CLASSIC DEVOTIONALS: "Getting to Know God" -A.W.Tozer

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Ministering Spirits




Our Protestant churches have never been very enthusiastic about the Bible references to the many kinds of angels and angelic beings which make up the Lord's heavenly host. Because we do not see them, we generally do not discuss them. There seem to be many Christians who are not sure what they should believe about God's heavenly messengers.

In short, where the matter of Bible teaching about angels is concerned, we have come into a sad state of neglect and ignorance.

Personally, I despise the cynical references to angels and the comic jokes about them. The preacher who reported his guardian angel had had a hard time keeping up with him as he sped over the highway spoke in bad taste and probably in ignorance. If that is the best a preacher can say about the guardian angels or God's angelic host, he needs to go back to his Bible.
Verse


Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:14
Thought


Angels depicted with huge wings has contributed to the lessened attention we give them these days. In biblical accounts angels sometimes appear hardly distinguishable from human beings. But angels are sent to serve us as ministering spirits. What service have we experienced unawares?
Prayer


Lord, for whatever and whoever You send to aid me in my walk with You, I give You thanks.


CLASSIC DEVOTIONALS: "Direction By Impulse" -My Utmost for His Highest

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Direction By Impulse

10
21
2013
Building up yourselves on your most holy faith. —Jude 20

There was nothing either of the nature of impulse or of cold-bloodedness about Our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the line of our temperament, not along the line of God. 

Impulse is a trait in natural life, but Our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God checks impulse, His checks bring a rush of self-conscious foolishness which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. 

Impulse is all right in a child, but it is disastrous in a man or woman; an impulsive man is always a petted man. Impulse has to be trained into intuition by discipline.

Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on the water is easy to impulsive pluck, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is a different thing. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he followed Him afar off on the land. 

We do not need the grace of God to stand crises, human nature and pride are sufficient, we can face the strain magnificently; but it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours in every day as a saint, to go through drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. 

It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes.

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "the days of Noah " -Mike MacIntosh

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But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matthew 24:37-39


A little boy was invited to dinner for the first time in his life. He would just be going to his next-door neighbor's house, but to him, this was a huge event. "See ya, Mom! See ya, Dad!" he hollered as he raced to the house next door. When they sat down at the table to eat, the boy, who was raised in a Christian home, bowed his head. "Lord, thank you for this food," he began to pray out loud. 

But nobody stopped; everyone kept passing food across the table. The little boy opened his eyes and asked, without a hint of embarrassment, "Don't you people thank God for your food?" After an awkward silence, the lady of the house said, "No, honey, we don't." The little fellow thought for a moment. "You know, you're like my dogs" he told them. "They just start right in."

You and I can be like that, can't we? We can make $100,000 on a real estate deal, and not give God a penny. We can "start right in," carelessly feasting on the food before us, ignorant of God's graciousness to provide it. But when we lose $100,000, we're quick to cry out to God. 

When things go wrong, we look to Him with eyes of desperation. Why? Because instead of loving God, we think we can use Him. Instead of blessing God with our gifts, talents, finances -- you name it -- we expect God to bless us. We are self-focused. And we are deceived.

The people of Noah's time were living the good life. They ate, they drank, and they partied. And that's not necessarily bad. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says that "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." But the people were self-focused, not God-focused. They didn't eat and drink to celebrate God, but to satisfy themselves. 

When Noah warned of God's imminent judgment, a world-wide flood, they mocked him. "Oh come on, that's ridiculous!" they must have said, laughing. After all, it had never rained! They had never even heard of a flood! But must God use means with which we are familiar? Must He work in ways we expect? Because the people couldn't even imagine such a substantial work of God, they were swept away by it. "So also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:39).

You see, deception comes through selfishness. When our hopes and dreams are only rooted in self-glory, not only do we miss the glory of God -- we can't even imagine it. When our eyes are fixed on ourselves, not only are we oblivious to God -- we assume His very role in our lives. Self-focus always results in self-deception because when we lose sight of God, we lose sight of our purpose. Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and [you shall love] your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). That is our purpose, lest we deceive ourselves.

