Lenexa, Kansas, United States - Soul Care-New Every Morning "They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."Lamentations 3:23 for Tuesday, 1 April 2014 - Good Morning, Ministry Partner
Be Encouraged by God's Word:
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?--Mark 8:34-37, NRSV
Wisdom from Fellow Pilgrims:
Follow Him as well for the bitter cup of His passion as for the loaves.--Jeremy Taylor
Pray Together with Us:
My spirit longs for thee
Within my troubled breast,
Though I unworthy be
Of so divine a guest.
Of so divine a guest
Unworthy though I be,
Yet has my heart no rest
Unless it come from thee.--John Byrom
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Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Lake Forest, California, United States - Daily Hope for Tuesday, 1 April 2014 "How Does Your Giving Reflect God's Grace?" by Rick Warren
Lake Forest, California, United States - Daily Hope for Tuesday, 1 April 2014 "How Does Your Giving Reflect God's Grace?" by Rick Warren
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NIV)
If you want to measure how much you understand grace and how much you’re living by grace, look at your giving.
The Bible says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NIV).
Notice the “alls” — “all grace,” “all things,” “at all times,” “having all that you need” — those are the promises related to the person who becomes like Christ. What was Christ like? He was a giver. God loved the world so much that he gave. Until you learn to be generous with your time, money, resources, and opportunities, you’re not going to be like Christ. Nothing is greater proof that you understand grace than being lovingly gracious and generous to other people and to God.
If you’re uptight or defensive when your pastor starts talking about giving, it means you don’t understand grace. Look at the verse again. He says if you give cheerfully and liberally, God will take care of all your needs — all the time, in every way, however you need them.
Here’s the question: Are you going to trust the God who gave his life for you? If you can trust him enough for salvation, can’t you trust him in your finances?
The truth is, you really don’t own anything. God just loans it to you for 70 or 80 years. It’s all His in the first place. If my daughter comes to me, and I give her five bucks to buy me a present, where’s the money really coming from in the first place?
God does that with us. He gives to us generously. Then he says, “Now show a little gratitude. Be generous in giving, including your tithe.” Does he need the money? No. He wants you to become like him. He wants you to have a heart that says, “I can’t wait to give in every area.”
Romans 8:32 says, “Since God loved us enough to give us his own son, won’t he love us enough to take care of every one of our other needs?”
The fact is, you can say you love God and sing that you trust God and put him first, but your checkbook is where you can show just how much God’s grace means to you.
Talk It Over:
•Would you call yourself a cheerful giver? Why or why not?
•How have you seen God bless your finances or provide for you as you have been faithful to tithe?
•In what ways does your life reflect gratitude for God’s grace?
*** *** ***
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NIV)
If you want to measure how much you understand grace and how much you’re living by grace, look at your giving.
The Bible says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NIV).
Notice the “alls” — “all grace,” “all things,” “at all times,” “having all that you need” — those are the promises related to the person who becomes like Christ. What was Christ like? He was a giver. God loved the world so much that he gave. Until you learn to be generous with your time, money, resources, and opportunities, you’re not going to be like Christ. Nothing is greater proof that you understand grace than being lovingly gracious and generous to other people and to God.
If you’re uptight or defensive when your pastor starts talking about giving, it means you don’t understand grace. Look at the verse again. He says if you give cheerfully and liberally, God will take care of all your needs — all the time, in every way, however you need them.
Here’s the question: Are you going to trust the God who gave his life for you? If you can trust him enough for salvation, can’t you trust him in your finances?
The truth is, you really don’t own anything. God just loans it to you for 70 or 80 years. It’s all His in the first place. If my daughter comes to me, and I give her five bucks to buy me a present, where’s the money really coming from in the first place?
God does that with us. He gives to us generously. Then he says, “Now show a little gratitude. Be generous in giving, including your tithe.” Does he need the money? No. He wants you to become like him. He wants you to have a heart that says, “I can’t wait to give in every area.”
Romans 8:32 says, “Since God loved us enough to give us his own son, won’t he love us enough to take care of every one of our other needs?”
The fact is, you can say you love God and sing that you trust God and put him first, but your checkbook is where you can show just how much God’s grace means to you.
Talk It Over:
•Would you call yourself a cheerful giver? Why or why not?
•How have you seen God bless your finances or provide for you as you have been faithful to tithe?
•In what ways does your life reflect gratitude for God’s grace?
