point of No Return

8–13  Do you think you’re superior to Egyptian Thebes,

proudly invincible on the River Nile,

Protected by the great River,

walled in by the River, secure?

Ethiopia stood guard to the south,

Egypt to the north.

Put and Libya, strong friends,

were ready to step in and help.

But you know what happened to her:

The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp,

Her babies smashed to death

in public view on the streets,

Her prize leaders auctioned off,

her celebrities put in chain gangs.

Expect the same treatment, Nineveh.

You’ll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks,

Wondering what hit you,

looking for a place to sleep it off.

All your forts are like peach trees,

the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking.

One shake of the tree and they fall

straight into hungry mouths.

Face it: Your warriors are wimps.

You’re sitting ducks.

Your borders are gaping doors, inviting

your enemies in. And who’s to stop them?

14–15  Store up water for the siege.

Shore up your defenses.

Get down to basics: Work the clay

and make bricks.

Sorry. Too late.

Enemy fire will burn you up.

Swords will cut you to pieces.

You’ll be chewed up as if by locusts.

15–17  Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate,

for you yourselves are a locust plague.

You’ve multiplied shops and shopkeepers—

more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky!

A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood

and then flying off.

Your bureaucrats are locusts,

your brokers and bankers are locusts.

Early on, they’re all at your service,

full of smiles and promises,

But later when you return with questions or complaints,

you’ll find they’ve flown off and are nowhere to be found.

18–19  King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,

in charge of caring for your people,

Are busy doing everything else but.

They’re not doing their job,

And your people are scattered and lost.

There’s no one to look after them.

You’re past the point of no return.

Your wound is fatal.

When the story of your fate gets out,

the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”

Your cruel evil has seeped

into every nook and cranny of the world.

Everyone has felt it and suffered.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

Today's Scripture

Judges 7:7-8, 16–22

 God said to Gideon: “I’ll use the three hundred men who lapped at the stream to save you and give Midian into your hands. All the rest may go home.”

8  After Gideon took all their provisions and trumpets, he sent all the Israelites home. He took up his position with the three hundred. The camp of Midian stretched out below him in the valley.

16–18  He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar, with a torch in the jar. He said, “Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly what I do. When I and those with me blow the trumpets, you also, all around the camp, blow your trumpets and shout, ‘For God and for Gideon!’ ”

19–22  Gideon and his hundred men got to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the sentries had been posted. They blew the trumpets, at the same time smashing the jars they carried. All three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, ready to blow, and shouted, “A sword for God and for Gideon!” They were stationed all around the camp, each man at his post. The whole Midianite camp jumped to its feet. They yelled and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, God aimed each Midianite’s sword against his companion, all over the camp. They ran for their lives—to Beth Shittah, toward Zererah, to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

Insight

The historical setting for the book of Judges lies in the period between the books of Joshua and Samuel. During the time of the judges, God’s great power was manifested through unlikely people who found themselves in difficult situations because of their covenant unfaithfulness. Several judges are listed among the faith exemplars in Hebrews 11: “What more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah . . . who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised” (vv. 32-33). By: Arthur Jackson

God’s Greater Power

The Lord said, . . . I have given you victory over them! Judges 7:9 nlt

In March 1945, the “Ghost Army” helped US forces achieve the Rhine River crossing—giving the allies a vital base to operate from on World War II’s Western Front. The soldiers were most definitely human, not apparitions, all part of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. On this occasion, the 1,100-man team imitated 30,000 men by using inflatable decoy tanks, blasting troop and vehicle sound effects over speakers, and more. The relatively small number of Ghost Army members led the enemy to fear what appeared to be a far greater force.

The Midianites and their allies also trembled before a tiny army that loomed large in the night (Judges 7:8–22). Gideon, a judge and military leader of Israel, was used by God to make his puny army a source of terror for the enemy. They also used sound effects (blown trumpets, smashed clay jars, human voices) and visible objects (blazing torches) to make the vast enemy—as “thick as locusts” (v. 12)—believe they were facing a colossal foe. Israel defeated their enemy that night with an army whittled down from 32,000 men to just 300 by God’s command (vv. 2–8). Why? Because that made it clear who truly won the battle. As God told Gideon, “I have given you victory over them!” (v. 9 nlt).

