Category Archives: Christian

Listen to the truth (2 Corinthians 4), Apr 4, 2015

Today’s Podcast

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 2 Corinthians 4
Set – Judges 21; 2 Corinthians 4
Go! – Judges 19-21; 2 Corinthians 4

2 Corinthians 4
¹ Since we are joined together in this ministry as a result of the mercy shown to all of us by God, we do not become discouraged. ² Instead, we have renounced all the things that hide in shame; we refuse to live deceptively or use trickery; we do not pollute God’s Word with any other agenda. Instead, we aim to tell the truth plainly, appealing to the conscience of every person under God’s watchful eye. ³ Now if our gospel remains veiled, it is only veiled from those who are lost and dying, ⁴ because the evil god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. As a result the light of the good news, the radiant glory of the Anointed—who is the very image of God—cannot shine down on them. ⁵ We do not preach about ourselves. The subject of all our sermons is Jesus, the Anointed One. He is Lord and Master of all. For Jesus’ sake we are here to serve you. ⁶ The God who spoke light into existence, saying, “Let light shine from the darkness,” is the very One who sets our hearts ablaze to shed light on the knowledge of God’s glory revealed in the face of Jesus, the Anointed One.

⁷ But this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us. ⁸ We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair. ⁹ We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well. ¹¹ For while we live, we are constantly handed over to death on account of Jesus so that His life may be revealed even in our mortal bodies of flesh. ¹² So death is constantly at work in us, but life is working in you.

¹³ We share the same spirit of faith as the one who wrote the psalm, “I believed; therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and that belief leads us to acknowledge ¹⁴ that the same God who resurrected the Lord Jesus will raise us with Jesus and will usher us all together into His presence. ¹⁵ All of this is happening for your good. As grace is spread to the multitudes, there is a growing sound of thanks being uttered by those relishing in the glory of God.

¹⁶ So we have no reason to despair. Despite the fact that our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying, our inner humanity is breathing in new life every day. ¹⁷ You see, the short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here. ¹⁸ So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes. All of that is fleeting; it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I appreciate the words Paul penned in this section of his letter to the church at Corinth. It applied to them, but applies so much more to many of the pulpits today. I hear far too many sermons about today’s politics, crime rates, or even television programs. What I want to hear are sermons about the truth, My word.

Preaching about anything else allows twists and turns of opinion, deceit, and deception that My enemies use to blind people’s eyes to the truth and keep them from Me. My desire is that all would come to a saving knowledge of Me. But as long as the truth remains hidden from them, people will not hear the truth of My salvation. They will hear only the drivel the world spouts from the multitude of voices it shouts at you from everywhere.

What Paul tells his readers is what I want from every church. “Renounce all the things that hide in shame; refuse to live deceptively or use trickery; do not pollute My Word with any other agenda. Instead, aim to tell the truth plainly, appealing to the conscience of every person under My watchful eye.”

I’m tired of shades of truth. I’m tired of things that almost sound like My word. I’m tired of your agenda instead of Mine in worship. I’m tired of the thousands around the world that wear My name playing church without knowing My truth or understanding what it cost Me or what it costs you to follow Me. Engage the word and hear the truth. If you sit under a preacher who bends the truth to suit the politics of the day or the trend of the times, find a new preacher. My word doesn’t change. I’m the same past, present, and future. So is My word.

Hear the truth. Know the truth. Live the truth. My truth.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What will your new body be? (2 Corinthians 3:7-18), Apr 3, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – 2 Corinthians 3:7-18
Set – Psalms 89; 2 Corinthians 3
Go! – Judges 17-18; Psalms 89; 2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3:7-18
⁷ Now consider this: if the ministry of death, which was chiseled in stone, came with so much glory that the Israelites could not bear to look at Moses’ face even as that glory was fading, ⁸ imagine the kind of greater glory that will accompany the ministry of the Spirit. ⁹ If glory ushered in the ministry that offers condemnation, how much more glory will attend the ministry that promises to restore and set the world right? ¹⁰ In fact, what seemed to have great glory will appear entirely inglorious in the light of the greater glory of the new covenant. ¹¹ If something that fades away possesses glory, how much more intense is the glory of what remains?