*** *** ***
Wichita, Kansas, United States - Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church Daily Devotional for Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Wichita, Kansas, United
States - Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church Daily
Devotional for Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Today please be in
prayer for:
1. Melvin Reazin
Altamont UMC
Mound City UMC
Parsons District
2. Claire Gadberry
Plainville
Hays District
3. Bob Call
Lincoln Lakeview UMC
Blue River District
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This Week's Lectionary
4th Sunday in Lent -
Purple
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
Lectionary Scripture:
1 Samuel 16:1 Yahweh
said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him
from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you
to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his
sons.”
2 Samuel said, “How can
I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
Yahweh said, “Take a
heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. 3 Call Jesse to
the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint to me
him whom I name to you.”
4 Samuel did that which
Yahweh spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him
trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
5 He said, “Peaceably;
I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to
the sacrifice.” He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the
sacrifice. 6 When they had come, he looked at Eliab, and said, “Surely Yahweh’s
anointed is before him.”
7 But Yahweh said to Samuel,
“Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have
rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward
appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and
made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one, either.”
9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one,
either.” 10 Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to
Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your
children here?”
He said, “There remains
yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.”
12 He sent, and brought
him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh
said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.”
13 Then Samuel took the
horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s
Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went
to Ramah.
Psalm 23: A Psalm by
David.
1 Yahweh is my
shepherd:
I shall lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down
in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your
staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table
before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with
oil.
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and
loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in Yahweh’s house forever.
Ephesians 5:8 For you
were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, 9
for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, 10
proving what is well pleasing to the Lord. 11 Have no fellowship with the
unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them. 12 For the things
which are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of. 13 But all
things, when they are reproved, are revealed by the light, for everything that
reveals is light. 14 Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from
the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
John 9:1 As he passed
by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who
sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered,
“Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be
revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day.
The night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the
light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud
with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, 7 and said to him,
“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed,
and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was
blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” 9 Others were saying,
“It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.”
He said, “I am he.” 10
They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “A man
called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of
Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they asked him,
“Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t
know.”
13 They brought him who
had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud
and opened his eyes. 15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he
received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I
see.”
16 Some therefore of
the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the
Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was
division among them. 17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you
say about him, because he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a
prophet.”
18 The Jews therefore
did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his
sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, 19 and
asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he
now see?”
20 His parents answered
them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he
now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age.
Ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because
they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would
confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his
parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”
24 So they called the
man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know
that this man is a sinner.”
25 He therefore
answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I
was blind, now I see.”
26 They said to him
again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I
told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You
don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”
28 They insulted him
and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that
God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes
from.”
30 The man answered
them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of
God, and does his will, he listens to him.[a] 32 Since the world began it has
never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If
this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They answered him,
“You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that
they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son
of God?”
36 He answered, “Who is
he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”
37 Jesus said to him,
“You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”
38 He said, “Lord, I
believe!” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “I came
into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those
who see may become blind.”
40 Those of the Pharisees
who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them,
“If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore
your sin remains.
Footnotes:
a. John 9:31 Psalm
66:18, Proverbs 15:29; 28:9
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John Wesley’s
Notes-Commentary for:
1 Samuel 16:1-13
XVI Samuel is appointed
to anoint one of the sons of Jesse king, ver. 1-5. The elder sons are passed
by, and David anointed, ver. 6- 13. Saul growing melancholy is eased by David's
music, ver. 14- 23.
Verse 1. Mourn - And
pray for his restitution, which the following words imply he did. Oil - Which
was used in the inauguration of kings. But here it is used in the designation
of a king; for David was not actually made king by it, but still remained a
subject. And the reason of this anticipation was the comfort of Samuel, and
other good men, against their fears in case of Saul's death, and the assurance
of David's title, which otherwise would have been doubtful. I have provided -
This phrase is very emphatical, and implies the difference between this and the
former king. Saul was a king of the people's providing, he was the product of
their sinful desires: but this is a king of my own providing, to fulfil all my
will, and to serve my glory.
Verse 4. Trembled -
Because it was strange and unexpected to them, this being but an obscure town,
and remote from Samuel, and therefore they justly thought there was some
extraordinary reason for it. Peaceable - The Hebrew phrase, comest thou in
peace, is as much as to say (in our phrase) is all well?
