A Devotional for Men

Then Joshua said to Achan, "Why have you brought trouble on us? The LORD will now bring trouble on you." And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies.

Joshua 7:25, NLT

Achan stood open-mouthed with the other Israelites and watched God crush the fortified city of Jericho. He heard God say, "Don't take anything for yourselves or the entire nation will suffer." But he chose to act on his desires rather than God's directions. He thought the robe he took was too beautiful to burn. And the gold and silver he hid? Surely God wouldn't miss a few bars. Wrong! Achan did the missing. Achan missed the significance of God's command. God did not issue a list of invasion suggestions and directions. The orders were to be carried out without hesitation or alteration. God was shaping a people who would obey his Word. Achan also missed the reason for God's command. Because his perspective was self-centered, he couldn't see what was at stake. God was building a nation of people who understood that private actions lead to public consequences. Achan believed in the modern saying, "As long as no one else is hurt or sees what I'm doing, I can do it." But his actions led to suffering and humiliation for the nation and death for his own family. We don't always know how our actions will affect other people. But if we assume that our actions won't affect others at all, we will be making a terrible mistake. We have taken the idea of personal decisions and privacy to the place where we idolize these perceived rights. But is anything "just our business"? How many of your plans and actions today would be changed if someone was right beside you every moment? Remember, others are always involved! God doesn't miss anything. Our desires do not override God’s directions. Adapted from 365 Life Lessons from Bible People (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 1996).

Quick to Complain

Quick to Complain

Numbers 14:1-12

Read Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, "The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the LORD, and don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don't be afraid of them!" (Numbers 14:5-9)

Reflect When the chorus of despair went up, everyone joined in. Their greatest fears were being realized. Losing their perspective, the people were caught up in the emotion of the moment, forgetting what they knew about God's character. What if the people had spent as much energy moving forward as they did moving back? They could have enjoyed their land—instead they never even entered it. With great miracles, God had led the Israelites out of slavery, through the desolate desert, and up to the very edge of the Promised Land. He had protected them, fed them, and fulfilled every promise. Yet when encouraged to take that last step of faith and enter the land, the people refused. After witnessing so many miracles, why did they stop trusting God? Why did they refuse to enter the Promised Land when that had been their goal since leaving Egypt? They were afraid. Often we do the same thing. We trust God to handle the smaller issues but doubt his ability to take care of the big problems, the tough decisions, the frightening situations. Don't stop trusting God just as you are ready to reach your goal. He brought you this far and won't let you down now.

Respond When a cry of despair goes up around you, consider the larger perspective before you join in. You have better ways to use your energy than to complain. You can continue to trust God by first remembering all he has done for you.

Psalm 103:2-22

Psalm 103

2 Let all that I am praise the LORD;
  may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
  and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
  and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
  My youth is renewed like the eagle's!

6 The LORD gives righteousness
  and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

7 He revealed his character to Moses
  and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is compassionate and merciful,
  slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
  nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
  he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
  is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
  as the east is from the west.
13 The LORD is like a father to his children,
  tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
  he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
  like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
  as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the LORD remains forever
  with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children's children
18   of those who are faithful to his covenant,
  of those who obey his commandments!

19 The LORD has made the heavens his throne;
  from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the LORD, you angels,
  you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
  listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the LORD, you armies of angels
  who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the LORD, everything he has created,
  everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the LORD.

Our Daily Bread For 06-18-13

READ: Deuteronomy 4:1-10

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God. —Deuteronomy 4:2

Kim Peek was a savant (a person with extraordinary memory) who memorized all of Shakespeare’s plays. During a performance of Twelfth Night, Peek noticed that the actor had skipped a word from one of the lines. Peek suddenly stood up and shouted, “Stop!” The actor apologized and said he didn’t think anyone would mind. Peek replied, “Shakespeare would.”