When we feel weak and inferior, let’s seek God and rest in His strength alone. For His “power is made perfect in [our] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). By:  Tom Felten

Reflect & Pray

What big foes or challenges are you facing? How can you rest in God’s power as you confront them?

Dear Jesus, let me find Your strength in my weakness.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

Is He Really My Lord?

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

The San Diego Zoo? Oh, it's one of the largest in the world, and our family had a chance to visit there. And we were told that the best way to see all of these terrific animal exhibits was to take the tour bus. Well, they were right, but when we got to the tour bus there were two lines.

One was very long, and one was very short. Of course the problem was that the short one was going to the lower level of the bus so you could get on quickly. If you wanted to wait a little longer you had to wait in that long line. Those people got to the top of the bus.

Well, we debated for a minute. We said, "You know, we don't have a lot of time, but it seems like it'd be nicer if we were able to be on the top deck of that double-decker." So we took the long line. We reconsidered a couple of times because, man, it looked like a couple of buses were leaving with that other group in the shorter line, and we were still waiting for the top deck.

I'm so glad we did, because as we went around that great zoo we found out that if you really wanted to see the animals, you needed to be on the top deck, and you couldn't see nearly as much if you got in the short line and ended up on the lower deck. You know what we found out? The longer line led to the better view. Well you know what? That's sort of how life is; a lot of times the longer line leads to the better view.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting 'til It's Time."

Well our word for today from the Word of God is found in Acts 7:23. "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." Well... And if you remember the rest of the story, Moses then has to be a fugitive; he flees to the wilderness - he's in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, he actually had the right idea, God's people needed deliverance. Oh, yeah, and he was to be the leader, but he got the jump on God. He did it the wrong way; he couldn't wait.

Listen to this: Now 40 years later God speaks to him in the burning bush and He says, "I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come..." Basically He says, "Now is the time I'm going to move. Now is the right time." And He says, "I will send you back to Egypt." See, it made all the difference when God sent him as opposed to Moses sending himself. God's timing made all the difference. Moses had the right idea, but he couldn't wait.

See waiting, standing in the longer line, sometimes gives you a better perspective; a real solution instead of a half solution. A lot of us have got some buried Egyptians in the past of some remnants of some of the ways we tried to do it, and we couldn't wait for God to do it His way.

Maybe God's asking you to wait in the longer line right now. And you know what? It's tempting to speed up the process, isn't it? Maybe you want to be married now, but He's asking you to wait. Maybe He's asking you to wait on that financial solution, or that change in your job, or that family member to change, a door you want to open, a prayer that you fervently want answered. But see, God still wants to prepare you a little more. You're not ready yet for the answer. Or maybe the answer isn't ready for you yet. Maybe He wants to prepare some of the other people involved in the answer and they're not ready yet. So don't do the easy thing; don't do the impatient thing.

Probably there's nothing that's cost more people the perfect will of God than impatience. So, don't jump to the high-speed line. Remember that the longer line may very well lead to the better view.

Nahum 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING - March 4, 2024

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are reaching epidemic proportions. It’s enough to make us wonder if the apostle Paul was out of touch with reality when he wrote, “Be anxious for nothing.”

“Be anxious for less” would have been a sufficient challenge. Or “Be anxious only on Thursdays.” But Paul doesn’t seem to offer any leeway here. Be anxious for nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Is this what he meant? Well, not exactly. The Lucado Revised Translation reads, “Don’t let anything in life leave you perpetually breathless and in angst.” The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety? That’s optional.

Israel’s Been to Hell and Back

1  2 The juggernaut’s coming!

Post guards, lay in supplies.

Get yourselves together,

get ready for the big battle.

2  God has restored the Pride of Jacob,

the Pride of Israel.