Verse 5. He sanctified
- It seems evident that there was something peculiar in Jesse's invitation. For
first, both he and his sons were invited, whereas the others were only invited
for their own persons. Secondly, the different phrase here used, that he
sanctified these, when he only bade the other sanctify themselves; argues a
singular care of Samuel in their sanctification. Which makes it probable, that
the rest were only to join with them in the act of sacrificing; but these, and
only these, were invited to feast upon the remainders of the sacrifices.
Verse 6. Before him -
That is, in this place where God is now present. For it is observable, that not
only the sacrifice is said to be offered, but even the feast upon the
remainders of it is said, to be eaten before the Lord, Deut. xii, 7, that is,
before or near his altar, where God was present in a special manner. This I
take to be the person I am sent to anoint: wherein yet be was mistaken, as
other prophets sometimes were, when they hastily spake their own thoughts,
before they had consulted God.
Verse 10. Seven - There
are but seven named, 1 Chron. ii, 13-15, because one of them was either born of
a concubine: or, died immediately after this time.
Verse 11. Keepeth sheep
- And consequently is the most unfit of all my sons for that high employment.
Either therefore he did not understand David's wisdom and valour, or he judged
him unfit, by reason of his mean education. And God so ordered it by his
providence, that David's choice might plainly appear to be God's work, and not
Samuel's, or Jesse's. David signifies beloved: a fit name for so eminent a type
of the Beloved Son. It is supposed, David was now about twenty years old. If
so, his troubles by Saul lasted near ten years: for he was thirty years old
when Saul died. Samuel having done this went to Ramah. He retired to die in
peace, since his eyes had seen the salvation, even the scepter brought into the
tribe of Judah.
Verse 13. Anointed him
- David's brethren saw David's unction, yet did not understand, that he was
anointed to the kingdom; but were only told by Samuel, that he was anointed to
some great service, which hereafter they should know. Thus Jesse only, and
David, understood the whole business, and his brethren were able to attest to
that act of Samuel's anointing him, which, with other collateral evidences, was
abundantly sufficient to prove David's right to the kingdom, if need should be.
The spirit,&c., - That is, he was immediately endowed with extraordinary
gifts of God's Spirit, as strength, and courage, and wisdom, and other
excellent qualities which fitted him for, and put him upon noble attempts.
Psalm 23
PS 23 David extolls the
goodness of God as his shepherd, and expresses his confidence in him, ver. 1-6.
A psalm of David.
Verse 2. Lie down - To
repose myself at noon, as the manner was in those hot countries. Green - Where
there is both delight and plenty of provisions.
Verse 3. Restoreth -
Hebrew. He bringeth it back; from its errors and wandering. For - Not for any
worth in me, but for the glory of his justice, and faithfulness, and goodness.
Verse 4. Thy rod and
thy staff - Two words denoting the same thing, and both designing God's
pastoral care over him.
Verse 5. A table - Thou
furnishest me with plenty of provisions and comforts. Oil - With aromatic
ointments, which were then used at great feasts; thy comforts delight my soul.
Runneth over - Thou hast given me a plentiful portions, signified by the cup,
given to the guests by the master of the feast.
Ephesians 5:8-14
Verse 8. Ye were once
darkness - Total blindness and ignorance. Walk as children of light - Suitably
to your present knowledge.
Verse 9. The fruit of
the light - Opposite to " the unfruitful works of darkness," chap.
iv, 11. Is in - That is, consists in. Goodness and righteousness and truth -
Opposite to the sins spoken of, chap. iv, 25,&c.
Verse 11. Reprove them
- To avoid them is not enough.
Verse 12. In secret -
As flying the light.
Verse 13. But all
things which are reproved, are thereby dragged out into the light, and made
manifest - Shown in their proper colours, by the light. For whatsoever doth
make manifest is light - That is, for nothing but light, yea, light from
heaven, can make anything manifest.
Verse 14. Wherefore he
- God. Saith - In the general tenor of his word, to all who are still in
darkness. Awake thou that steepest - In ignorance of God and thyself; in stupid
insensibility. And arise from the dead - From the death of sin. And Christ
shall give thee light - Knowledge, holiness, happiness.
John 9:1-41
Verse 2. Who sinned,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind? - That is, was it for his own
sins, or the sins of his parents? They suppose (as many of the Jews did, though
without any ground from Scripture) that he might have sinned in a pre-existent
state, before he came into the world.
Verse 3. Jesus
answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents - It was not the manner
of our Lord to answer any questions that were of no use, but to gratify an idle
curiosity. Therefore he determines nothing concerning this. The scope of his
answer is, It was neither for any sins of his own, nor yet of his parents; but
that the power of God might be displayed.
Verse 4. The night is
coming - Christ is the light. When the light is withdrawn night comes, when no
man can work - No man can do any thing toward working out his salvation after
this life is ended. Yet Christ can work always. But he was not to work upon
earth, only during the day, or season which was appointed for him.
Verse 5. I am the light
of the world - I teach men inwardly by my Spirit, and outwardly by my
preaching, what is the will of God; and I show them, by my example, how they
must do it.
Verse 6. He anointed
the eyes of the blind man with the clay - This might almost have blinded a man
that had sight. But what could it do toward curing the blind? It reminds us
that God is no farther from the event, when he works either with, or without
means, and that all the creatures are only that which his almighty operation
makes them.
Verse 7. Go, wash at
the pool of Siloam - Perhaps our Lord intended to make the miracle more taken
notice of. For a crowd of people would naturally gather round him to observe
the event of so strange a prescription, and it is exceeding probable, the guide
who must have led him in traversing a great part of the city, would mention the
errand he was going upon, and so call all those who saw him to a greater
attention. From the fountain of Siloam, which was without the walls of Jerusalem,
a little stream flowed into the city, and was received in a kind of basin, near
the temple, and called the pool of Siloam. Which is, by interpretation, Sent -
And so was a type of the Messiah, who was sent of God. He went and washed, and
came seeing - He believed, and obeyed, and found a blessing. Had he been wise
in his own eyes, and reasoned, like Naaman, on the impropriety of the means, he
had justly been left in darkness. Lord, may our proud hearts be subdued to the
methods of thy recovering grace! May we leave thee to choose how thou wilt
bestow favours, which it is our highest interest to receive on any terms.
Verse 11. A man called
Jesus - He seems to have been before totally ignorant of him.
Verse 14. Anointing the
eyes - With any kind of medicine on the Sabbath, was particularly forbidden by
the tradition of the elders.
Verse 16. This man is
not of God - Not sent of God. How can a man that is a sinner - That is, one
living in wilful sin, do such miracles?
Verse 17. What sayest
thou of him, for that he hath opened thine eyes? - What inference dost thou
draw herefrom?
Verse 22. He should be
put out of the synagogue - That is be excommunicated.
Verse 27. Are ye also -
As well as I, at length convinced and willing to be his disciples?
Verse 29. We know not
whence he is - By what power and authority he does these things.
Verse 30. The man
answered - Utterly illiterate as he was. And with what strength and clearness
of reason! So had God opened the eyes of his understanding, as well as his
bodily eyes. Why, herein is a marvelous thing, that ye - The teachers and
guides of the people, should not know, that a man who has wrought a miracle,
the like of which was never heard of before, must be from heaven, sent by God.
Verse 31. We - Even we
of the populace, know that God heareth not sinners - Not impenitent sinners, so
as to answer their prayers in this manner. The honest courage of this man in
adhering to the truth, though he knew the consequence, ver. 22, gives him claim
to the title of a confessor.
Verse 33. He could do
nothing - Of this kind; nothing miraculous.
Verse 34. Born in sin -
And therefore, they supposed, born blind. They cast him out - Of the synagogue;
excommunicated him.
Verse 35. Having found
him - For he had sought him.
Verse 36. Who is he,
that I may believe? - This implies some degree of faith already. He was ready
to receive whatever Jesus said.
Verse 37. Lord, I
believe - What an excellent spirit was this man of! Of so deep and strong an
understanding; (as he had just shown to the confusion of the Pharisees,) and
yet of so teachable a temper!
Verse 39. For judgment
am I come into the world - That is, the consequence of my coming will be, that
by the just judgment of God, while the blind in body and soul receive their
sight, they who boast they see, will be given up to still greater blindness
than before.
Verse 41. If ye had
been blind - Invincibly ignorant; if ye had not had so many means of knowing:
ye would have had no sin - Comparatively to what ye have now. But now ye say -
Ye yourselves acknowledge, Ye see, therefore your sin remaineth - Without
excuse, without remedy.
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Today’s Scripture:
Mark 11: 20 As they
passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots.
21 Peter, remembering, said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed
has withered away.”
22 Jesus answered them,
“Have faith in God. 23 For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this
mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart,
but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. 24
Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that
you have received them, and you shall have them. 25 Whenever you stand praying,
forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in
heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions.