Words matter. But especially when they are the very words of God. Moses warned Israel, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God” (Deut. 4:2). Moses often reminded Israel of God’s mercy and faithfulness to them in the past. But he also stressed the importance of obedience to God’s commands as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. He told them that obedience would result in blessings of life and a rich inheritance (vv.39-40). Every command and regulation mattered to God. The value His people placed on God’s Word showed their view of Him.

Today, when we value God’s Word, handle it with great care, and obey what it says, we give God the reverence He truly deserves. —Marvin Williams

The Bible stands, and it will forever
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given—
All its precepts I will obey.
—Haldor Lillenas. © Renewal 1945 Haldor Lillenas. Assigned to Hope Publishing.

God’s Word needs no additions or subtractions.

Place For The Unfit

Mark 2:15-17

Downsize Fitness is a health club with a unique niche. It caters only to people who want to lose at least 50 pounds. Tara Lawton, a member of Downsize Fitness, quit her health club because she sensed she didn’t fit in. She said that people always seemed to be silently judging her. Then she found Downsize Fitness and loves it. Downsize is attractive to people like Lawton because it welcomes overweight people and then encourages them as they shed pounds and get healthy. Just as Downsize reaches out to the physically unfit, 2 millennia ago Jesus reached out to the spiritually unfit and used them to spread the good news about the kingdom of God.

One such person was Levi the tax collector. Jesus’ teaching, probably over a period of time, so captured Levi’s heart that he began following Jesus. The fact that Levi was a tax collector made his call to follow Jesus all the more amazing. Tax collectors were usually greedy, dishonest, and immoral (Luke 3:12-13,19:8). As a Jew, Levi was despised and hated by his fellow citizens because he was a mercenary working for a foreign oppressor. Nobody but Jesus would engage the spiritually unfit like Levi. The religious leaders asked Jesus why He behaved in this way (Mark 2:16). He responded by saying that just as it was natural for a doctor to associate with sick people, so it was natural for Him to call and heal the spiritually unfit (Mark 2:17). The whole purpose of Jesus’ coming was so that the spiritually unfit (those dead in their sin) could receive a change of heart and life.

Do those we deem spiritually unfit find a place in our churches today? The church was established to welcome self-confessed sinners—love them, and walk with them as they follow Jesus and grow in Him.

— Marvin Williams

Read Acts 9:10-19 and see the story of how one man welcomed someone who was deemed spiritually unfit.

How will you practically embody the mission of Jesus to the spiritually unfit? How can you help your church to become a more welcoming place?

Positive Thought For 06-17-13

God shows the humble what is right and shows them His way.
- Psalm 25:9

Devotional For Women

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

1 Peter 3:4, NLT

"I need a new wardrobe." "I wish I had her body." "I guess I'll never look good enough." Ever had a thought like that? We may not be in the habit of saying these shallow things out loud, but all of us have thought them. We find ourselves filled with anxiety over our appearance--to the extent that we quickly slip into compare-and-criticize mode. It's a common feeling among women, and it is obviously contrary to what the Bible says. Our beauty should come from within us, not outside us. The Bible tells us that beauty is found in having a gentle and quiet spirit. Loveliness grows out of living a life centered on God and the contentment found in his love. Outward beauty will fade. But a gentle and quiet spirit is unfading beauty. True beauty really does come from within. We women have such beautiful potential in Christ--he has created us to bless the world in ways that men cannot. But sometimes we reject this potential without even realizing it, by simply choosing to focus on the temporary, fleeting, and false sense of beauty. How do we develop a gentle and quiet spirit? Sometimes it's in the little things--looking in the mirror less often, for instance. When I am tempted to stare at myself and criticize, I choose to stop and praise God for blessing me with a working body--a body that can be used to further God's kingdom. It may be posting verses about true beauty in your bathroom. Most importantly, it's finding time to just sit and rest with God. Set aside the world's and your own expectations and allow him to work in your life. Let him develop in you the "unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit."