Our Daily Bread For 07-12-13

READ: Isaiah 53:4-12

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. —Isaiah 53:5

As a Jewish kid growing up in New York, Michael Brown had no interest in spiritual things. His life revolved around being a drummer for a band, and he got mixed up with drugs. But then some friends invited him to church, where he found the love and prayers of the people to be irresistible. After a short spiritual struggle, Michael trusted Jesus as Savior.

This was a monumental change for a wayward Jewish teen. One day he told his dad he had heard about Old Testament texts describing Jesus. His dad, incredulous, asked, “Where?” When Michael opened his Bible, it fell to Isaiah 53. They read it, and Michael exclaimed, “That’s Him! That’s Jesus!”

Indeed, it is Jesus. Through the help of Christians and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Brown (today a Bible scholar and an author) came to recognize the Messiah of Isaiah 53. He experienced the salvation that changes lives, forgives sin, and gives abundant life to all who trust the “Man of sorrows” (v.3). Jesus is the One who was “wounded for our transgressions” and who died for us on the cross (v.5).

The Bible reveals Jesus, who alone has the power to change lives. —Dave Branon

God, I struggle with this idea of Jesus as Savior.
I know He’s a good man, but I need to see that He is
more than that. Please show me—through others or
through the Bible—how I can know for sure who Jesus is.

The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change hearts.

Subversive Hymn

Colossians 1:15-23

We like to sing hymns in our church—the older the better. We often put new music to them, but sometimes we sing the songs as written. The power of the words, the beautiful melodies, the fact that Christians sang these truths long before us, make hymns an important part of our worship.

Colossians 1:15-23 is a poem and was likely an early hymn that Paul used in his letter. These lyrics weren’t simply theological truths (though they were that), but they were also affirmations of loyalty to the kingdom of King Jesus over the Roman Empire.

When Paul referred to Jesus as the “image” of God, he used the Greek word eikon (Colossians 1:15). The eikon of Caesar may have been on every coin, and it was plastered on the empire’s banners and architecture. But Paul asserted that Jesus (not Caesar) was the true king, the one whose image offered us God and requires our worship.

Further, historical records made many references to Caesar that this hymn would have countered. Caesar was said to be “equal to the beginning of all things,” the “beginning of life and vitality,” the “savior,” and the one who “put an end to war and . . . set all things in order.” Caesar was even declared “god manifest.”

With that background, consider a few lines from the hymn the church sang: Jesus “existed before anything . . . and is supreme over creation” (Colossians 1:15). Through Jesus, “God created everything” (Colossians 1:16). Jesus holds “all creation together” (Colossians 1:17). And to be perfectly clear: Jesus is over all “thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities” (Colossians 1:16).

Singing a hymn of loyalty to Jesus is an act of subversion; it’s against every other power that would make claim to our allegiance.

— Winn Collier

Read Colossians 1:1-29. Where do you see other words of loyalty to Jesus and acts of disloyalty to the powers of this world?

What kingdoms and powers are asking for your allegiance? What hymn lyrics speak to your heart?

Positive Thought For 07-10-13

God loves you so much that he calls you His child, and that's who you are! See 1 John 3:1

Revisiting the Ten Commandments

Revisiting the Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Read "You must not have any other god but me. "You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. "You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day. "Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you." (Deuteronomy 5:7-16)

Reflect Many of God's commands involve honoring others. And honoring them in the right order is important. First, honor God. Then, honor your parents. Part of honoring God is keeping a clear vision of him and placing him in the center of our lives. How would you feel if someone took a picture of you, framed it, stared at it a lot, showed it to others, but completely ignored the real you? God does not want to be treated this way either. He wants a genuine relationship with us. He wants us to know him. God knows that if we put anything other than him at the center of our lives, we will not reach our potential and become all that he wants us to be. We are familiar with the sin to be avoided in this commandment—"You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God" by saying it in an empty or worthless way. But a positive command is implied: praise God's name and give him glory. This is the opposite of misusing his name. While we might be able to keep from cursing, we should consider how well we have done at finding time to praise God and honor his name. Obeying our parents is our main task when we are young, but honoring them should continue even beyond their death. One way to honor parents is to provide for them in times of financial need or when they are ill and unable to care for themselves. Another way to honor them is to pass on their godly values to your own children.

Respond Are your words and actions bringing honor to God? Are they showing respect for your parents? Who are you putting first in your life?

Psalm 145:18-21

Psalm 145

18 The LORD is close to all who call on him,
  yes, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He grants the desires of those who fear him;
  he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
20 The LORD protects all those who love him,
  but he destroys the wicked.

21 I will praise the LORD,
  and may everyone on earth bless his holy name
  forever and ever.

Our Daliy Bread For 07-10-13

READ: Colossians 1:19-27

Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. —1 Corinthians 15:58

As our final project for a high school earth science class, a friend and I built a stream table. With extensive help from my father, we built a long plywood box with a hinge in the middle. Then we lined it with plastic and filled it with sand. At one end we attached a hose. At the other end was a drainage hole. After assembling all of it, we raised one end of the stream table, turned on the water, and watched as it created a path directly to the hole at the other end. The next part of the experiment was to place a rock in the stream and watch how it changed the path of the water.

This project taught me as much about life as it did about science. I learned that I can’t change the direction things are going if I’m on the bank of the river. I have to step into the stream of life and stand there to divert the flow. That’s what Jesus did. The Bible refers to salvation as a rock (2 Sam. 22:47; Ps. 62:2,6-7), and the apostle Paul clarifies that Christ is that Rock (1 Cor. 10:4). God placed Jesus in the stream of history to change its course.

When we remain steadfast in Christ, abounding in the work of the Lord, God uses us to change the course of history through acts of obedience that turn others to Him. —Julie Ackerman Link

The Master is seeking a harvest
In lives He’s redeemed by His blood;
He seeks for the fruit of the Spirit
And works that will glorify God.
—H.S. Lehman. © 1924 H. S. Lehman

Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. —Abraham Lincoln

Bible in a year: Job 41-42; Acts 16:22-40

Truth In Love

Ephesians 4:11-16

Have you said something to someone that you later regretted? Perhaps you needed to speak hard words, and the person needed to hear them, but you feel bad because of the way you communicated your message. So you’re saddened that you failed to “speak the truth in love.” But what does that really mean? Is it about honesty? Is it about sweetening the cold, hard truth to make it more palatable?

This “truth in love” catchphrase appears in Ephesians 4:11-16. In the Greek text, it’s one long sentence. As we look at the context, we notice that it’s stated in contrast to immature children who are unstable and easily deceived by falsehood (Ephesians 4:14). The phrase is simply one word in Greek, which can be translated as “truthing in love.” It holds the idea of maintaining truth in love both in our talk and in our walk.

One Bible commentator puts it this way: “ ‘Speaking the truth’ pictures the right doctrine. ‘In love’ pictures the right spirit or attitude. We ought to have a great love of the truth and we also ought to do the truth, but we must do the truth in love. Truth without love is brutality, but love without truth is hypocrisy.”

In fact, speaking the truth in love is the outcome of a healthy church where all believers (not just the full-time staff) use their gifts to serve one another (Ephesians 4:11-13). When a community speaks and lives out the truth in loving ways, it promotes unity, growth, health, and love (Ephesians 4:15-16).

How can we become more truthful and loving? Paul says, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. . . . And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:16-17).

— Poh Fang Chia

Read Ephesians 4:29 to see the kind of speech that pleases God.

What characterizes your conversation with other believers—opinions, idle talk, or truth? How can you grow in truth and love?