Jeremiah 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TAKE HYPOCRISY SERIOUSLY - April 25, 2024

Hypocrisy turns people against God, so God has a no-tolerance policy. Let’s take hypocrisy as seriously as God does. Expect no credit for good deeds. Give financial gifts in secret. Don’t fake spirituality. When you go to church, don’t select a seat just to be seen or sing just to be heard. And if you raise your hands in worship, raise holy ones, not showy ones.

Bottom line: don’t make a theater production out of your faith. Slay the desire to be noticed. Stir the desire to serve God. Heed the counsel of Christ: “First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too” (Matthew 23:26 NLT). Do good things. Just don’t do them to be noticed. You can be too good for your own good, you know.

 Jeremiah 13

People Who Do Only What They Want to Do

1–2  13 God told me, “Go and buy yourself some linen shorts. Put them on and keep them on. Don’t even take them off to wash them.” So I bought the shorts as God directed and put them on.

3–5  Then God told me, “Take the shorts that you bought and go straight to Perath and hide them there in a crack in the rock.” So I did what God told me and hid them at Perath.

6–7  Next, after quite a long time, God told me, “Go back to Perath and get the linen shorts I told you to hide there.” So I went back to Perath and dug them out of the place where I had hidden them. The shorts by then had rotted and were worthless.

8–11  God explained, “This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won’t obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They’re going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care”—God’s Decree—“so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.

12  “And then tell them this, ‘God’s Message, personal from the God of Israel: Every wine jug should be full of wine.’

“And they’ll say, ‘Of course. We know that. Every wine jug should be full of wine!’

13–14  “Then you’ll say, ‘This is what God says: Watch closely. I’m going to fill every person who lives in this country—the kings who rule from David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, the citizens of Jerusalem—with wine that will make them drunk. And then I’ll smash them, smash the wine-filled jugs—old and young alike. Nothing will stop me. Not an ounce of pity or mercy or compassion will slow me down. Every last drunken jug of them will be smashed!’ ”

The Light You Always Took for Granted

15–17  Then I said, Listen. Listen carefully: Don’t stay stuck in your ways!

It’s God’s Message we’re dealing with here.

Let your lives glow bright before God

before he turns out the lights,

Before you trip and fall

on the dark mountain paths.

The light you always took for granted will go out

and the world will turn black.

If you people won’t listen,

I’ll go off by myself and weep over you,

Weep because of your stubborn arrogance,

bitter, bitter tears,

Rivers of tears from my eyes,

because God’s sheep will end up in exile.

18–19  Tell the king and the queen-mother,

“Come down off your high horses.

Your dazzling crowns

will tumble off your heads.”

The villages in the Negev will be surrounded,

everyone trapped,

And Judah dragged off to exile,

the whole country dragged to oblivion.

20–22  Look, look, Jerusalem!

Look at the enemies coming out of the north!

What will become of your flocks of people,

the beautiful flocks in your care?

How are you going to feel when the people

you’ve played up to, looked up to all these years

Now look down on you? You didn’t expect this?

Surprise! The pain of a woman having a baby!

Do I hear you saying,

“What’s going on here? Why me?”

The answer’s simple: You’re guilty,

hugely guilty.

Your guilt has your life endangered,

your guilt has you writhing in pain.

23  Can an African change skin?

Can a leopard get rid of its spots?

So what are the odds on you doing good,

you who are so long-practiced in evil?

24–27  “I’ll blow these people away—

like wind-blown leaves.

You have it coming to you.

I’ve measured it out precisely.”

God’s Decree.

“It’s because you forgot me

and embraced the Big Lie,

that so-called god Baal.

I’m the one who will rip off your clothes,

expose and shame you before the watching world.

Your obsessions with gods, gods, and more gods,

your goddess affairs, your god-adulteries.

Gods on the hills, gods in the fields—

every time I look you’re off with another god.

O Jerusalem, what a sordid life!

Is there any hope for you!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Today's Scripture

Joshua 14:6-12

Caleb

6–12  The people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite spoke: “You’ll remember what God said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me back at Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of God sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back an honest and accurate report. My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with God, my God. That was the day that Moses solemnly promised, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God.’ Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that the Anakim were there with their great fortress cities. If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said.”

Insight

Caleb was one of the twelve spies Moses sent to explore Canaan. Based on the report of ten of the spies, the Israelites concluded that they couldn’t conquer the land (Numbers 13-14). Caleb challenged their lack of faith (13:30), and God took note of his faithfulness (Deuteronomy 1:34-36). Caleb is consistently described as one who “followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (v. 36; see Numbers 14:24; 32:12; Joshua 14:8, 9, 14). Caleb and Joshua were the only two living octogenarians who entered the promised land. Because of their unbelief, the rest of their generation aged twenty and above had all died in the desert (Numbers 14:29-30). Even Moses wasn’t permitted to enter Canaan (Deuteronomy 3:23-27). By: K. T. Sim

God Is My Helper

The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. Hebrews 13:6

My friend Raleigh is sprinting toward his eighty-fifth birthday! Since my first conversation with him more than thirty-five years ago, he’s been a source of inspiration. When he recently mentioned that since retiring he’d completed a book manuscript and started another ministry initiative—I was intrigued but not surprised.  

At eighty-five, Caleb in the Bible wasn’t ready to stop either. His faith and devotion to God had sustained him through decades of wilderness living and wars to secure the inheritance God had promised Israel. He said, “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then” (Joshua 14:11). By what means would he conquer? Caleb declared that by “the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said” (v. 12).

Regardless of age, stage in life, or circumstances, God will help all who wholeheartedly trust Him. In Jesus, our Savior who helps us, God was made visible. The Gospel books inspire faith in God through what we see in Christ. He demonstrated God’s care and compassion for all who looked to Him for help. As the writer of Hebrews acknowledged, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:6). Young or old, weak or strong, bound or free, sprinting or limping—what’s keeping us from asking for His help today? By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

Who has inspired your faith in God? How do you see God as your source of help in all things?

Almighty God, please help me to see You as my source of help in all circumstances

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Prepared in Season

In this verse, the word season doesn’t refer to a time of year; it refers to our emotional state. To be prepared “in season and out of season” is to be ready whether we feel like it or not. If we only ever do what we feel like doing, we may do nothing, forever and ever. There are unemployables in the spiritual domain—spiritually decrepit people who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the great dangers is making a fetish of rare moments. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, do you say, “Now I’ll always be like this”? You won’t; God will make sure of it. Such times are entirely a gift from him. You can’t give them to yourself. If you say that your plan is always to be your best, you become an intolerable burden on God. It’s as though you’re telling him that you’ll never do anything unless he keeps you consciously inspired.

If you make a god of your times of inspiration, the Lord God will fade out of your life and never come back—not until you do the duty that lies nearest. This is how you show him you’ve committed to doing his will, in season and out.

2 Samuel 21-22; Luke 18:24-43

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Family Leftovers, Family Regrets - #9729

Oh, it happens every year after Thanksgiving and Christmas...leftovers. I cannot believe the infinite possibilities for preparing turkey. You know how it goes: You have turkey crispies for breakfast, and turkey, butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, etc. I mean, listen, there are so many ways to get rid of that turkey! Actually, any time of the year, it's just hard to get a lot of enthusiasm for dinner when it's leftovers. It's just not fair how many times you and I serve just that to our family. They deserve much better.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Family Leftovers, Family Regrets."

I'm not talking about food here. I'm talking about leftover me; leftover you. Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Psalm 101, and I'm going to read verses 2-3, and yes, it does have something to do with something better than leftovers. Here's what it says. David is speaking. He says, "I will be careful to lead a blameless life." Now, Before we go on to the next verse, let's think about that word blameless for a minute. What does he mean? What's a blameless life?

Well, it means living your life in such a way that you have nothing to regret. Isn't it nice to wake up in the morning with no extra baggage, no emotional hangover, nothing to regret, nothing to repair, nothing to hide? That's a blameless life.