Israel’s lived through hard times.

He’s been to hell and back.

3–12  Weapons flash in the sun,

the soldiers splendid in battle dress,

Chariots burnished and glistening,

ready to charge,

A spiked forest of brandished spears,

lethal on the horizon.

The chariots pour into the streets.

They fill the public squares,

Flaming like torches in the sun,

like lightning darting and flashing.

The Assyrian king rallies his men,

but they stagger and stumble.

They run to the ramparts

to stem the tide, but it’s too late.

Soldiers pour through the gates.

The palace is demolished.

Soon it’s all over:

Nineveh stripped, Nineveh doomed,

Maids and slaves moaning like doves,

beating their breasts.

Nineveh is a tub

from which they’ve pulled the plug.

Cries go up, “Do something! Do something!”

but it’s too late. Nineveh’s soon empty—nothing.

Other cries come: “Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

A bonanza of plunder!

Take everything you want!”

Doom! Damnation! Desolation!

Hearts sink,

knees fold,

stomachs retch,

faces blanch.

So, what happened to the famous

and fierce Assyrian lion

And all those cute Assyrian cubs?

To the lion and lioness

Cozy with their cubs,

fierce and fearless?

To the lion who always returned from the hunt

with fresh kills for lioness and cubs,

The lion lair heaped with bloody meat,

blood and bones for the royal lion feast?

13  “Assyria, I’m your enemy,”

says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“I’ll torch your chariots. They’ll go up in smoke.

‘Lion Country’ will be strewn with carcasses.

The war business is over—you’re out of work:

You’ll have no more wars to report,

No more victories to announce.

You’re out of war work forever.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, March 04, 2024

Today's Scripture

Ephesians 3:14-20

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

20–21  God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Insight

The word dwell in Ephesians 3:17 is a translation of the word katoikeo. Literally, the word means “to settle down in a dwelling, to dwell fixedly in a place.” Twice in Colossians Paul used this word to emphasize the deity and supremacy of Jesus: “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (1:19); “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (2:9). Christ Himself, through His Spirit, makes His home in us (Romans 8:9, 11; Ephesians 3:17), and the implications of Him residing in each member of His body are significant. Believers in Jesus are to conduct their lives in a manner that acknowledges and respects the residency of a “houseguest” like no other. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you . . . ?” Paul says. “Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). By: Arthur Jackson

Jesus Dwells Within

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts. Ephesians 3:17 nlt

As a blizzard bore down on my state in the western United States, my widowed mother agreed to stay with my family to “ride out” the storm. After the blizzard, however, she never returned to her house. She moved in, dwelling with us for the rest of her life. Her presence changed our household in many positive ways. She was available daily to provide wisdom, advice to family members, and share ancestral stories. She and my husband became the best of friends, sharing a similar sense of humor and love of sports. No longer a visitor, she was a permanent and vital resident—forever changing our hearts even after God called her home.

The experience recalls John’s description of Jesus—that He “dwelt among us” (John 1:14 kjv). It’s a compelling description because in the original Greek the word dwelt means “to pitch a tent.” Another translation says, He “made his home among us” (nlt).

By faith, we also receive Jesus as the One who dwells in our hearts. As Paul wrote, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong” (Ephesians 3:16–17 nlt).

Not a casual visitor, Jesus is an empowering permanent resident of all who follow Him. May we open wide the doors of our hearts and welcome Him.

By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

What does it mean for you to open your heart to Christ? How can you make Him more welcome?

As You live in my heart, loving Jesus, make me more like You.

Learn more about the life of Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, March 04, 2024

Is This True of Me?

None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself… —Acts 20:24

It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.

What do I count in my life as “dear to myself”? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as “dear to myself.” But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, “Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.” That attitude chooses our own judgment, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use— but always consider that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are His.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

Bible in a Year: Numbers 31-33; Mark 9:1-29

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, March 04, 2024

Plane on the Edge and Life's Bottom Line - #9691

I love the view of Manhattan when you fly into LaGuardia Airport. The view around the runways? Not so much. Water on three sides. The thought has crossed my mind, "A plane could end up in the water some day."

On March 6, 2015, one almost did with 127 passengers on board. A jetliner that slid off the runway, crashing through a fence - its nose virtually in the water.

A passenger said he knew the wheels weren't getting traction on that icy runway that day. Next thing - the jet was sliding uncontrollably to the left, off the runway and to the edge of the East River with some passengers crying, some praying, and some frantic. This young man named Jared was praying. He told the reporter, "Something like this makes you reflect on your relationship with God. God must not be done writing the story of my life."

If God hasn't mattered much before, He really matters when you may have been seconds away from seeing Him. I've had a couple of pretty close calls in my life; some on an airplane, some in a car. And you really do - or you really should - start asking the bottom line questions we're usually too busy to consider.

Somewhere along the way, we all get our wake-up call. So we'll stop and examine our life, our priorities, our relationship with God, and our eternal destination. Moments that bring us to the brink of eternity point us to life's big questions. What really matters and what really doesn't? Why am I here? Why did God spare me? If this had been the end, what then?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Plane on the Edge and Life's Bottom Line."

The meaning of our life? The only One who can tell us is the One who gave us our life. And He has in His Book. We are, He says in the Bible, "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Problem: I've lived pretty much for me. So I'm missing my purpose until I know my Creator.

What really matters? Well, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." What matters - and all that satisfies - is what will last forever. What about eternity? God says in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 9:27, that man is "destined to die once and after that comes judgment." That can be disturbing because we're not ready. Because, as the Bible says, "your sins have cut you off from God" (Isaiah 59:2), and that's a terrible way to meet God.

Thank God for Jesus! On that bloody Good Friday, I'll read you these five life-changing words right out of the Bible, "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3). So we don't have to. He loved us. He didn't want to lose you. And the Bible gives us this best of good news in John 3:36, "anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life."

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? It doesn't just mean to agree with His teachings, or like Him, or know a lot about Him. No, it's what happened the day I was drowning when I was ten years old and a man jumped in to save me. I grabbed him like he was my only hope, because he was. I'd have died without him.

You know, that's what it means to believe in Jesus. You grab Him like He's your only hope. He is your only hope, because no one else died for your sins. If you don't take His death for you, you pay for your sins. No one else can give you eternal life because no one else has got it except the man who walked out of His grave.

This day He is ready to make you ready for eternity by changing a death penalty for your sin to eternal life you could never earn and never deserved. I'd love to show you how to begin that relationship with Him if you'd just go to our website ANewStory.com. In a very short time there I think you'll understand how to begin that relationship with Jesus Christ.

I gave myself to this Jesus. And because of Him, I - and millions like me - have this anchored peace, even in the face of death. I'm ready for eternity whenever or however it comes. And you can be too.

Nahum 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Grace Comes After You ·

God’s grace!  It has a wildness about it.  A white-water, rip-tide, turn-you-upside-downess about it. Grace comes after you!

Some years ago I underwent a heart procedure.  I asked the surgeon,

“You’re burning the interior of my heart, right?”

“Correct.”

“You intend to kill the misbehaving cells, yes?”

“That’s my plan.”

“As long as you’re in there, could you take your little blowtorch to some of my greed, selfishness, superiority, and guilt?”

He smiled, “Sorry, that’s out of my pay grade!”

But it’s not out of God’s!  We’d be wrong to think this change happens overnight. We’d be equally wrong to assume change never happens at all. It may come in fits and spurts—but it comes!

Titus 2:11 says, “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared.”

You just never know when grace will seep in.  Could you use some?

From GRACE

Nahum 1

God Is Serious Business

1  1 A report on the problem of Nineveh, the way God gave Nahum of Elkosh to see it:

2–6  God is serious business.

He won’t be trifled with.

He avenges his foes.

He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging.

But God doesn’t lose his temper.

He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power.

Still, no one gets by with anything.

Sooner or later, everyone pays.

