A Re-post From Randy Kilgore of Our Daily Bread

  September 18, 2014  

Love To Tell His Story

By Randy Kilgore

Read: 1 Chronicles 16:7-13

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! —1 Chronicles 16:8

Bible in a Year:
Proverbs 30-31; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

When noted author Studs Terkel was looking for a topic for his next book, one of his friends suggested “death.” While he was resistant at first, the idea gradually began to take shape, but its voice became all too real when Mr. Terkel’s wife of 60 years passed away. Now the book was also a personal search: a yearning to know what lies beyond, where his loved one had just gone. Its pages are a poignant reminder of our own search for Jesus and the questions and concerns we have about eternity while we walk our faith journey.
I’m thankful for the assurance we can have that we will be with Jesus after we die if we have trusted in Him to forgive our sin. There is no greater hope. It is now our privilege to share that hope with as many as we can. First Peter 3:15 encourages us: “. . . always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” We have the opportunity from God, as David said, to “call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples” (1 Chron. 16:8).
The stories of so many people we love are not yet ended, and the privilege to tell them about the love of Jesus is a gift most precious.

I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.
I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;
And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee. —Hankey

Let our days be filled with a longing— and the opportunities—to tell our story of Jesus.

Insight

The psalm David sings in 1 Chronicles 16:7-33 seems to be drawn from parts of several different psalms found in the Hebrew psalter. According to The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, the lyrics of verses 8-22 closely parallel Psalm 105:1-15. In verses 23-33, the song seems to continue with words from Psalm 96, while the remainder of the song (vv.34-36) relates to the ideas expressed in Psalm 106. In this way, David’s song resembles a modern hymn medley, where parts of several songs are combined together to express the singer’s heart of worship.

A Re-post From Dave Branon of Our Daily Bread

  September 17, 2014  

Giving It To God

By Dave Branon

Read: Mark 10:17-22

[He] went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. —Mark 10:22

Bible in a Year:
Proverbs 27-29; 2 Corinthians 10

A hero to a generation of people who grew up after World War II, Corrie ten Boom left a legacy of godliness and wisdom. A victim of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, she survived to tell her story of faith and dependence on God during horrendous suffering.
“I have held many things in my hands,” Corrie once said, “and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that, I still possess.”
Corrie was well acquainted with loss. She lost family, possessions, and years of her life to hateful people. Yet she learned to concentrate on what could be gained spiritually and emotionally by putting everything in the hands of her heavenly Father.
What does that mean to us? What should we place in God’s hands for safekeeping? According to the story of the rich young man in Mark 10, everything. He held abundance in his hands, but when Jesus asked him to give it up, he refused. He kept his possessions and he failed to follow Jesus—and as a result he “went away sorrowful” (v.22).
Like Corrie ten Boom, we can find hope by putting everything in God’s hands and then trusting Him for the outcome.

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live. —Van de Venter

No life is more secure than a life surrendered to God.

Insight

In Mark 10:1-16, Jesus taught about the demands of discipleship, including the necessity for childlike faith. Here in the encounter with a rich young man, Jesus spoke of the need to love God totally—fully and unreservedly. This young leader lacked unrivaled allegiance to God because he loved his earthly possessions more (v.22). In His teaching, Jesus had warned, “No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). The young man’s actions sadly illustrated this principle. His story is also told in Matthew 19:16-22 and Luke 18:18-23. Paul too warned of the subtle lure of material riches in 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

A Re-post From Anne Cetas of Our Daily Bread

  September 16, 2014  

A Heart For Prayer

By Anne Cetas

Read: Psalm 27:7-14

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” —Psalm 27:8

Bible in a Year:
Proverbs 25-26; 2 Corinthians 9

While traveling on an airplane with her 4- and 2-year-old daughters, a young mom worked at keeping them busy so they wouldn’t disturb others. When the pilot’s voice came over the intercom for an announcement, Catherine, the younger girl, paused from her activities and put her head down. When the pilot finished, she whispered, “Amen.” Perhaps because there had been a recent natural disaster, she thought the pilot was praying.
Like that little girl, I want a heart that turns my thoughts toward prayer quickly. I think it would be fair to say that the psalmist David had that kind of heart. We get hints of that in Psalm 27 as he speaks of facing difficult foes (v.2). He said, “Your face, Lord, I will seek” (v.8). Some say that David was remembering the time he was fleeing from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10) or from his son Absalom (2 Sam. 15:13-14) when he wrote this psalm. Prayer and dependence on God were in the forefront of David’s thinking, and he found Him to be his sanctuary (Ps. 27:4-5).
We need a sanctuary as well. Perhaps reading or praying this psalm and others could help us to develop that closeness to our Father-God. As God becomes our sanctuary, we’ll more readily turn our hearts toward Him in prayer.