Okay, now listen to the next verse, "I will walk in my house with a blameless heart." Actually, these verses in this Psalm give us several arenas in life. After he says, "I'm going to be careful to be blameless" he gives us several arenas in which he wants to do that. But the number one is my family. He says, "When I'm with them, I want them to get blameless living from me. They will not get my leftovers. They are going to get my emotional and spiritual best." Is that how it is with your family and you?

I'll tell you, it often is not the case, is it? Our friends get much better treatment sometimes than our family does. In fact, if we treated our friends as we treat our family, our friends wouldn't stand for it. We'd be out of friends pretty quick. But our friends shouldn't be getting our best. Our family should get that.

David says, "You start in your house with blameless living." Sometimes we save our best for the kids at school, or the people at work, people at church. Oh, they see a wonderful person that the people at home so seldom see. We use up all our patience, all our listening, all our love, our helpfulness, our unselfishness some place else. And guess what we dish out to our family when we get home? Yep! Leftovers!

And that's wrong!

Here's the way it ought to be. Everyone should just be getting the overflow of the respect, and love, and patience that you're practicing at home. And David says, "I will be careful to lead a blameless life." See, there's a tendency to let down on living in a way we won't have regrets, and won't have anything to fix, or repair, or hide. It's easy to let down at home. That's why we have to be careful to lead a blameless life. When we get home, we let down; we're careless because we think no one's watching. But the biblical priority is put on how you live at home.

Like David, let's make it a commitment; give your family your best, your very best. You've served them enough leftovers.

Jeremiah 49, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TO DO A GOOD THING - April 24, 2024

When Jesus saw the religious hypocrite, he exposed every self-righteous mole and pimple. “All their works they do to be seen by men” (Matthew 23:5 NKJV). This is the working definition of hypocrisy: “to be seen by men.”

We must do good works. And some works, such as benevolence or teaching, must be seen in order to have an impact. To do a good thing is a good thing. To do a good thing to be seen, however, is a serious offense. Here’s why: hypocrisy turns people away from God.

When people enter a church to see God yet can’t see God because of the church, don’t think for a second that God does not react. “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding” (Matthew 6:1 MSG).

Jeremiah 49

You’re a Broken-Down Has-Been

1–6  49 God’s Message on the Ammonites:

“Doesn’t Israel have any children,

no one to step into her inheritance?

So why is the god Milcom taking over Gad’s land,

his followers moving into its towns?

But not for long! The time’s coming”

—God’s Decree—

“When I’ll fill the ears of Rabbah, Ammon’s big city,

with battle cries.

She’ll end up a pile of rubble,

all her towns burned to the ground.

Then Israel will kick out the invaders.

I, God, say so, and it will be so.

Wail Heshbon, Ai is in ruins.

Villages of Rabbah, wring your hands!

Dress in mourning, weep buckets of tears.

Go into hysterics, run around in circles!

Your god Milcom will be hauled off to exile,

and all his priests and managers right with him.

Why do you brag of your once-famous strength?

You’re a broken-down has-been, a castoff

Who fondles his trophies and dreams of glory days

and vainly thinks, ‘No one can lay a hand on me.’

Well, think again. I’ll face you with terror from all sides.”

Word of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“You’ll be stampeded headlong,

with no one to round up the runaways.

Still, the time will come

when I will make things right with Ammon.” God’s Decree.

Strutting Across the Stage of History

7–11  The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on Edom:

“Is there nobody wise left in famous Teman?

no one with a sense of reality?

Has their wisdom gone wormy and rotten?

Run for your lives! Get out while you can!

Find a good place to hide,

you who live in Dedan!

I’m bringing doom to Esau.

It’s time to settle accounts.

When harvesters work your fields,

don’t they leave gleanings?

When burglars break into your house,

don’t they take only what they want?

But I’ll strip Esau clean.

I’ll search out every nook and cranny.

I’ll destroy everything connected with him,

children and relatives and neighbors.

There’ll be no one left who will be able to say,

‘I’ll take care of your orphans.

Your widows can depend on me.’ ”

12–13  Indeed. God says, “I tell you, if there are people who have to drink the cup of God’s wrath even though they don’t deserve it, why would you think you’d get off? You won’t get off. You’ll drink it. Oh yes, you’ll drink every drop. And as for Bozrah, your capital, I swear by all that I am”—God’s Decree—“that that city will end up a pile of charred ruins, a stinking garbage dump, an obscenity—and all her daughter-cities with her.”

14  I’ve just heard the latest from God.

He’s sent an envoy to the nations:

“Muster your troops and attack Edom.

Present arms! Go to war!”

15–16  “Ah, Edom, I’m dropping you to last place among nations,

the bottom of the heap, kicked around.

You think you’re so great—

strutting across the stage of history,

Living high in the impregnable rocks,

acting like king of the mountain.

You think you’re above it all, don’t you,

like an eagle in its aerie?

Well, you’re headed for a fall.

I’ll bring you crashing to the ground.” God’s Decree.

17–18  “Edom will end up trash. Stinking, despicable trash. A wonder of the world in reverse. She’ll join Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors in the sewers of history.” God says so.

“No one will live there,

no mortal soul move in there.

19  “Watch this: Like a lion coming up

from the thick jungle of the Jordan

Looking for prey in the mountain pastures,

I will come upon Edom and pounce.

I’ll take my pick of the flock—and who’s to stop me?

The shepherds of Edom are helpless before me.”

20–22  So, listen to this plan that God has worked out against Edom, the blueprint of what he’s prepared for those who live in Teman:

“Believe it or not, the young, the vulnerable—

mere lambs and kids—will be dragged off.

Believe it or not, the flock

in shock, helpless to help, will watch it happen.

The very earth will shudder because of their cries,

cries of anguish heard at the distant Red Sea.

Look! An eagle soars, swoops down,

spreads its wings over Bozrah.

Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,

like a woman giving birth to a baby.”

The Blood Will Drain from the Face of Damascus

23–27  The Message on Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad will be in shock

when they hear the bad news.

Their hearts will melt in fear

as they pace back and forth in worry.

The blood will drain from the face of Damascus

as she turns to flee.

Hysterical, she’ll fall to pieces,

disabled, like a woman in childbirth.

And now how lonely—bereft, abandoned!

The once famous city, the once happy city.

Her bright young men dead in the streets,

her brave warriors silent as death.

On that day”—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—

“I’ll start a fire at the wall of Damascus

that will burn down all of Ben-hadad’s forts.”

Find a Safe Place to Hide

28–33  The Message on Kedar and the sheikdoms of Hazor who were attacked by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is God’s Message:

“On your feet! Attack Kedar!

Plunder the Bedouin nomads from the east.

Grab their blankets and pots and pans.

Steal their camels.

Traumatize them, shouting, ‘Terror! Death! Doom!

Danger everywhere!’

Oh, run for your lives,

You nomads from Hazor.” God’s Decree.

“Find a safe place to hide.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

has plans to wipe you out,

to go after you with a vengeance:

‘After them,’ he says. ‘Go after these relaxed nomads

who live free and easy in the desert,

Who live in the open with no doors to lock,

who live off by themselves.’

Their camels are there for the taking,

their herds and flocks, easy picking.

I’ll scatter them to the four winds,

these defenseless nomads on the fringes of the desert.

I’ll bring terror from every direction.

They won’t know what hit them.” God’s Decree.

“Jackals will take over the camps of Hazor,

camps abandoned to wind and sand.

No one will live there,

no mortal soul move in there.”

The Winds Will Blow Away Elam

34–39  God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah on Elam at the outset of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says:

“Watch this! I’ll break Elam’s bow,

her weapon of choice, across my knee.

Then I’ll let four winds loose on Elam,

winds from the four corners of earth.

I’ll blow them away in all directions,

landing homeless Elamites in every country on earth.

They’ll live in constant fear and terror

among enemies who want to kill them.

I’ll bring doom on them,

my anger-fueled doom.

I’ll set murderous hounds on their heels

until there’s nothing left of them.