Tornadoes and hurricanes

are the wake of his passage,

Storm clouds are the dust

he shakes off his feet.

He yells at the sea: It dries up.

All the rivers run dry.

The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,

the Lebanon orchards shrivel.

Mountains quake in their roots,

hills dissolve into mud flats.

Earth shakes in fear of God.

The whole world’s in a panic.

Who can face such towering anger?

Who can stand up to this fierce rage?

His anger spills out like a river of lava,

his fury shatters boulders.

7–10  God is good,

a hiding place in tough times.

He recognizes and welcomes

anyone looking for help,

No matter how desperate the trouble.

But cozy islands of escape

He wipes right off the map.

No one gets away from God.

Why waste time conniving against God?

He’s putting an end to all such scheming.

For troublemakers, no second chances.

Like a pile of dry brush,

Soaked in oil,

they’ll go up in flames.

A Think Tank for Lies

11  Nineveh’s an anthill

of evil plots against God,

A think tank for lies

that seduce and betray.

12–13  And God has something to say about all this:

“Even though you’re on top of the world,

With all the applause and all the votes,

you’ll be mowed down flat.

“I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true,

but I won’t afflict you again.

From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck

and splitting it up for kindling.

I’m cutting you free

from the ropes of your bondage.”

14  God’s orders on Nineveh:

“You’re the end of the line.

It’s all over with Nineveh.

I’m gutting your temple.

Your gods and goddesses go in the trash.

I’m digging your grave. It’s an unmarked grave.

You’re nothing—no, you’re less than nothing!”

15  Look! Striding across the mountains—

a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace!

A holiday, Judah! Celebrate!

Worship and recommit to God!

No more worries about this enemy.

This one is history. Close the books.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, March 03, 2024

Today's Scripture

Matthew 15:7-20

Frauds! Isaiah’s prophecy of you hit the bull’s-eye:

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their heart isn’t in it.

They act like they’re worshiping me,

but they don’t mean it.

They just use me as a cover

for teaching whatever suits their fancy.”

10–11  He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.”

12  Later his disciples came and told him, “Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?”

13–14  Jesus shrugged it off. “Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”

15  Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”

16–20  Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

Insight

When Jesus quoted Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9, it was from a passage in which God, through the prophet, confronted the people of Jerusalem over their self-righteous religious practices (Isaiah 29:13). In that day, the people claimed to know God, but their actions proved their hearts were stone-cold. In the Messiah’s day, He directed Isaiah’s accusation specifically at the Pharisees, who were guilty of the same sin. The Pharisees had just accused Jesus’ disciples of failing to wash their hands before eating. Mark’s parallel account about this scene expands on the Pharisees’ unhelpful tradition (see Mark 7:3-4). There was nothing wrong with the washing of one’s hands prior to eating. But the Pharisees had made this a requirement, elevating “human rules” to the status of God-ordained law (Matthew 15:9). By: Tim Gustafson

A Heart for Christ

Out of the heart come evil thoughts . . . these are what defile a person. Matthew 15:19-20

As long as you keep your mouth closed, I told myself, you won’t be doing anything wrong. I’d been outwardly holding back my anger toward a colleague after misinterpreting things she’d said. Since we had to see each other every day, I decided to limit communication to only what was necessary (and retaliate with my silent treatment). How could a quiet demeanor be wrong?

Jesus said that sin begins in the heart (Matthew 15:18-20). My silence may have fooled people into thinking all was well, but it wasn’t fooling God. He knew I was hiding a heart filled with anger. I was like the Pharisees who honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (v. 8). Even though my outward appearance didn’t show my true feelings, the bitterness was festering inside me. The joy and closeness I’d always felt with my heavenly Father were gone. Nurturing and hiding sin does that.

By God’s grace, I told my colleague how I was feeling and apologized. She graciously forgave me and, eventually, we became good friends. “Out of the heart come evil thoughts” (v. 19), Jesus says. The state of our heart matters because evil residing there can overflow into our lives. Both our exterior and interior matter. By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

Jesus said that the sin in our heart defiles us. What “evil thoughts” might be defiling your heart? How can you pray regarding this matter?