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Contact Information
Great Plains Episcopal
Office
9440 E Boston, Suite
160
Wichita KS 67207
316-686-0600
800-745-2350
info@greatplainsumc.org
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Riverside, California, United States - Greg Laurie Daily Devotion for Tuesday, 1 April 2014 "Conditional Obedience"
Riverside, California, United States - Greg Laurie Daily Devotion for Tuesday, 1 April 2014 "Conditional Obedience"
They did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.-—Jeremiah 7:24
My dog practices selective listening. When he doesn't like what I am saying, he acts as though he doesn't understand me. If he is in my room at bedtime and I tell him to leave, he looks at me as if to say, "What?" It's as though his hearing is gone. On the other hand, he can be asleep behind closed doors, and if I go downstairs, open the cupboard, and pull out his leash, he suddenly has supersonic hearing. He is right there at my side. When he likes what I want him to do, my dog hears and obeys me. But when he doesn't like what I want him to do, my dog doesn't hear and doesn't obey.
We can be the same with God. When God tells us to do something we like, we say, "Yes, Lord!" But when He tells us to stop doing something, we say, "God, I think you're cutting out on me. There's too much static. I'm not hearing you clearly."
Jesus said, "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15:14). He didn't say, "You are My friends if you do the things that you personally agree with." God has told us in His Word how we are to live. It is not for us to pick and choose sections of the Bible that we like and toss the rest aside.
If God tells you to do something, He says it for good reason, and you need to obey Him. If God says not to do something, He also says it for good reason. Even if you don't understand it, obey Him.[Today's devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013]
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It is not for us to pick and choose sections of the Bible that we like and toss the rest aside. Here's why. . . .
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Today's Bible Reading:
Judges 11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife bore him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You will not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Jephthah, and they went out with him.
4 After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”
7 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”
8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivers them before me, will I be your head?”
10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.”
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah.
12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”
13 The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.”
14 Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; 15 and he said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; 17 then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let me pass through your land;’ but the king of Edom didn’t listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel stayed in Kadesh. 18 Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to my place.’ 20 But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21 Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. 22 They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. 23 So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them? 24 Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever Yahweh our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. 25 Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why didn’t you recover them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. May Yahweh the Judge be judge today between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”
28 However the king of the children of Ammon didn’t listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him. 29 Then Yahweh’s Spirit came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.
30 Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh delivered them into his hand. 33 He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to Yahweh, and I can’t go back.”
36 She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.” 37 She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.”
38 He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains. 39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
12:1 The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!”
2 Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand. 3 When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?”
4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Manasseh.” 5 The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. When the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No”; 6 then they said to him, “Now say ‘Shibboleth;’” and he said “Sibboleth”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it right: then they seized him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell.
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.
8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside his clan for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. 10 Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.
11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty sons’ sons, who rode on seventy donkey colts. He judged Israel eight years. 15 Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Psalm 50: A Psalm by Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks,
and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines out.
3 Our God comes, and does not keep silent.
A fire devours before him.
It is very stormy around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above,
to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather my saints together to me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens shall declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge.
Selah.
7 “Hear, my people, and I will speak;
Israel, and I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices.
Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I have no need for a bull from your stall,
nor male goats from your pens.
10 For every animal of the forest is mine,
and the livestock on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains.
The wild animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to declare my statutes,
that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
17 since you hate instruction,
and throw my words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him,
and have participated with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth to evil.
Your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent.
You thought that I was just like you.
I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.
23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
2 Corinthians 1: 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. 7 Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort. 8 For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers,[a] concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us; 11 you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf. 12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you. 13 For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end; 14 as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus. 15 In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit; 16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea. 17 When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?” 18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.” 20 For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; 22 who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts. 23 But I call God for a witness to my soul, that I didn’t come to Corinth to spare you. 24 Not that we control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
Footnotes:
a. 2 Corinthians 1:8 The word for “brothers” here and where context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
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Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514-4000
Phone: 1(800)821-3300
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They did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.-—Jeremiah 7:24
My dog practices selective listening. When he doesn't like what I am saying, he acts as though he doesn't understand me. If he is in my room at bedtime and I tell him to leave, he looks at me as if to say, "What?" It's as though his hearing is gone. On the other hand, he can be asleep behind closed doors, and if I go downstairs, open the cupboard, and pull out his leash, he suddenly has supersonic hearing. He is right there at my side. When he likes what I want him to do, my dog hears and obeys me. But when he doesn't like what I want him to do, my dog doesn't hear and doesn't obey.