And then I’ll set up my throne in Elam,

having thrown out the king and his henchmen.

But the time will come when I make

everything right for Elam again.” God’s Decree.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Today's Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 21-27

You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

14–18  I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.

Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

25–26  The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

27–31  You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.

Insight

Paul couldn’t have chosen a better metaphor for the harmonious working together of the church than the human body. Instinctively, the members of our bodies work together for useful, purposeful living. Before commenting about body parts functioning differently according to design (1 Corinthians 12:14-26), the apostle elaborated on what believers in Jesus have in common (vv. 4-13). The same trinitarian God (“Spirit,” v. 4; “Lord,” v. 5; “God,” v. 6) is at work in and through the dynamic but different kinds of gifts, services, and workings in the church. The same Spirit at work in those with speaking gifts (v. 8) sovereignly manifests Himself through other gifts (vv. 9-10). “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit” (v. 11). Understanding our “spiritual sameness” liberates us to love, accept, and serve others who are different. By: Arthur Jackson

United Diversity in Christ

God has placed the parts in the body . . . just as he wanted them to be. 1 Corinthians 12:18

In his essay “Service and the Spectrum,” Professor Daniel Bowman Jr. writes of the difficulty of navigating decisions about how to serve his church as an autistic person. He explains, “Autistic people have to forge a new path forward every single time, a unique path that takes into account . . . mental, emotional, and physical energy . . . alone/recharging time; sensory inputs and comfort level . . . time of day; whether or not we’re being valued for our strengths and accommodated for our needs rather than excluded for perceived deficits; and much more.” For many people, Bowman writes, such decisions, “while reorienting people’s time and energy, likely will not undo them. Those same decisions might well undo me.”

Bowman believes that the vision of mutuality Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12 could be a healing solution. There, in verses 4-6, Paul describes God uniquely gifting each of His people for “the common good” (v. 7). Each is an “indispensable” member of Christ’s body (v. 22). When churches come to understand each person’s unique, God-given wiring and gifting, instead of pressuring everyone to help in the same way, they can support their members to serve in ways that fit their giftings.

In this way, each person can find flourishing and wholeness and be secure in their valued place in Christ’s body (v. 26). By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

How have you been blessed by others’ unique gifts? How can churches encourage diverse ways to serve?

Dear God, thank You for creating us all uniquely. Please help me to value every member of Christ’s body.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Spiritual Discipline

Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. — Luke 10:20

As Christian disciples, worldliness isn’t our snare; sin isn’t our snare. Our snare—the thing that threatens to entrap us—is a lack of spiritual discipline. If we are spiritually undisciplined, we shamelessly strive to fit in with the religious age we live in, drawn by the lure of spiritual “success.”

Never court anything besides the approval of God. Take yourself “outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (Hebrews 13:13). Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercial viewpoint, tallying up how many souls have been saved and sanctified on our watch. We forget that our work begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace. Our work is to disciple lives until they are entirely given over to God. One life wholly devoted to God is more valuable to him than a hundred lives reawakened by his Spirit. God brings his disciples to a standard of life by his grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that standard in others.

Unless we are living a life hidden with Christ in God, we are likely to become irritating dictators instead of indwelling disciples. Many of us are dictators. We dictate when we pray and when we preach, telling God what he must do, telling others how they must be. Jesus never dictated. When Jesus talked about discipleship, he prefaced it with an “if,” not with a “must” (Matthew 16:24 kjv). Discipleship carries an option with it.

2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18:1-23

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Do - #9728

Professional tennis star - a nun. What? Sounds like two different stories doesn't it? In this case, it's the same life story. Andrea Jaeger first picked up a tennis racket at the age of eight. By 14, she was a tennis pro. Soon she was challenging tennis greats like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin; she was ranked number two in the world. Then came a serious shoulder injury that required seven surgeries and she was forced to retire. She took her prize money, she moved to Colorado, and started a charitable foundation that helps sick, abused, and at-risk children. So she became an Episcopal nun, and she was actually burying her life in a ministry to needy children. According to USA Today, after her injury she was told, "Your life's over. You've failed. You'll never amount to anything." Oh, were they wrong! The article on her new life concluded this way: "Her name will never be etched on Grand Slam hardware, but she can live with that. She says, 'It's like I have kids' names in my heart, that is life's trophy.'"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Do."

Priorities. They keep getting jumbled, don't they? Stuff that really matters slips to the edges, and stuff that really doesn't matter much fills up our life. Until something happens that reminds us what really matters; like a tragedy, a funeral, or some kind of wakeup call. There was a little saying I heard so many times as a teenager that I think I became immune to it. But it's still packed with truth that can give you the most significant, most satisfying life possible. It simply says, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."

A tennis pro turned angel of mercy said the trophy she wants for life is those "names in her heart." The Apostle Paul was thinking like that when he penned our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20. He's looking ahead to eternity where only things that last forever will survive. He said to the people he had introduced to Jesus Christ, "What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy." See, Paul had names in his heart; the names of people who were going to be in heaven because he loved them enough to tell them about Jesus.

I hope you have names like that. Do you? There's something so much more important than a championship, or a scholarship, or a business accomplishment. And that's the people who will be in heaven forever because you introduced them to your Jesus. We pour out so much of our life-energy into things that won't last. But the people you work with every day, go to school with every day, recreate with, live around; those are people who will live forever in heaven or hell. For some, you are God's designated rescuer, positioned in their life by Jesus to be their hope of hearing about Jesus. And it starts when you allow God to burn in your heart the names of people He wants you to reach. You carry those names in your heart all day, every day. You pray for those names in your heart every day. You ask God for open doors to tell them about Jesus. You look for those open doors, and you go through them when they open.

The great legacy of your life will be the names you carry in your heart. Because when you rescue someone spiritually, that name in your heart is written by God in His Book of Life in heaven. And you can't do anything more important or more lasting than that.

The prophet Daniel tells us about the two groups of people we will see on Judgment Day: "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." Then he explains the part you could play in helping to change someone's eternal address: "Those who lead many to righteousness (will shine) like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3). Now my friend, that is a life that matters.

Hebrews 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AS WE LIVE WITH JESUS - April 23, 2024

I’m reading from Acts 4:13 (NKJV). “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

What set Peter and John apart was the fact that they had been with Jesus. Could you use some high-octane boldness? Could you use some courage? Are you being criticized, mocked, persecuted? If so, imitate the disciples. Linger long and offend in the presence of Christ. Meditate on his grace. Ponder his love. Memorize his words. Gaze into his face. Talk to him. Courage comes as we live with Jesus.

 Hebrews 2

 It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off. If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him. All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy Spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.

The Salvation Pioneer

5–9  God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here. It says in Scripture,

What is man and woman that you bother with them;

why take a second look their way?

You made them not quite as high as angels,

bright with Eden’s dawn light;

Then you put them in charge

of your entire handcrafted world.

When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don’t see it yet, don’t see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made “not quite as high as angels,” and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory “bright with Eden’s dawn light.” In that death, by God’s grace, he fully experienced death in every person’s place.

10–13  It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family, saying,

I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters,

all I know about you;

I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.

Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,

Even I live by placing my trust in God.

And yet again,

I’m here with the children God gave me.

14–15  Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.

16–18  It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Today's Scripture & Insight : John 16:25-33

“I’ve used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I’ll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I’ve revealed to you. I won’t continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won’t need to. Because you’ve gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father.”

29–30  His disciples said, “Finally! You’re giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won’t have to put up with our questions anymore. We’re convinced you came from God.”

31–33  Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

Insight

Preparing His disciples for His arrest and death, Jesus warned that they too would face difficult times and persecution (John 15:20; 16:2, 32). Christ comforted His distraught disciples with the provision of heaven, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and His abiding presence and peace (chs. 14-16). Jesus offered them and us the much-needed gift of peace: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27 nlt). Living in a world broken by sin and devastated by pain and suffering, we have God’s promised peace: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isaiah 26:3-4). By: K. T. Sim

Jesus—The True Peacemaker

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. John 16:33

On December 30, 1862, the US Civil War raged. Union and Confederate troops camped seven hundred yards apart on opposing sides of Tennessee’s Stones River. As they warmed themselves around campfires, Union soldiers picked up their fiddles and harmonicas and began playing “Yankee Doodle.” In reply, the Confederate soldiers offered “Dixie.” Remarkably, both sides joined for a finale, playing “Home, Sweet Home” in unison. Sworn enemies shared music in the dark night, glimmers of an unimagined peace. The melodic truce was short-lived, however. The next morning, they put down their fiddles and picked up their rifles, and 24,645 soldiers died.

Our human efforts to create peace inevitably wear thin. Hostilities cease in one place, only to ignite somewhere else. One relational dispute finds harmony, only to be embroiled in distress again months later. The Scriptures tell us that God is our only trustworthy peacemaker. Jesus said it plainly, “In me you . . . have peace” (John 16:33). We have peace in Jesus. While we participate in His peacemaking mission, it’s God’s reconciliation and renewal that make real peace possible.

Christ tells us we can’t escape conflict. “In this world [we] will have trouble,” Jesus says. Strife abounds. “But take heart!” He adds, “I have overcome the world” (v. 33). While our efforts often prove futile, our loving God (v. 27) makes peace in this fractious world. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Where do you see humans working for peace? How is God’s peacemaking different?

Dear God, please show me the way of peace.

For further study, read Finding Peace in a Troubled World.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

The Worship of Work

For we are co-workers in God’s service. — 1 Corinthians 3:9

Beware of any work you do for God that allows you to avoid concentrating on him. A great many Christian workers worship their work. The one concern of a Christian worker should be concentration on God, and this will mean that all the facets of life—physical, mental, moral, and spiritual—are free. They are free with the freedom of a child—a worshipping child, not a wayward child. A worker without this solemn, ruling note of concentration on God is likely to be crushed by work, to have no delight in life, no margin of freedom in body, mind, or spirit. The nerves, mind, and heart become so crushingly burdened that God’s blessing cannot settle.

Yet the opposite is just as true. Once your concentration is fixed on God, all the facets of your life are free because they are under God’s dominion. There is no responsibility on you for your work. The only responsibility you have is to keep in living, constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to interfere with your cooperation with him.

The freedom that follows sanctification is the freedom of the child. Once you are born again in the Spirit, you find that the things that used to keep your life pinned down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been set free for one thing only: to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.

We have no right to judge where we should be placed in God’s service. We have no right to our preconceived ideas about what God is preparing us for. God engineers everything. Wherever he puts us, our one great aim is to pour out wholehearted devotion to him in that particular work.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

2 Samuel 16-18; Luke 17:20-37

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Making God Cry - #9727

Now, men can handle conflict, and they can handle confrontation, they can handle challenges, but they can't handle tears. You know, most men, tears are like the toughest thing for them to take. But you know something? Tears are a powerful language; they're very powerful. They have a language of their own. Oftentimes when someone is counseling with us and they're crying, I will ask them the question, "Can you tell me what your tears are trying to say?" See, when I see your tears, I know how deeply I may have hurt you. Did you know that we can do that to God?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making God Cry."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Ephesians 4 - I'm going to start with verse 30. Here's what it says: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Now you notice here that it is actually possible to make the Holy Spirit grieve, or to cry as it were.

Now, you say, "What in the world would be so bad that I would do that would actually make God the Holy Spirit cry?" Well, the answer to that is in the verse that immediately precedes it, Ephesians 4:29. Here's what it says: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen." In other words God is saying here that when we say something that tears down another person, we make Him cry.

Many years ago, my youngest son had an erector set, and occasionally he built these monumental, high-towering (not always real stable) structures in our living room. Could you imagine if his big brother had come in (and I'm glad he didn't), but if he had come in and said, "Hey, boy, that's really nice!" and gave it one swift kick and knocked down what he had been taking hours to build? Well, you would expect the guy to be in tears because someone tore down what he was building.

Well, see, God knows that feeling. That's what He's talking about here. He's saying, "You know, I'm trying to build that husband of yours; I'm trying to build that wife of yours; that son or daughter, that friend, that coworker, those folks at church. I'm doing things in their life.

I've paid a high price for them; I've been doing all kinds of work and craftsmanship; I've been bringing things into their life to make them strong, and more confident, and more patient, more understanding of how valuable they are. I've been bringing things into their life to make them more gentle and more caring. And now you have come along, with a thoughtless word, with a put-down, with your sarcasm, with some attempt to manipulate them with guilt or shame. You've come in now with your destructive words, you have kicked down what I was building." That's what God is saying.

Your anger will do it. Gossip tears down people God is trying to build. Proverbs tells us that "Reckless words pierce like a sword, and the tongue has the power of life and death." Comparing someone to other people will do it, criticizing people will do it. And isn't it amazing that God's heart is broken with our words that hurt other people?

David prayed a great prayer, and it is a great one for all of us to echo, probably on a daily basis. I probably need to echo it several times a day. He simply said, "Lord, set a watch before my mouth." Put a guard there. Be very careful to never tear down someone that God is building.

Jeremiah 48, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S STRATEGY FOR HUMAN HURT - April 22, 2024

Bzuneh Tulema lives in Ethiopia. Just a few years ago he and his wife were so consumed with alcohol that they farmed out their kids to neighbors and resigned themselves to a drunken demise. But then someone saw them. A member of an area church shared Jesus with them. Then Meskerem Trango, a World Vision worker, arranged a loan through the World Vision microfinance department. Within a year Bzuneh had repaid the loan, built his house, and reclaimed his kids.

Could this be God’s strategy for human hurt? Kind eyes meet desperate ones, strong hands help weak ones, then the miracle of God. We do our small part, he does the big part, and life begins again.

Jeremiah 48

Get Out While You Can!

1–10  48 The Message on Moab from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel:

“Doom to Nebo! Leveled to the ground!

Kiriathaim demeaned and defeated,

The mighty fortress reduced to a molehill,

Moab’s glory—dust and ashes.

Conspirators plot Heshbon’s doom:

‘Come, let’s wipe Moab off the map.’

Dungface Dimon will loudly lament,

as killing follows killing.

Listen! A cry out of Horonaim:

‘Disaster—doom and more doom!’

Moab will be shattered.

Her cries will be heard clear down in Zoar.

Up the ascent of Luhith

climbers weep,

And down the descent from Horonaim,

cries of loss and devastation.

Oh, run for your lives! Get out while you can!

Survive by your wits in the wild!

You trusted in thick walls and big money, yes?

But it won’t help you now.

Your big god Chemosh will be hauled off,

his priests and managers with him.

A wrecker will wreck every city.

Not a city will survive.

The valley fields will be ruined,

the plateau pastures destroyed, just as I told you.

Cover the land of Moab with salt.

Make sure nothing ever grows here again.

Her towns will all be ghost towns.

Nobody will ever live here again.

Sloppy work in God’s name is cursed,

and cursed all halfhearted use of the sword.

11–17  “Moab has always taken it easy—

lazy as a dog in the sun,

Never had to work for a living,

never faced any trouble,

Never had to grow up,

never once worked up a sweat.

But those days are a thing of the past.

I’ll put him to work at hard labor.

That will wake him up to the world of hard knocks.

That will smash his illusions.

Moab will be as ashamed of god Chemosh

as Israel was ashamed of her Bethel calf-gods,

the calf-gods she thought were so great.

For how long do you think you’ll be saying, ‘We’re tough.

We can beat anyone anywhere’?

The destruction of Moab has already begun.

Her choice young soldiers are lying dead right now.”

The King’s Decree—

his full name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“Yes. Moab’s doom is on countdown,

disaster targeted and launched.

Weep for Moab, friends and neighbors,

all who know how famous he’s been.

Lament, ‘His mighty scepter snapped in two like a toothpick,

that magnificent royal staff!’