Today, we live in days very similar to the days of Noah. Jesus Christ is coming to take you home, and what a glorious day it will be to stand in His presence and worship Him "in the beauty of holiness" (Psalm 96:9)! But you must be prepared. Don't live a self-centered life; you only deceive yourself. Give your life to Jesus, and live for His glory.

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Empty Wells" -David McGee

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Empty Wells - Monday, October 21st 2013
2 Peter 2:17
"These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."
NKJV
In the book of 2 Peter, the apostle is sharing the sad truth about false teachers. In the description above, Peter calls them wells without water. I cannot think of a better way to describe someone who pretends to have the Truth of God. Imagine as people come to hear this Truth but are disappointed because there is no real living water to drink from. All they find is an empty well.
The Truth is that God desires to give us His living water and make our lives fruitful. In order to do this, He calls us to connect with Him through His Son Jesus. This is not simply a religious exercise; it's a life-changing relationship. Jesus put it this way...
John 15:5 "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." NLT
As we spend time with Christ in prayer, reading His Word and fellowshipping with His people, we will find ourselves living fruitful lives. The reason is simple; we are visiting the deep life-giving well of Jesus Christ. His well is filled to overflowing, and He welcomes everyone to drink deep and thirst no more.
Life Lesson: Without Jesus Christ, our life will be fruitless and wasted.
Dear God,
Thank You for the refreshing water of life that is found in Jesus. God, You tell us that when we connect to this water, we will also have living waters coming from us. Fill my life to overflowing so that I would be a fruitful worker of the Kingdom. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Living to tell what He died to say,
Pastor David McGee

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Incomparably compassionate" -Bob Coy

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Incomparably compassionate
Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high… Psalms 113:5 (NKJV)
Who is like the LORD? What a wonderful, rhetorical question this is! Who is like the LORD? Nobody! Not a single person who's ever walked this earth has ever earned a worthy comparison to Him. He is utterly unique from any man or woman. His glory and majesty are unlike anything ever witnessed in this world. He is the incomparable God "who dwells on high."
But here's what's interesting about this statement as it appears in this Psalm. When attention is drawn to the fact that there's nobody like our God, the Psalmist doesn't just attach it to the lofty and majestic. No, he also applies it to His care and compassion for those who are down and out. Look at it again this way:
Who is like the LORD our God...He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap… (Psalms 113:5-7 NKJV) 
God is unlike anyone else in the way He helps those in need. As cosmically powerful as He is, He's just as unmatched when it comes to having a heart for the hurting. He goes to lengths for them that nobody else will and doesn't turn a deaf ear, a blind eye, or a cold shoulder to their needs.
Who is like our God? Nobody! He is incomparably compassionate.
So do we leave it there? Do we just stand there and admire the great gap between His heart and ours? No way! His Holy Spirit actually wants to bridge this gap by pouring God's incomparable compassion out upon our hearts (Romans 5:5). We will never be "like God" in essence, but when it comes to His incomparable compassion, He calls us to be participants and not just spectators. Are we?
O Lord, you are incomparably compassionate, and we want to be used by You in sharing your compassion with those in need.
Think about it… 
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "The King In His Beauty (Psalm 45)" -Ray Steadman

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The King In His Beauty  (Psalm 45)


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Read the Scripture: Psalm 45
All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir (Psalm 45:8-9).
These verses describe a marriage service. Traced for us here is a remarkable series of preparations. First, the groom has prepared himself. The writer says, All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. These are burial spices. You remember that when the women went to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, they carried with them a quantity of spices--myrrh and aloes--in order to wrap the body of the Lord and preserve it in its death. And yet here these same spices are present at the wedding. What does this mean?

This marriage is made possible out of death; somehow out of death comes this fragrant incense that makes glorious the scene of the wedding. You can see how beautifully this fits with what the apostle Paul describes for us in Ephesians 5:25 when he says that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. He died for it. He went into the bonds of death for us. Why? In order that He might present to Himself a glorious church, a beautiful bride, without spot or blemish or any such thing.
Then, he has prepared a place. We read of where this wedding is to take place: From palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. It is a picture of a beautiful place, and it reminds us immediately of Jesus' words to His disciples before the cross. He said to them, I am going there to prepare a place for you (John 14:2). That place is being prepared now. It is a place of beauty and glory beyond any possible description. These terms used here are simply a way of suggesting to us what it is like: ivory palaces filled with music and gladness with a rejoicing company around.
And finally the bride herself is prepared: At your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir. In Oriental custom, the bridegroom himself, who paid for the golden dress, always presented this golden dress to the queen. This is also a wonderful picture for us. Who is it that is preparing us for this day, for this sharing of life together? It is He who is preparing us.