¹² In light of this hope that we have, we act with great confidence and speak with great courage. ¹³ We do not act like Moses who covered his face with a veil so the children of Israel would not stare as the glory of God faded from his face. ¹⁴ Their minds became as hard as stones; for up to this day when they read the old covenant, the same veil continues to hide that glory; this veil is lifted only through the Anointed One. ¹⁵ Even today a veil covers their hearts when the words of Moses are read; ¹⁶ but in the moment when one turns toward the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ By “the Lord” what I mean is the Spirit, and in any heart where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is liberty. ¹⁸ Now all of us, with our faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors; and so we are being transformed, metamorphosed, into His same image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Most of you probably haven’t seen a caterpillar turn into a butterfly since you saw a film in grade school. Few have watched the miracle of the metamorphosis in person today. And fewer still could contemplate that I could turn that caterpillar into something as beautiful as the winged creature that breaks out of that cocoon at just the right time to float on the breeze in all its beauty.

Paul tries to describe the change My children experience as they transform into what I want you to become. You will become as different as the caterpillar is from the butterfly. The world will not recognize the old you, but will see the beauty of My spirit in you instead. They will see the changed created by the metamorphosis you undertake if you let Me transform your heart and mind into the person I made you to be.

Then when I come again and take you to be with Me forever, you will transform physically into your spiritual bodies, more radiant and glorious that your human language can describe. There are no words in any human tongue that can begin to explain the heavenly bodies you will inherit when you come to live with Me. People have tried, but it’s impossible for you to do so.

But really, what does it matter. Just know that you will live with Me. I have more in store for you. You will enjoy your new life, your new home, your new body. You won’t care what it looks like. You’ll just enjoy being with Me and your fellow believers in heaven. You’ll enjoy having all your questions answered. You’ll enjoy the fellowship of those that though the centuries put their trust in Me.

And that will be enough.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Train up a child…(Judges 13), Apr 2, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Judges 13
Set – Judges 13; 2 Corinthians 2
Go! – Judges 13-16; 2 Corinthians 2

Judges 13
¹ Once again, though, the Israelites did evil according to the Eternal God, and He gave the Philistines power over them for 40 years. ² During that time, a man of Zorah named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, was married to a wife who could bear him no children.

Messenger of the Eternal One (appearing to Manoah’s wife): ³ You are barren and have no children, but all of that is about to change. You will conceive and have a son. ⁴ Be careful that you don’t drink wine or any other spirits (strong drink), and don’t eat anything that is ritually impure, ⁵ for you are going to become pregnant and have a son. Don’t ever use a razor on his head, because you will raise this boy as a Nazirite, dedicated to the True God from his conception, and he will be the one to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines.

Manoah’s Wife (to her husband): ⁶ A man of the True God visited me. He looked like a messenger of God, awe-inspiring. I didn’t ask where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name, ⁷ but he told me that I was going to become pregnant and bear a son. He told me not to drink wine or other spirits or to eat anything ritually unclean because our boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart for God from the day he is conceived until the day he dies.

Manoah (to the Lord): ⁸ Eternal One, please let the man of God whom you sent visit us again and teach us what to do with the boy You are giving us.

⁹ The True God heard Manoah and sent His messenger to visit the woman one day while she was in the fields. Manoah was not with her, ¹⁰ so she ran to tell him.

Manoah’s Wife: Look, the man who spoke to me the other day is here again!

¹¹ Manoah got up, followed his wife, and came to where the man was.

Manoah (to the messenger): Are you the one who spoke to my wife the other day?

Messenger of the Eternal One: I am.

Manoah: ¹² When your words come true, what rules should we apply to the boy? What is his mission in life?

Messenger of the Eternal One: ¹³ Your wife should do as I told her on my first visit. ¹⁴ She must not eat or drink of the vine, she must not drink any other strong drink, and she must not eat foods that are ritually impure. She must do all that I have commanded.

Manoah: ¹⁵ If you will wait, we would like to prepare a young goat for you to eat.

Messenger of the Eternal One: ¹⁶ Even if you try to detain me, I will not eat your food. If you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Eternal.

Manoah had not realized that he was speaking to the Eternal’s messenger. ¹⁷ That is why he asked the Eternal’s messenger a question.

Manoah: What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words become truth?

Messenger of the Eternal One: ¹⁸ Why do you ask my name? It is incomprehensible, beyond human understanding.

¹⁹ Manoah took the young goat, together with the offering of grain, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Eternal, to the wonder-working God. While Manoah and his wife watched ²⁰ the flame going up toward heaven from the altar, the Eternal’s messenger rose up to heaven in the flames, and Manoah and his wife put their faces to the ground. ²¹ When he did not reappear, Manoah realized that they had seen the Eternal’s messenger.

Manoah (to his wife): ²² We are most certainly going to die, for we have seen the True God!

Manoah’s Wife: ²³ If the Eternal had desired to kill us, then He would not have accepted the grain and burnt offerings from us or shown us these wonders or brought these announcements at this time.

²⁴ In due time, the woman did bear a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew, the Eternal God blessed him, ²⁵ and the Spirit of the Eternal One began to move in him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

One of the things I want you to understand as parents is your responsibility to raise your children in the way they should go. I tell you in My word they will not depart from it. But I must also tell you that each individual still has a choice. Samson is a good example of My rule. He eventually came back to Me and served Me well, but fell away from Me for a while because of the choices he made in his young life.

His parents started out well in their training, raising him under the strict traditions of a Nazarite, but as he got interested in women, it became evident that Samson’s strength overawed his parents and they let him get by with more than they should. Even though Samson might have been able to overpower them physically, they were still his parents and had responsibility to advise him and show him the right ways to live.

Perhaps if they had forbidden some of his early exploits and given him the reason why, Samson would not have strayed when he became a young man as far as he did. But they let him indulge in areas Manoah and his wife knew would entice him toward ways apart from God and Samson later found himself ensnared by the pagan Philistines not knowing I was no longer with him.

Some of the other parents probably thought Manoah and his wife were too strict on Samson holding him to the Nazarite vows. But others didn’t know the plans I had for Samson. Besides, since when should parents listen to the world for advice on how to raise their children? That’s part of the problem with the world today. My word give the best advice for rearing children, not the world.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Asaph points to the center of attention (Psalms 50) Apr 1, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Psalms 50
Set – Psalms 50; 2 Corinthians 1
Go! – Judges 11-12; Psalms 50; 2 Corinthians 1

Psalms 50
¹ The Mighty God, the Eternal—God of past, present, and future—
has spoken over the world,
calling together all things from sunrise to sunset.
² From Zion, that perfectly beautiful holy place,
shines the radiance of God.
³ Our God will come, and He will not enter on a whisper.
A fire will devour the earth before Him;
the wind will storm wildly about Him.
⁴ He calls heaven above and earth below
to assist in bringing judgment on His people.
⁵ “Gather up those who are aligned with Me; bring them to Me;
bring everyone who belongs to Me who have made covenant sacrifice.”
⁶ And the heavens shout of His justice,
for He is the True God, an honest judge.
[pause][a]
⁷ “Listen, My people, I have something to say:
O Israel, My testimony comes against you;
I am God, your God.
⁸ I am not going to scold you because of your sacrifices;
your burnt offerings are always before Me.
⁹ I will not accept the best bull from your fields
or goats from your meadow,
¹⁰ For they are already Mine, just as the forest beast
and the cattle grazing over a thousand hills are Mine.
¹¹ Every bird flying over the mountains I know;
every animal roaming over the fields belongs to Me.
¹² I would not come to you if I were hungry,
for the world and all it contains are Mine.
¹³ Do you really think I eat bull meat?
Or drink goat’s blood?
¹⁴ Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness.
Be true to your word to the Most High.
¹⁵ When you are in trouble, call for Me.
I will come and rescue you,
and you will honor Me.”
¹⁶ But to those acting against Him, God says,
“Who do you think you are?
Listing off My laws,
acting as if your life is in alignment with My ways?
¹⁷ For it’s clear that you despise My guidance;
you throw My wise words over your shoulder.
¹⁸ You play with thieves,
spend your time with adulterers.
¹⁹ Evil runs out of your mouth;
your tongue is wrapped in deceit.
²⁰ You sit back and gossip about your brother;
you slander your mother’s son.
²¹ While you did these things, I kept silent;
somehow you got the idea that I was like you.
But now My silence ends, and I am going to indict you.
I’ll state the charge against you clearly, face-to-face.
²² All you who have forgotten Me, your God, should think about what I have said,
or I will tear you apart and leave no one to save you.
²³ Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness.
Do this, and you will honor Me.
Those who straighten up their lives
will know the saving grace of God.”

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

A lot of people don’t remember who Asaph was. You see the twelve psalms ascribed to him, but probably don’t think much about what he did. If you look into the book of Chronicles, you’ll find where David made assignments to the different clans within the Levite tribe for the care and maintenance of the tabernacle and the future temple and for the acts of worship that would take place before and after the temple construction. David named Asaph the song leader, the music director, the one in charge of all the vocal and instrumental harmony that would fill My place of worship.