Loving God, please forgive me for the sins I’ve been nurturing in my heart. I want my heart to be pleasing in Your sight. Please help me to change.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, March 03, 2024

His Commission to Us

Feed My sheep. —John 21:17

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man.  Disciples Indeed, 388 L

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

Acts 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The Economy of Heaven

“A crown is being held for . . . all those who have waited with love for him to come again.” 2 Timothy 4:8

We understand that in the economy of earth, there are a limited number of crowns.

The economy of heaven, however, is refreshingly different. Heavenly rewards are not limited to a chosen few, but “to all those who have waited with love for him to come again.” The three-letter word all is a gem. The winner’s circle isn’t reserved for a handful of the elite but for a heaven full of God’s children.

Acts 22

 “My dear brothers and fathers, listen carefully to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions about me.” When they heard him speaking Hebrew, they grew even quieter. No one wanted to miss a word of this.

2–3  He continued, “I am a good Jew, born in Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under the exacting eye of Rabbi Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in our religious traditions. And I’ve always been passionately on God’s side, just as you are right now.

4–5  “I went after anyone connected with this ‘Way,’ went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the followers of Jesus there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing.

6–7  “As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?’

8–9  “ ‘Who are you, Master?’ I asked.

“He said, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the One you’re hunting down.’ My companions saw the light, but they didn’t hear the conversation.

10–11  “Then I said, ‘What do I do now, Master?’

“He said, ‘Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you’ll be told everything that’s been set out for you to do.’ And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance I had planned—I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me in by the hand.

12–13  “And that’s when I met Ananias, a man with a sterling reputation in observing our laws—the Jewish community in Damascus is unanimous on that score. He came and put his arm on my shoulder. ‘Look up,’ he said. I looked, and found myself looking right into his eyes—I could see again!

14–16  “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has hand-picked you to be briefed on his plan of action. You’ve actually seen the Righteous Innocent and heard him speak. You are to be a key witness to everyone you meet of what you’ve seen and heard. So what are you waiting for? Get up and get yourself baptized, scrubbed clean of those sins and personally acquainted with God.’

17–18  “Well, it happened just as Ananias said. After I was back in Jerusalem and praying one day in the Temple, lost in the presence of God, I saw him, saw God’s Righteous Innocent, and heard him say to me, ‘Hurry up! Get out of here as quickly as you can. None of the Jews here in Jerusalem are going to accept what you say about me.’

19–20  “At first I objected: ‘Who has better credentials? They all know how obsessed I was with hunting out those who believed in you, beating them up in the meeting places and throwing them in jail. And when your witness Stephen was murdered, I was right there, holding the coats of the murderers and cheering them on. And now they see me totally converted. What better qualification could I have?’

21  “But he said, ‘Don’t argue. Go. I’m sending you on a long journey to outsider non-Jews.’ ”

A Roman Citizen

22–25  The people in the crowd had listened attentively up to this point, but now they broke loose, shouting out, “Kill him! He’s an insect! Stomp on him!” They shook their fists. They filled the air with curses. That’s when the captain intervened and ordered Paul taken into the barracks. By now the captain was thoroughly exasperated. He decided to interrogate Paul under torture in order to get to the bottom of this, to find out what he had done that provoked this outraged violence. As they spread-eagled him with thongs, getting him ready for the whip, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen without a fair trial?”

26  When the centurion heard that, he went directly to the captain. “Do you realize what you’ve done? This man is a Roman citizen!”

27  The captain came back and took charge. “Is what I hear right? You’re a Roman citizen?”

Paul said, “I certainly am.”

28  The captain was impressed. “I paid a huge sum for my citizenship. How much did it cost you?”

“Nothing,” said Paul. “It cost me nothing. I was free from the day of my birth.”

29  That put a stop to the interrogation. And it put the fear of God into the captain. He had put a Roman citizen in chains and come within a whisker of putting him under torture!