18–20  “Come down from your high horse, pampered beauty of Dibon.

Sit in dog dung.

The destroyer of Moab will come against you.

He’ll wreck your safe, secure houses.

Stand on the roadside,

pampered women of Aroer.

Interview the refugees who are running away.

Ask them, ‘What’s happened? And why?’

Moab will be an embarrassing memory, nothing left of the place.

Wail and weep your eyes out!

Tell the bad news along the Arnon river.

Tell the world that Moab is no more.

21–24  “My judgment will come to the plateau cities: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath; on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim; on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon; on Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of Moab, far and near.

25  “Moab’s link to power is severed.

Moab’s arm is broken.” God’s Decree.

The Sheer Nothingness of Moab

26–27  “Turn Moab into a drunken sot, drunk on the wine of my wrath, a dung-faced drunk, filling the country with vomit—Moab a falling-down drunk, a joke in bad taste. Wasn’t it you, Moab, who made crude jokes over Israel? And when they were caught in bad company, didn’t you cluck and gossip and snicker?

28  “Leave town! Leave! Look for a home in the cliffs,

you who grew up in Moab.

Try living like a dove

who nests high in the river gorge.

29–33  “We’ve all heard of Moab’s pride,

that legendary pride,

The strutting, bullying, puffed-up pride,

the insufferable arrogance.

I know”—God’s Decree—“his rooster-crowing pride,

the inflated claims, the sheer nothingness of Moab.

But I will weep for Moab,

yes, I will mourn for the people of Moab.

I will even mourn for the people of Kir-heres.

I’ll weep for the grapevines of Sibmah

and join Jazer in her weeping—

Grapevines that once reached the Dead Sea

with tendrils as far as Jazer.

Your summer fruit and your bursting grapes

will be looted by brutal plunderers,

Lush Moab stripped

of song and laughter.

And yes, I’ll shut down the winepresses,

stop all the shouts and hurrahs of harvest.

34  “Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, and the people in Jahaz will hear the cries. They will hear them all the way from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.

35  “I will put a stop in Moab”—God’s Decree—“to all hiking to the high places to offer burnt sacrifices to the gods.

36  “My heart moans for Moab, for the men of Kir-heres, like soft flute sounds carried by the wind. They’ve lost it all. They’ve got nothing.

37  “Everywhere you look are signs of mourning:

heads shaved, beards cut,

Hands scratched and bleeding,

clothes ripped and torn.

38  “In every house in Moab there’ll be loud lamentation, on every street in Moab, loud lamentation. As with a pottery jug that no one wants, I’ll smash Moab to bits.” God’s Decree.

39  “Moab ruined!

Moab shamed and ashamed to be seen!

Moab a cruel joke!

The stark horror of Moab!”

40–42  God’s verdict on Moab. Indeed!

“Look! An eagle is about to swoop down

and spread its wings over Moab.

The towns will be captured,

the fortresses taken.

Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,

like a woman giving birth to a baby.

There’ll be nothing left of Moab, nothing at all,

because of his defiant arrogance against me.

43–44  “Terror and pit and trap

are what you have facing you, Moab.” God’s Decree.

“A man running in terror

will fall into a trap.

A man climbing out of a pit

will be caught in a trap.

This is my agenda for Moab

on doomsday.” God’s Decree.

45–47  “On the outskirts of Heshbon,

refugees will pull up short, worn out.

Fire will flame high from Heshbon,

a firestorm raging from the capital of Sihon’s kingdom.

It will burn off Moab’s eyebrows,

will scorch the skull of the braggarts.

That’s all for you, Moab!

You worshipers of Chemosh will be finished off!

Your sons will be trucked off to prison camps;

your daughters will be herded into exile.

But yet there’s a day that’s coming

when I’ll put things right in Moab.

“For now, that’s the judgment on Moab.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, April 22, 2024

Today's Scripture

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

Why Am I Working Like a Dog?

I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.

9–10  It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.

And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there’s no one to help, tough!

11  Two in a bed warm each other.

Alone, you shiver all night.

12  By yourself you’re unprotected.

With a friend you can face the worst.

Can you round up a third?

A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

Insight

Along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes is classified as one of the Wisdom books of Scripture. Wisdom books, which emphasize the supreme value of fearing God (Ecclesiastes 8:13; 12:13), help the reader navigate the good and not-so-good—the bitter and sweet of this life—from God’s perspective and to trust Him. Given Wisdom Literature’s goal—to help its readers to “live skillfully”—it shouldn’t surprise us to find numerous occurrences in the book of Ecclesiastes of the word better or the phrase better than. The comparative value of wisdom is stressed in passages such as “Wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness” (2:13); “Wisdom is better than strength” (9:16); “Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (9:18). We also see this emphasis in Proverbs: “For she [wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold” (3:14).

Discover the life-changing wisdom of Ecclesiastes. By: Arthur Jackson

Community in Christ

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

“I knew that the only way to succeed was to forget about home and my wife, son, and daughter,” said Jordon. “I’ve found I can’t do that. They’re woven into the fabric of my heart and soul.” Alone in a remote area, Jordon was participating in a reality show where contestants are asked to survive outdoors with minimal supplies for as long as possible. What forced him to forfeit was not the grizzly bears, freezing temperatures, injury, or hunger, but an overwhelming loneliness and desire to be with his family.

We might have all the survival skills necessary for the wilderness, but separating ourselves from community is a sure way to fail. The wise author of Ecclesiastes said, “Two are better than one, because . . . one can help the other up” (4:9-10). Christ-honoring community, even with all its messiness, is essential to our thriving. We don’t stand a chance against the trials of this world if we try to tackle them on our own. Someone who toils alone, toils in vain (v. 8). Without community, we’re more susceptible to danger (vv. 11-12). Unlike a single thread, “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). The gift of a loving, Christ-focused community is one that not only provides encouragement, but also gives us strength to thrive despite challenging situations. We need each other. By:  Karen Pimpo

Reflect & Pray

How can you commit to spending time with the family of believers? Who around you is isolated and in need?

Father, thank You for the gift of community! Open my heart to love and spend time with others today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, April 22, 2024

The Light That Never Fails

And we all … with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory. — 2 Corinthians 3:18

Servants of God must stand so much alone that they never know they are alone. In the first phase of Christian life, disheartenments come. People who are bright lights for us flicker out; those who stand with us pass away. We have to get used to this—so used to it that no matter what happens, we never feel we are standing alone.

“Everyone deserted me… But the Lord stood at my side” (2 Timothy 4:16–17). We must build our faith on the light that never fails, not on the light that fades. When “great” men and women go, we are sad— until we see that they were meant to go, and that the only thing that remains is looking on the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking God squarely in the face about yourself and your doctrine. Every time you preach, every time you pray, every time you testify, look God in the face first. Seek his mind on your subject before you begin and his glory will sound in every word. A Christian disciple is one who perpetually looks in the face of God and then goes forth to talk to people. Moses, when he’d been with God, “was not aware that his face was radiant” (Exodus 34:29). That unconscious glory is characteristic of the one who ministers for Christ. The secret of our life as disciples is that we keep in tune with God all the time.

2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17:1-19

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, April 22, 2024

Temporary Pain, Permanent Gain - #9726

One day some years ago during the lunch hour, my Administrative Assistant decided to bring her two young nephews into the office. She wanted them to meet the people she worked with and vise-versa. Daniel was probably about five, and I'm sure he left wondering who that weird guy is that his aunt works with. See, when I met Daniel, he flashed a big smile. He revealed some missing teeth in the process and I asked him what happened. He said, "I lost those teeth."

I told Daniel I was sorry he lost them and I wanted to help him find them, after which I got down on the floor and proceeded to crawl around looking for them. Mercifully he told me I didn't have to keep looking. He said he didn't mind losing those teeth. He said, "Hey, I got permanent ones!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Temporary Pain, Permanent Gain."

The first time a child loses a tooth it can be pretty disconcerting. But every child quickly learns that this is no big problem. You lose the temporary, but you're going to be trading it for the permanent.

Our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 4:14 and 16. This is the perspective of a man who has been severely hammered and he's got the scars to prove it physically and emotionally. He opens by saying, "We do not lose heart." Now, how can he be unsinkable like this when there's so much hardship and pain? He says, "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

Now, you might be going through a pretty low time right now and you're sinking physically, or financially, or emotionally. Wouldn't it be nice to know what Paul's secret of daily renewal is? Well, it's sort of the Daniel with the missing teeth perspective. Paul goes on to say, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not only on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary. But what is unseen is eternal."

Paul's telling us that when you feel the weight of heavy trouble, get out your scale. Put your troubles on one side; put your eternal rewards on the other and the scale will go "boom" on the side of the blessings - the rewards - because your eternity with your Savior far outweighs any pain now. In fact, Paul says in Romans 8:18, "Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." If you focus on what's going to last forever rather than what's going to last for just a little while. That's what's so wonderful about the promise of God's heaven with no pain, no tears, no sin.

It's wonderful to hear about the prospect of God's unimaginable rewards for those who remain faithful to Him even in the darkest hours. Listen to 1 Corinthians 2:9 - "No one has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." That's what you focus on. When you focus on the temporary hurt, you're vulnerable to try to do something or anything to relieve your pain, often making a permanent mistake to get through some temporary pain. But you don't have to do that when your eye is on the prize, not on the pain.

This is only temporary and nothing compares to what you're going to have forever.

You know the wonderful thing that Jesus did when He came? He added a word to the word life - everlasting. He added eternity to our possibilities for what our future will be. You will spend eternity either with or without this Jesus. And today, knowing your pain, knowing your hurt, knowing your sin, He stands ready to come into your life and forgive the sins that He died for and give you a fresh start and carry the burden with you from now on.

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Jeremiah 47, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: He Invites You In

If you were told you were free to enter the Oval Office at the White House, you’d shake your head and chuckle, “You’re one brick short of a load, buddy.” Multiply your disbelief by a thousand, and you’ll have an idea how a Jew would feel if someone told him he could enter the Holy of Holies–a part of the Temple no one could enter except the high priest and then only one day a year. Why? Because the glory of God was present there.

God is holy, and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Like Job we say, “If only there were a mediator who could bring us together.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.”

God welcomes you. He’s not avoiding you. The door is open. God invites you in!

From He Chose the Nails

Jeremiah 47

It’s Doomsday for Philistines

1–5  47 God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah regarding the Philistines just before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. This is what God says:

“Look out! Water will rise in the north country,

swelling like a river in flood.

The torrent will flood the land,

washing away city and citizen.

Men and women will scream in terror,

wails from every door and window,

As the thunder from the hooves of the horses will be heard,

the clatter of chariots, the banging of wheels.

Fathers, paralyzed by fear,

won’t even grab up their babies

Because it will be doomsday for Philistines, one and all,

no hope of help for Tyre and Sidon.

God will finish off the Philistines,

what’s left of those from the island of Crete.

Gaza will be shaved bald as an egg,

Ashkelon struck dumb as a post.

You’re on your last legs.

How long will you keep flailing?

6  “Oh, Sword of God,

how long will you keep this up?

Return to your scabbard.

Haven’t you had enough? Can’t you call it quits?

7  “But how can it quit

when I, God, command the action?

I’ve ordered it to cut down

Ashkelon and the seacoast.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Today's Scripture

Proverbs 20:11-17

 Young people eventually reveal by their actions

if their motives are on the up and up.

Drinking from the Chalice of Knowledge

12  Ears that hear and eyes that see—

we get our basic equipment from God!

13  Don’t be too fond of sleep; you’ll end up in the poorhouse.

Wake up and get up; then there’ll be food on the table.

14  The shopper says, “That’s junk—I’ll take it off your hands,”

then goes off boasting of the bargain.

15  Drinking from the beautiful chalice of knowledge

is better than adorning oneself with gold and rare gems.

16  Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger;

beware of accepting what a transient has pawned.

17  Stolen bread tastes sweet,

but soon your mouth is full of gravel.

Insight

It might seem difficult to detect a theme to the proverbs in chapter 20, but theologian John E. Goldingay identifies one. Noting the difficulty of finding good examples of individual integrity, he points out that “openness is not common (v. 5), . . . and human evasiveness is difficult to penetrate (v. 15).” We must keep in mind that the Proverbs don’t always tell us how to live; sometimes they’re observations about life—for instance, “the buyer” who considers a product yet disparages its value in order to bargain for a lower price (v. 14). Solomon, who wrote many of the Proverbs, isn’t advising us to imitate this dishonest bartering tactic; rather, this is his observation of human nature. Goldingay suggests that verse 5 is key to understanding the chapter: “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” By: Tim Gustafson

Bitterness of Stolen Sweets

Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel. Proverbs 20:17

Thieves in Germany stole a truck’s refrigerated trailer filled with more than twenty tons of chocolate. The estimated worth of the stolen sweetness was $80,000. Local police asked anyone who was offered large quantities of chocolate via unconventional channels to report it immediately. Surely those who stole the massive amount of sweets will be facing bitter and unsatisfying consequences if they’re caught and prosecuted!

Proverbs confirms this principle: “Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel” (20:17). Things we acquire deceptively or wrongfully may seem to be sweet at first—seasoned with excitement and temporary enjoyment. But the flavor will eventually wear off and our deception will lead to our being left wanting and in trouble. The bitter consequences of guilt, fear, and sin can end up ruining our lives and reputations. “Even small children are known by their actions, [if] their conduct [is] really pure and upright” (v. 11). May our words and actions reveal a pure heart for God—not the bitterness of selfish desires.

When we’re tempted, let’s ask God to strengthen us and help us remain faithful to Him. He can help us look behind the short-term “sweetness” of giving in to temptation and guide us to carefully consider the long-term consequences of our choices. By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

When has temptation led to bitter consequences for you? How can you remain faithful to God?

Dear God, I need Your strength to fight temptation and remain faithful to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Now Don’t Hurt the Lord!

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” — John 14:9

Our Lord must be repeatedly astonished by us—by how un-simple we are. We complicate the simple things God shows us by adding in opinions of our own, and it is opinions of our own that lead us into

confusion. When we are simple, our sight is clear, and we discern what’s before us all the time.

Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the Person who was standing before him. Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8–9). Philip couldn’t see what was right before his eyes. He couldn’t grasp that the mystery of God lies in what is, not in what will be. Philip expected the mystery to reveal itself soon, in some cataclysmic event; he didn’t expect it now. Jesus set him right, saying in essence, “God is here now—always here, or nowhere.”

We look for God to manifest himself to his children, but God only manifests himself in his children. Others see the manifestation; the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God, but we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and stay sane. If we are constantly asking God to give us conscious experiences, we are hurting our Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus because they are not the simple questions of a child.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). Am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and his character, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing something to disturb my heart, asking myself morbid questions? I have to get to the steadfast relationship with Jesus that takes everything he gives as it comes.

God never guides soon, always now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and his revelation is immediate.

2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16

Hebrews 1, Bible Reading and Devotionals.

 Max Lucado Daily: We’re God’s Idea

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

We’re God’s idea.  His face.  His eyes.  His hands.  His touch.  We are him!

Look deeply into the face of every human being on earth and you’ll see his likeness.  Though some appear to be distant relatives, they’re not.  God has no cousins, only children.

You aren’t an accident or an incident; you’re a gift to the world.  A divine work of art—signed by God.

One of the best gifts I ever received is a football jersey signed by thirty former professional quarterbacks.  For all I know it was bought at a discount sports store.  What makes it unique are the signatures.

The same is true with us.  What makes us special is not our body, but the signature of God on our lives.  We’re his works of art, created in his image.

Significant, not because of what we do, but because of whose we are!

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

Hebrews 1

Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!