We can be the same with God. When God tells us to do something we like, we say, "Yes, Lord!" But when He tells us to stop doing something, we say, "God, I think you're cutting out on me. There's too much static. I'm not hearing you clearly."
Jesus said, "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15:14). He didn't say, "You are My friends if you do the things that you personally agree with." God has told us in His Word how we are to live. It is not for us to pick and choose sections of the Bible that we like and toss the rest aside.
If God tells you to do something, He says it for good reason, and you need to obey Him. If God says not to do something, He also says it for good reason. Even if you don't understand it, obey Him.[Today's devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013]
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It is not for us to pick and choose sections of the Bible that we like and toss the rest aside. Here's why. . . .
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Today's Bible Reading:
Judges 11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife bore him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You will not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Jephthah, and they went out with him.
4 After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”
7 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”
8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivers them before me, will I be your head?”
10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.”
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah.
12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”
13 The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.”
14 Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; 15 and he said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; 17 then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let me pass through your land;’ but the king of Edom didn’t listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel stayed in Kadesh. 18 Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to my place.’ 20 But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21 Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. 22 They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. 23 So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them? 24 Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever Yahweh our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. 25 Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why didn’t you recover them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. May Yahweh the Judge be judge today between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”
28 However the king of the children of Ammon didn’t listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him. 29 Then Yahweh’s Spirit came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.
30 Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh delivered them into his hand. 33 He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to Yahweh, and I can’t go back.”
36 She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.” 37 She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.”
38 He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains. 39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
12:1 The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!”
2 Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand. 3 When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?”
4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Manasseh.” 5 The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. When the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No”; 6 then they said to him, “Now say ‘Shibboleth;’” and he said “Sibboleth”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it right: then they seized him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell.
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.
8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside his clan for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. 10 Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.
11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty sons’ sons, who rode on seventy donkey colts. He judged Israel eight years. 15 Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Psalm 50: A Psalm by Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks,
and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines out.
3 Our God comes, and does not keep silent.
A fire devours before him.
It is very stormy around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above,
to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather my saints together to me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens shall declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge.
Selah.
7 “Hear, my people, and I will speak;
Israel, and I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices.
Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I have no need for a bull from your stall,
nor male goats from your pens.
10 For every animal of the forest is mine,
and the livestock on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains.
The wild animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to declare my statutes,
that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
17 since you hate instruction,
and throw my words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him,
and have participated with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth to evil.
Your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent.
You thought that I was just like you.
I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.
23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
2 Corinthians 1: 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. 7 Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort. 8 For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers,[a] concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us; 11 you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf. 12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you. 13 For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end; 14 as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus. 15 In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit; 16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea. 17 When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?” 18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.” 20 For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; 22 who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts. 23 But I call God for a witness to my soul, that I didn’t come to Corinth to spare you. 24 Not that we control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
Footnotes:
a. 2 Corinthians 1:8 The word for “brothers” here and where context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
-------
Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514-4000
Phone: 1(800)821-3300
-------
Kansas City, Missouri, Untied States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Humility Through Judgment” – Tuesday, 1 April 2014 - Scripture: Psalm 51:1-9
Kansas City, Missouri,
Untied States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Humility Through
Judgment” – Tuesday, 1 April 2014 - Scripture: Psalm 51: For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David,
when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, God,
according to your loving kindness.
According to the multitude of your tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my
transgressions.
My sin is constantly before me.
4 Against you, and you
only, have I sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight;
that you may be proved
right when you speak,
and justified when you judge.
5 Behold, I was born in
iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you desire
truth in the inward parts.
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop,
and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and
gladness,
That the bones which you have broken may
rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my
sins,
and blot out all of my iniquities.
“Humility Through
Judgment” by Kevin G. Smith
“Judgment” is a word we
try to avoid. We are told not to judge others; that we rarely, if ever, have
the full picture of a situation; that the appropriate persons will pass
judgment as necessary. “Judgment” has become a taboo word. Yet, it exists all
around us, but do we seek to remove it from the equation regarding God?
Conceptually, we
recognize that God is the Judge, but do we consider what that actually looks
like in our life? Such an outlook can result in misunderstanding the character
and nature of God. We quickly attribute to God love, forgiveness,
long-suffering, faithfulness; but judge? God is Judge, but He is not a blind,
heartless sentence-giver. He is Judge: and that includes His other attributes.