 He has clothed us with His own righteous golden robe. Gold, in Scripture, is always the picture of deity, and this is a hint of what Peter speaks of: You may participate, he says, in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Do you really grasp this? This is true! Jesus Christ is blending our lives with His and giving us all His position and all His privileges. All that belongs to Him belongs to us. One of the things that is most seriously wrong with the church today is that we are forgetting the privileges we have. We do not reckon on them, we do not think about how tremendous they are. Yet here stands the bride, ready to join Him, dressed in gold that He has provided.
Lord Jesus, You are our beautiful King, and we long for you like a bride longs for her husband. Thank You for adorning us in Your own righteousness that we might dwell with You forever.
Life Application: Do we truly by faith grasp how we participate in the divine nature? How does Jesus blend His Life with ours to give us His position and all His privileges?
We hope you were blessed by this daily devotional.

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "OUR REFUGE" -Bob Caldwell


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MONDAY (10/21/2013)
OUR REFUGE
READING FROM: 
 Numbers 35:9-36:13
KEY VERSE:
“They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.” –Numbers 35:12
In ancient times, no highly developed judiciary or police force existed to implement the law. People sometimes took the judgment and punishment of alleged crimes into their own hands. God provided cities of refuge for protection from the revenge killings often carried out by this sort of vigilante justice. A city of refuge protected a person who had unintentionally caused the death of another, affording the perpetrator the opportunity to prove his innocence. These cities were under the authority of the priestly tribe of Levites, so there was also a spiritual covering to assure people in trouble of God’s desire to offer them refuge.
These cities provide us with a wonderful picture of the refuge we all can flee to in Jesus Christ. In our case, the avenger of death already has a judgment against us. The fact is we have all committed intentional sins and unintentional sins that are known by God. The scriptures make it clear that “the wages of sin is death.” The judgment due us is therefore apparent. However, Jesus Christ Himself has become our city of refuge. He protects us from the judgment, shame, and alienation of sin. The scriptures tell us that although “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ (Rom. 3:23-24).
The faith we place in what Christ did for us upon the cross forever protects us from the judgment of sin. Let us not be deceived. There is no refuge in self-righteousness, or the rituals of religion and vain philosophies of man. These have no authority to provide any refuge from the justice of God. Only the cross, Christ’s death in our place, opens the gate to an everlasting city of refuge.
Before we leave the book of Numbers let’s also look at a practical lesson addressing the unique and valued application of God’s will. In this account, members of the tribe of Manasseh raise issues regarding daughters with their own inheritance marrying outside their own tribe. Moses accepts their concern as entirely legitimate (36:5), even though their suggestion overrode an ordinance he had set in place. 
Others can interpret situations such as this and see people who are seeking to avoid submitting to God’s Word. In light of this, consider the intense conflict Jesus had with the religious leaders during His early ministry. They became extremely upset by the way Jesus treated the Sabbath, a day of rest and worship. They thought it was wrong to even heal on the Sabbath! They had lost touch with the intent of the law concerning the Sabbath. In the example here in Numbers, the intent of the law in question was to safeguard the daughters from becoming immediately homeless because of their father’s death. But it was not intended to be applied identically in every situation. If these women married outside their tribe they would have property through their husbands. So, the intent of the law (Num. 27:1-7) was not applicable. In fact, following the law that gave them the land while marrying into another tribe would violate God’s will for maintaining distribution of the land given to each tribe.
It is vital that we step back at times and make sure we clearly understand the intention of God’s will. If this is not done, you will find yourself arguing about the “letter of the law,” but perhaps violating its original intent. This is applicable all the way down to enforcing rules for your children. Therefore, be open to the wisdom of God as you seek to apply His word to your life and your relationships with others. Make sure you are using the right medicine for the sickness you seek to cure. Remember, the “right” medicine given for the wrong sickness can kill a person!