The Son Is Higher than Angels

3–6  After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule. Did God ever say to an angel, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you” or “I’m his Father, he’s my Son”? When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, “All angels must worship him.”

7  Regarding angels he says,

The messengers are winds,

the servants are tongues of fire.

8–9  But he says to the Son,

You’re God, and on the throne for good;

your rule makes everything right.

You love it when things are right;

you hate it when things are wrong.

That is why God, your God,

poured fragrant oil on your head,

Marking you out as king,

far above your dear companions.

10–12  And again to the Son,

You, Master, started it all, laid earth’s foundations,

then crafted the stars in the sky.

Earth and sky will wear out, but not you;

they become threadbare like an old coat;

You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak,

and lay them away on the shelf.

But you’ll stay the same, year after year;

you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.

13  And did he ever say anything like this to an angel?

Sit alongside me here on my throne

Until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.

14  Isn’t it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Today's Scripture

Hebrews 12:14-17

  Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God’s generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.

Insight

In Hebrews 12:14, the phrase “make every effort” translates one Greek word: dioko. The range of meaning includes ideas such as “to pursue” good or not-so-good things (see 2 Timothy 2:22); “to press on”; “to persecute” so as to harass or mistreat (see 3:12 [persecuted]). Three times in Philippians 3 dioko is used when Paul shares his personal testimony: “as for zeal, persecuting the church” (v. 6); “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (v. 12); “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (v. 14). The English Standard Version’s rendering of Hebrews 12:14 highlights a twofold pursuit: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” As it concerns our relationships with others, harmony and holiness are worthy of our pursuit and prayers—even when such efforts aren’t reciprocated. By: Arthur Jackson

Family Matters

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone. Hebrews 12:14

My sister, brother, and I flew from our separate states to our uncle’s funeral and stopped to see our ninety-year-old grandmother. She’d been paralyzed by a stroke, had lost the ability to speak, and had only the use of her right hand. As we stood around her bed, she reached out that hand and took each of our hands, placing one atop another over her heart and patted them in place. With this wordless gesture, my grandmother spoke into what had been our somewhat broken and distant sibling relationship. “Family matters.”

In God’s family, the church, we can grow apart as well. We might allow bitterness to separate us from each other. The writer of Hebrews references the bitterness that separated Esau from his brother (Hebrews 12:16) and challenges us as brothers and sisters to hold on to each other in God’s family. “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone” (v. 14). Here the words every effort convey a deliberate and decisive investment in peacemaking with our brothers and sisters in God’s family. Every such effort is then applied to everyone. Every. One.

Family matters. Both our earthly families and God’s family of believers. Might we all invest the efforts needed to hold on to each other? By:  Elisa Morgan

Reflect & Pray

What would it mean for you to “make every effort to live in peace with everyone” in God’s family? Is there a particular person you might need to approach for reconciliation?

Dear God, thank You for drawing me to Yourself. Help me to make every effort to live at peace with everyone in Your family.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, April 20, 2024

To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. — 2 Corinthians 1:20

Jesus told the parable of the bags of gold as a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our own abilities. The parable doesn’t concern natural gifts; it concerns the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must not measure our spiritual abilities by our natural abilities. Spiritual capacity has nothing to do with intellect or education; it is measured by the promises of God.

If we get less, spiritually speaking, than God wants us to have, sooner or later we will slander him. We will say to God, “You expect more of me than you’ve given me power to do.” Or, “I can’t be true to you where you’ve placed me.” Never say, “I can’t” when it’s a question of God’s almighty Spirit. Never let your natural limitations factor in. If we’ve received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in us, no matter what.

In the parable, the unworthy servant tries to justify himself at every turn. He slanders his master, complaining that his master’s demands are too high and expressing doubts and worries about what he’s been asked to do (Matthew 25:24). Have we been slandering God by daring to worry? Have we forgotten Matthew 6:33: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you”? Worrying means exactly what the unworthy servant implied: “I know you intend to leave me high and dry.” The person who is lazy is always full of anxious self-pity, always saying, “I haven’t been given a decent chance.” The person who is spiritually lazy is like this with God.

Never forget that your capacity in spiritual matters is measured by the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill his promises? How you answer depends on whether or not you’ve received the Holy Spirit.

2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15:11-32

Jeremiah 46, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: STOP AT THE GATE - April 19, 2024

He sat near a gate called Beautiful. The man, however, was anything but. He couldn’t walk but had to drag himself about on his knees. “Peter and John looked straight at him and said, ‘Look at us!’” (Acts 3:4 NCV). The thick, meaty hand of the fisherman reached for the frail, thin one of the beggar. Peter lifted the man toward himself. The cripple stood and began to shout, and passersby began to stop. Peter explained that faith in Christ leads to a clean slate with God.

What Jesus did for the legs of the cripple, he does for our souls. Brand new! An honest look led to a helping hand that led to a conversation about eternity. Works done in God’s name long outlive our earthly lives. Let’s be the people who stop at the gate. Let’s look at the face until we see the person.

Jeremiah 46

You Vainly Collect Medicines

1  46 God’s Messages through the prophet Jeremiah regarding the godless nations.

2–5  The Message to Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt at the time it was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon while camped at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah:

“ ‘Present arms!

March to the front!

Harness the horses!

Up in the saddles!

Battle formation! Helmets on,

spears sharpened, armor in place!’

But what’s this I see?

They’re scared out of their wits!

They break ranks and run for cover.

Their soldiers panic.

They run this way and that,

stampeding blindly.

It’s total chaos, total confusion, danger everywhere!”

God’s Decree.

6  “The swiftest runners won’t get away,

the strongest soldiers won’t escape.

In the north country, along the River Euphrates,

they’ll stagger, stumble, and fall.

7–9  “Who is this like the Nile in flood?

like its streams torrential?

Why, it’s Egypt like the Nile in flood,

like its streams torrential,

Saying, ‘I’ll take over the world.

I’ll wipe out cities and peoples.’

Run, horses!

Roll, chariots!

Advance, soldiers

from Cush and Put with your shields,

Soldiers from Lud,

experts with bow and arrow.

10  “But it’s not your day. It’s the Master’s, me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies—

the day when I have it out with my enemies,

The day when Sword puts an end to my enemies,

when Sword exacts vengeance.

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

will pile them on an altar—a huge sacrifice!—

In the great north country,

along the mighty Euphrates.

11–12  “Oh, virgin Daughter Egypt,

climb into the mountains of Gilead, get healing balm.

You will vainly collect medicines,

for nothing will be able to cure what ails you.

The whole world will hear your anguished cries.

Your wails fill the earth,

As soldier falls against soldier

and they all go down in a heap.”

Egypt’s Army Slithers Like a Snake

13  The Message that God gave to the prophet Jeremiah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was on his way to attack Egypt:

14  “Tell Egypt, alert Migdol,

post warnings in Noph and Tahpanhes:

‘Wake up! Be prepared!

War’s coming!’

15–19  “Why will your bull-god Apis run off?

Because God will drive him off.

Your ragtag army will fall to pieces.

The word is passing through the ranks,

‘Let’s get out of here while we still can.

Let’s head for home and save our skins.’

When they get home they’ll nickname Pharaoh

‘Big-Talk-Bad-Luck.’

As sure as I am the living God”

—the King’s Decree, God-of-the-Angel-Armies is his name—

“A conqueror is coming: like Tabor, singular among mountains;

like Carmel, jutting up from the sea!

So pack your bags for exile,

you coddled daughters of Egypt,

For Memphis will soon be nothing,

a vacant lot grown over with weeds.

20–21  “Too bad, Egypt, a beautiful sleek heifer

attacked by a horsefly from the north!

All her hired soldiers are stationed to defend her—

like well-fed calves they are.

But when their lives are on the line, they’ll run off,

cowards every one.

When the going gets tough,

they’ll take the easy way out.

22–24  “Egypt will slither and hiss like a snake

as the enemy army comes in force.

They will rush in, swinging axes

like lumberjacks cutting down trees.