As a loving, forgiving,
long-suffering, faithful God, He also is the judge of our thoughts and actions.
Though this may sound daunting, we can take solace in the idea that this same
God seeks to offer peace into our judgment-deserving situations.
Hymn for Today:
“Holy spirit, Light
Divine” by Andrew Reed
1. Holy Spirit, ight
divine,
Shine upon this heart of
mine;
Chase the shades of
night away,
Turn the darkness into
day.
2. Let me see my
Savior's face,
Let me all His beauties
trace;
Show those glorious
truths to me
Which are only known to
Thee.
3. Holy Spirit, pow'r
divine,
Cleanse this guilty
heart of mine;
In Thy mercy pity me,
From sin's bondage set
me free.
4. Holy Spirit, joy
divine
Cheer this saddened
heart of mine;
Yield a sacred, settled
peace,
Let it grow and still
increase.
5. Holy Spirit, all
divine,
Dwell within this heart
of mine;
Cast down ev'ry idol
throne,
Reign supreme, and reign
alone.
Thought for Today:
“With the shame of sin
removed, we feel free to run into God’s arms for help” (Jim Edlin and Janelle
Mackay).
Prayer Needs:
For faculty and students
as they prepare for full-time Christian ministry in the Philippians!
-------
WordAction Publishing
Company
Beacon Hill Press
Nazarene Publishing
Company
2500 Troost Avenue
Kansas City, MO 64108
United States
Embrace holy
living…visit reflectinggod.com.
-------
Indiana, United States - Goshen College 2014 Lenten Devotion by students, faculty, and staff for Tuesday, 1 April 2014 "Dem Bones" by Paul Keim, professor of Bible and religion SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Indiana, United States - Goshen College 2014 Lenten Devotion by students, faculty, and staff for Tuesday, 1 April 2014 "Dem Bones" by Paul Keim, professor of Bible and religion
SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 37: Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me out in Yahweh’s Spirit, and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know. 4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.--World English Bible
DEVOTIONAL:
“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones, now hear the word of the Lord.” It is one of the most powerful and enduring of all biblical images. The prophet Ezekiel is plucked from his station among the exiles in Babylon and taken up by the power of God on a visionary journey. Through his poetic description we see the piles of bones covering the valley floor. We hear the rattling as they reconnect and become reconstituted bodies. Then Ezekiel prophesies to the breath in the wind and the bones come alive.
Our imaginations are held captive to this image and we dwell upon it. But the interpretation of the vision follows, and should not be neglected. These bones are the house of Israel, those living in exile, mumbling to themselves that their bones are dried up, their hope is burned out, life as they knew it – over. Once a people, now No People. Survivors whose fate seems death-like. They might as well be lying in their graves.
But, like the reconnected and revivified bones, they too may come to breathe again, to believe again, to live again. Plucked from their tombs of despair, these exilic zombies receive God’s breathy resuscitation. They are no longer grist for the boneyard but living signs that God is with them, has never abandoned them.
All of us will die someday. But while we live, we should live as living, breathing beings, with all the rights, privileges and obligations pertaining thereto.
SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 37: The Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”-New Revised Standard Version
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SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 37: Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me out in Yahweh’s Spirit, and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know. 4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.--World English Bible
DEVOTIONAL:
“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones, now hear the word of the Lord.” It is one of the most powerful and enduring of all biblical images. The prophet Ezekiel is plucked from his station among the exiles in Babylon and taken up by the power of God on a visionary journey. Through his poetic description we see the piles of bones covering the valley floor. We hear the rattling as they reconnect and become reconstituted bodies. Then Ezekiel prophesies to the breath in the wind and the bones come alive.
Our imaginations are held captive to this image and we dwell upon it. But the interpretation of the vision follows, and should not be neglected. These bones are the house of Israel, those living in exile, mumbling to themselves that their bones are dried up, their hope is burned out, life as they knew it – over. Once a people, now No People. Survivors whose fate seems death-like. They might as well be lying in their graves.
But, like the reconnected and revivified bones, they too may come to breathe again, to believe again, to live again. Plucked from their tombs of despair, these exilic zombies receive God’s breathy resuscitation. They are no longer grist for the boneyard but living signs that God is with them, has never abandoned them.
All of us will die someday. But while we live, we should live as living, breathing beings, with all the rights, privileges and obligations pertaining thereto.
SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 37: The Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”-New Revised Standard Version
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