BIBLE READING

NUMBERS 35:9-36:13

CITIES OF REFUGE

9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. 12 They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. 13 And of the cities which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge. 14 You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.
16 ‘But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.17 And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 If he pushes him out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, 21 or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 ‘However, if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, 23 or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm,24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. 25 So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.
29 ‘And these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. 31 Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. 33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.’”

NUMBERS 36

MARRIAGE OF FEMALE HEIRS

1 Now the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. 2 And they said: “The Lord commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying: “What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’ 7 So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.”
10 Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.
13 These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.

VERSE-BY-VERSE STUDY NOTES

NUMBERS 35

CITIES OF REFUGE (VERSES 9-34)

v. 11 Cities of Refuge - These cities were asylums where a person who had killed a man could flee and be safe from a retribution slaying until he could have a fair trial (v. 11-12). If he was proven guilty of intentional murder, he was to be put to death (Num. 35:30-33). If proven that he killed the person unintentionally, he must remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high-priest, and after that he would be free (Num. 35:11, 15-28). These cities of refuge were distributed across the land in such a way that it would never take more than a day’s journey to flee to one. They were also spaced so the one who sought refuge would not have to cross a mountain range or a river to get to one.
v. 12 The Avenger - This was usually a blood relative of the one slain (thus the title “avenger of blood” v. 19). This blood avenger would be appointed by the family of the slain person to kill their relative’s murderer (v. 19, 25-27).
v. 21 In Enmity - Refers to actions made with anger, hostility, or the intent to cause harm.
v. 24 The Congregation Shall Judge - This was an ancient form of “trial by jury.”
v. 30 Not Sufficient Testimony - A person under suspicion of murder should not be put to death without sufficient evidence.
v. 31 You Shall take no Ransom for the Life of a Murderer - No fine or payoff is sufficient to satisfy the penalty required by the crime of murder.
v. 32 You Shall Take No Ransom for Him who has Fled to his City of Refuge - The innocent person could not purchase his right to be released from the city of refuge before the death of the high priest.

NUMBERS 36

MARRIAGE OF FEMALE HEIRS (VERSES 1-13)

v. 1 Chief Fathers - These were the tribal leaders and heads of families from the tribe of Manasseh.
Chief Fathers of the Children of Israel - The tribal leaders and heads of families from all the other tribes of Israel with the exception of Manasseh.
v. 2 Zelophehad - A man from the tribe of Manasseh who died in the wilderness with no sons to inherit their father’s portion of the Promised Land. His daughters petitioned Moses for a right to inherit their father’s land. Before this time, sons (not daughters) were able to inherit property. Moses sought the Lord for a decision in this matter and the Lord instructed Moses to pass Zelophehad’s inheritance down to his daughters (Num. 26:33, 27:1-7). This was the first case of its kind for the people of Israel and it set precedence for future cases like it.
v. 3 If They are Married - The concern here was that if Zelophehad’s daughters married men outside the tribe of Manasseh, their inherited land would eventually be lost to the other tribes through the current inheritance laws.
v. 4 The Jubilee - Jubilee was a year-long celebration among the Jews that took place every 50 years. One of the laws of the Jubilee was that all land would be permanently returned to the tribe of its original owner on the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:23-28). The leaders from the tribe of Manasseh were concerned that the land that would be rightfully theirs might be lost forever on the year of Jubilee if the daughters of Zelophehad married outside their tribe.
v. 6 Marry Whom They Think Best - Moses gave a solution to this matter in the name of the Lord. The daughters of Zelophehad had total freedom to choose whom they would marry as long as they choose a husband from within their own tribe. If they chose to marry outside of the tribe, they would have to let the land go for the sake of the love they had for their future husband.
v. 7 Shall Keep the Inheritance - The portions of the Promised Land were supposed to forever remain properly divided and possessed by their original tribes (v. 9). Their sins eventually caused loss of the land.
v. 8 Every Daughter - This became the new law and standard or all similar cases.
v. 13 The Lord Commanded the Children of Israel by the Hand of Moses - These laws and amendments were not simply the judgments of Moses, but were passed down through Moses from God Himself.

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