They’ll level the country”—God’s Decree—“nothing

and no one standing for as far as you can see.

The invaders will be a swarm of locusts,

innumerable, past counting.

Daughter Egypt will be ravished,

raped by vandals from the north.”

25–26  God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Watch out when I visit doom on the god Amon of Thebes, Egypt and its gods and kings, Pharaoh and those who trust in him. I’ll turn them over to those who are out to kill them, to Nebuchadnezzar and his military. Egypt will be set back a thousand years. Eventually people will live there again.” God’s Decree.

27–28  “But you, dear Jacob my servant, you have nothing to fear.

Israel, there’s no need to worry.

Look up! I’ll save you from that far country,

I’ll get your children out of the land of exile.

Things are going to be normal again for Jacob,

safe and secure, smooth sailing.

Yes, dear Jacob my servant, you have nothing to fear.

Depend on it, I’m on your side.

I’ll finish off all the godless nations

among which I’ve scattered you,

But I won’t finish you off.

I have more work left to do on you.

I’ll punish you, but fairly.

No, I’m not finished with you yet.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, April 19, 2024

Today's Scripture

2 Chronicles 20:21-26

After talking it over with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed a choir for God; dressed in holy robes, they were to march ahead of the troops, singing,

Give thanks to God,

His love never quits.

22–23  As soon as they started shouting and praising, God set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir as they were attacking Judah, and they all ended up dead. The Ammonites and Moabites mistakenly attacked those from Mount Seir and massacred them. Then, further confused, they went at each other, and all ended up killed.

24  As Judah came up over the rise, looking into the wilderness for the horde of barbarians, they looked on a killing field of dead bodies—not a living soul among them.

25–26  When Jehoshaphat and his people came to carry off the plunder they found more loot than they could carry off—equipment, clothing, valuables. It took three days to cart it away! On the fourth day they came together at the Valley of Blessing (Beracah) and blessed God (that’s how it got the name, Valley of Blessing).

Insight

Militarily threatened by a large enemy coalition (2 Chronicles 20:1-2), Jehoshaphat turned to God for help (vv. 3-13). God assured His people, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s” (v. 15). Soon after God had delivered the Israelites from Egypt—with the Egyptian army in pursuit—Moses encouraged a terrified people, “Do not be afraid. . . . The Lord will fight for you” (Exodus 14:13-14). This promise, however, was contingent on their obedience and faithfulness. They were “to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all [their] heart and . . . soul” (Joshua 22:5; see 23:6-13). Jehoshaphat exhorted the people: “have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld” (2 Chronicles 20:20). By: K. T. Sim

The Valley of Praise

On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah. 2 Chronicles 20:26

Poet William Cowper struggled with depression much of his life. After a suicide attempt, he was committed to an asylum. But it was there through the care of a Christian physician that Cowper came to a warm, vital faith in Jesus. Soon afterwards, Cowper became acquainted with pastor and hymnwriter John Newton, who encouraged him to collaborate on a hymnal for their church. Among the hymns Cowper wrote was “God Moves in a Mysterious Way,” which contains these words pressed from the crucible of experience: “You fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread, are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.”

Like Cowper, the people of Judah also met God’s kindness unexpectedly. As an alliance of armies invaded their nation, King Jehoshaphat gathered the people for prayer. As Judah’s army marched out, men in the front ranks praised God (2 Chronicles 20:21). The invading armies turned on themselves, and “no one . . . escaped. . . . There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it” (vv. 24-25).

On the fourth day, the very place where a hostile invading force gathered against God’s people was dubbed the Valley of Berakah (v. 26)—literally, “the valley of praise” or “blessing.” What a change! God’s mercy can turn even our most difficult valleys into places of praise as we give them to Him. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

How have you seen God bring good out of difficulty in your life? What can you thank Him for today?

I praise You, loving God, that no valley is deeper than Your love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, April 19, 2024

Is It Unlikely?

Joab . . . had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom. — 1 Kings 2:28

Joab passed the big test: he remained loyal and true to David for nearly four decades, and he resisted the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. It might seem unlikely that a man of such proven integrity would ever turn his back on God. And yet, when David was on his deathbed, Joab conspired to help the scheming Adonijah seize the throne (1 Kings 1:1–7).

Always remain alert to the fact that where one has turned back, any may turn back. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Have you recently passed a big test of loyalty to God? Now is the time to pay attention to the details. “But,” you protest, “it’s not at all likely that I’ll turn back now—not after everything I’ve been through.” Don’t try to predict how temptation will come; peril lies in the least likely thing. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual transaction that the sphere of the small and seemingly insignificant begins to exert itself. It doesn’t become dominant, but if we don’t remember that it is there, if we don’t remember to warn ourselves about it, it will trip us up.

If you’ve remained true to God under great and intense trials, now is the time to watch out for the undertow. Don’t become morbidly introspective, looking toward the future with dread. Just remain alert, keeping your memory bright before God. Unguarded strength is double weakness. The Bible characters fell on their strong points, never on their weak ones. “Shielded by God’s power” (1 Peter 1:5): that is the only safety.

2 Samuel 6-8; Luke 15:1-10

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, April 19, 2024

The Question That Settles the Questions - #9725

Well, as the years go by, we get more and more perspective on the presidency of Ronald Reagan. For example, people who were in his administration began writing books like crazy, telling everything they knew. And people, you know, have started to feel free to tell us what they saw, what they heard, especially behind the scenes.

It's kind of interesting to learn about the late President's style of leadership. One of his close associates told us about some of the major decisions that President Reagan had to make and how he approached them. He said, "When the decision was particularly tough, President Reagan would ask a key question." Now, don't laugh; this is serious. "What would John Wayne do?" That's right. Oh, now, we can laugh and say, "Oh, come on! What would John Wayne do?"

Well, whether or not you agree with all of President Reagan's decisions, I think we have to agree he made some good ones along the way that helped part of our economy, and helped resolve some very difficult international conflicts, and changed the world. Now, I don't know how much the John Wayne question contributed to the process, but President Reagan was on the track of the right kind of question anyway. Not just for his decisions, but for the ones that you're facing right now.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Question That Settles the Questions."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2:21, "To this you were called..." Wow! Okay, I guess here's your destiny. This is an important verse. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." Actually that word example in the original Greek in the New Testament? It's the word for the copy head that was on the top of a child's slate when he was learning to do the alphabet. So, like you make an A like the A you see at the top on the copy head. You make your B like the B at the top, and it will come out just right.

Well, this passage was written to some slaves with harsh masters. Now how should they respond? This is an unfair, painful situation they were in. Basically, Peter says, "Do what Jesus would do; copy Him. He gave you an example, now follow in His steps," which suggests the question that settles so many of life's questions. Not what would John Wayne do, with all respects to Ronald Reagan, but "What would Jesus do?"

Charles Sheldon wrote one of the great classics of Christian fiction years ago called In His Steps and it was based on this verse. It was about a community that was transformed because the people in one church made their bottom line that question, "What would Jesus do?" And the publisher of the newspaper said, "OK, what would Jesus do in a newspaper?" And a wealthy lady said, "Well, what would Jesus do about the poor in this town?" And the pastor said, "What would Jesus preach about?" And an ambitious musician said, "What would Jesus do?" And it changed everything. It literally is your destiny to live by that simple question, "What would Jesus do?"

Put Jesus into the choices you're facing now. What would Jesus do in that business transaction you're in the middle of? How would He respond to that difficult person? How would He respond to that stressful situation? What would Jesus do if He knew about the wrong thing that's going on; the one that you know about? What would He do about that need that you could do something about? What would He do about the poor people in your community? What would He do about the lost people you know? What would Jesus do? Start to pray that way. I think a lot of the fog in your decisions will start to clear. It will greatly simplify what could otherwise be a confusing decision.

And then risk it! Have the courage to do what Jesus would do. What would John Wayne do? Well, that's a little shaky basis for a decision. But what would Jesus do? If that's your bottom line all day every day, you won't go wrong.