30  The next day, determined to get to the root of the trouble and know for sure what was behind the Jewish accusation, the captain released Paul and ordered a meeting of the high priests and the High Council to see what they could make of it. Paul was led in and took his place before them.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 02, 2024

Today's Scripture

Ezekiel 1:22–28

 Over the heads of the living creatures was something like a dome, shimmering like a sky full of cut glass, vaulted over their heads. Under the dome one set of wings was extended toward the others, with another set of wings covering their bodies. When they moved I heard their wings—it was like the roar of a great waterfall, like the voice of The Strong God, like the noise of a battlefield. When they stopped, they folded their wings.

25–28  And then, as they stood with folded wings, there was a voice from above the dome over their heads. Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne. From what I could see, from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere! The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day—that’s what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of God!

When I saw all this, I fell to my knees, my face to the ground. Then I heard a voice.

Insight

When Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon first attacked Jerusalem, he took most people from Jerusalem into exile (2 Kings 24:10-14). Ezekiel was one of those captives. The book of Ezekiel opens five years later (Ezekiel 1:2) when Ezekiel was thirty years old—the year he would’ve been installed as a priest in Jerusalem. Instead, he was with the other exiles in a camp by a river in Babylon (v. 1). Yet God appeared to the prophet, revealing to him that not just in Jerusalem but even in this land of exile, He’s present in glory—“like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day . . . . This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (v. 28). By: Monica La Rose

Speaking as God Helps Us

Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Ezekiel 1:25

One wouldn’t normally think of butterflies as being loud creatures: after all, the flapping of a single Monarch butterfly’s wings is practically inaudible. But in the Mexican rainforest, where many of them begin their short lives, their collective flapping is surprisingly loud. When millions of Monarchs flap their wings at the same time, it sounds like a rushing waterfall.

The same description is made when four very different winged creatures appear in Ezekiel’s vision. Though fewer than the number of butterflies, he likens the sound of their flapping wings to “the roar of rushing waters” (Ezekiel 1:24). When the creatures stood still and lowered their wings, Ezekiel heard the voice of God calling him to “speak [God’s] words to [the Israelites]” (2:7).

Ezekiel, like the other Old Testament prophets, was charged with the task of speaking truth to God’s people. Today, God asks us all to share the truth of His good work in our lives with those He puts around us (1 Peter 3:15). Sometimes we’ll be asked a direct question—an invitation to share that’s as “loud” as a waterfall. Other times, the invitation might be more of a whisper, such as seeing an unspoken need. Whether the invitation to share God’s love is as loud as a million butterflies or as quiet as just one, we must listen, as Ezekiel did, with ears tuned to hear what God wants us to say. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

Who’s inviting you to speak into their lives—even if only faintly? How will you respond?

Thank You, Father, for inviting me to share about You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 02, 2024

Have You Felt the Pain Inflicted by the Lord?

He said to him the third time, "…do you love Me?" —John 21:17

Have you ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being, deep down in the most sensitive area of your life? The devil never inflicts pain there, and neither can sin nor human emotions. Nothing can cut through to that part of our being but the Word of God. “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ ” Yet he was awakened to the fact that at the center of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus. And then he began to see what Jesus’ patient questioning meant. There was not the slightest bit of doubt left in Peter’s mind; he could never be deceived again. And there was no need for an impassioned response; no need for immediate action or an emotional display. It was a revelation to him to realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he simply said, “Lord, You know all things….” Peter began to see how very much he did love Jesus, and there was no need to say, “Look at this or that as proof of my love.” Peter was beginning to discover within himself just how much he really did love the Lord. He discovered that his eyes were so fixed on Jesus Christ that he saw no one else in heaven above or on the earth below. But he did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord were asked. The Lord’s questions always reveal the true me to myself.

Oh, the wonder of the patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the perfect time. Rarely, but probably once in each of our lives, He will back us into a corner where He will hurt us with His piercing questions. Then we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than our words can ever say.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Numbers 26-27; Mark 8:1-21