Teach me, Father, what it means to run to
and have You as my sanctuary. Help me not to
worry about the words I say, but just to express my
heart to You and to nestle down close to You.

In prayer, God can still our hearts and quiet our minds.

Insight

Many of the psalms are prayers to God, and many are songs to encourage others concerning the goodness and love of God. Today's psalm contains both elements. While David cries out to God for guidance and protection in verses 7-13, he ends his psalm with a message to the reader (v.14). Taking the lessons and thoughts expressed in his prayer, David encourages the reader to trust the Lord and wait upon Him as he has done.

A Re-post From Marion Stroud of Our Daily Bread

  September 15, 2014  

The Blame Game

By Marion Stroud

Read: Genesis 16:1-6; 21:8-13

My wrong be upon you! . . . The Lord judge between you and me. —Genesis 16:5

Bible in a Year:
Proverbs 22-24; 2 Corinthians 8

When Jenny’s husband left her for another woman, she vowed that she would never meet his new wife. But when she realized that her bitterness was damaging her children’s relationship with their father, she asked for God’s help to take the first steps toward overcoming bitterness in a situation she couldn’t change.
In Genesis 16, we read the story of a couple to whom God promised a baby. When Sarai suggested that her husband Abram have a child with their servant Hagar, she wasn’t fully trusting God for the child He had promised. When the baby was born, Hagar despised Sarai (Gen. 16:3-4), and Sarai became bitter (vv.5-6).
Hagar had been the slave with no rights and suddenly she was special. How did Sarai react? By blaming others, including Abram (v.5). God’s promise was realized in the birth of Isaac 14 years later. Even his weaning celebration was spoiled by Sarai’s attitude (21:8-10).
It may never have been easy for Sarai to have lived with the consequences of their decision to go ahead of God. It may have taken a miracle of grace to change her attitude but that could have transformed everything. Sarai couldn’t reverse the decision, but through God’s strength, she could have lived with it differently, and given God the glory.

Thank You, Lord, that though our situations
may not change, Your grace is strong enough
to change us in our situations. Help us as we
struggle sometimes to live in this sinful world.

By God’s grace, we can reflect His light in the dark times.

A Re-post From David C. McCasland of Our Daily Bread

  September 14, 2014  

Gentle Jesus

By David C. McCasland

Read: Matthew 18:1-10

Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3

Bible in a Year:
Proverbs 19-21; 2 Corinthians 7

Charles Wesley (1707–1788) was a Methodist evangelist who wrote more than 9,000 hymns and sacred poems. Some, like “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” are great, soaring hymns of praise. But his poem “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild,” first published in 1742, is a child’s quiet prayer that captures the essence of how all of us should seek the Lord in sincere, simple faith.
Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb,
In Thy gracious hands I am;
Make me, Savior, what Thou art,
Live Thyself within my heart.
When some followers of Jesus were jockeying for position in His kingdom, the Lord “called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matt. 18:2-3).
Not many children seek position or power. Instead, they want acceptance and security. They cling to the adults who love and care for them. Jesus never turned children away.
The last stanza of Wesley’s poem shows a childlike desire to be just like Jesus: “I shall then show forth Thy praise / Serve Thee all my happy days; / Then the world shall always see / Christ, the holy Child, in me.”

Father, give me the faith of a little child. I want
to know Your love and care, and to rest in Your
embrace. Grant my desire to be like You in all
my ways that I might live for Your honor.

Faith shines brightest in a childlike heart.

Insight

Jesus’ warning in Matthew 18:6 would have been received with the weight it deserved. The ancient Hebrews viewed the sea as a place of danger and chaos. As a result, there were few things more feared than death by drowning, the picture Jesus painted here.