As you read Asaph’s psalms, you might think he would focus on the music and the worship in the temple. You might think Asaph would put together words that fill the temple with praise and happy thoughts. But as you read the words that I inspired him to write in his psalms, you’ll find instead condemnation of those who forget what worship is about. You’ll see him calling people back to Me.

Perhaps because of Asaph’s position, he saw the shallow ritual many performed and understood better than most that I didn’t need the meat sacrificed on the altars. Everything belongs to Me anyway, so I don’t need the food and drink as the other pagan religions felt their gods needed. Asaph understood I wanted the people’s praise. I wanted their true worship. I wanted them to understand who I was and what I did for them each day in giving them food to eat, water to drink, the sun to warm them, and the night to cool them.

Asaph’s psalms are filled with a call to recognize Me as the One True, Eternal God. He tried to emphasize what I wanted from My people and the consequences of not following Me. He filled his songs with judgment and justice. He also included in them My grace and mercy because He saw that side exercised on behalf of My people as they came to the temple and I released them from their heavy burdens.

Asaph served in the courts of kings, but regarded them as nothing compared to his service in My courts. He knew the place of honor I held and did his best to renew the people’s faith in Me and Me alone. Asaph knew what worship is all about. Read his psalms understanding his role in the temple and recognize the call he gives to bring everyone back to the place of worship as it should be…with Me as the center of attention.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Be generous in your praise and everything else (1 Corinthians 16:5-18), Mar 31, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 1 Corinthians 16:5-18
Set – Psalms 49; 1 Corinthians 16
Go! – Judges 9-10; Psalms 49; 1 Corinthians 16

1 Corinthians 16:5-18
⁵ Get ready. I will come your way after traveling through Macedonia. For I’m just passing through Macedonia ⁶ and will probably stay with you through the winter so that you may provide for my next journey (wherever that may be). ⁷ I want to reconnect with you, not just pass through; if the Lord is willing, I hope to stay awhile. ⁸ But until Pentecost, I plan to stay in Ephesus ⁹ because, not only has God opened a significant door here for me to serve, but also there is a lot of opposition against me.

¹⁰ If Timothy comes, see that he is comfortable and untroubled; his work is the Lord’s, as is mine. ¹¹ No one should treat him badly. Send him on to meet me in peace because the brothers and sisters here and I are looking for him. ¹² You shouldn’t expect to see our brother Apollos, although I tried to persuade him to come to you with the rest of the brothers and sisters, because now is not the best time for him to come. When it’s his time, he will come.

¹³ Listen, stay alert, stand tall in the faith, be courageous, and be strong. ¹⁴ Let love prevail in your life, words, and actions.

¹⁵ Finally, brothers and sisters, I call on you to follow your leaders. People like those in the house of Stephanas—you know they were among the first believers in Achaia, and they have devoted their lives to serving God’s people— ¹⁶ I urge you to submit to the authority of such leaders, to every coworker, and to those who offer their backs and shoulders for the work. ¹⁷ I celebrate the arrival of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, as they have supplied me with what you could not. ¹⁸ They have been a breath of fresh air for me as I know they are for you, so respect and honor those like them.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Paul does something at the end of this letter as he does in most of his letters that too many people forget to do today. Pay attention to his words. In the very last words he gives gratitude for his co-workers in the faith. Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus are pointed out as men to follow, respect, and honor. He gives glowing remarks to these men who labor with him in building My church in trying times.

In an age in which everyone seems to look out for number one, grabbing all the attention and glory for themselves, it’s important see how My servants do things. They point not to themselves, but to others. They give credit for their success first to Me and then to those around them. They brag on the success and talents of others and put them in the limelight instead of themselves.

Generosity goes a long way in this world and the next. It goes against everything the world teaches, but it is a principle in My book that works every time. A seed that’s planted in the ground and forgotten brings a harvest. Love given away brings love in return. Kindness extended to others reaps kindness multiplied. When good things are hoarded for oneself, you’ll find they decay and disappear in the closets of your life. When they are given for others to share and benefit from them, they return multiplied, just like the seeds planted for harvests.

The world will try to convince you otherwise, but My plan always works. The world’s plan doesn’t. Remember, I created the world and all the rules and principles that make it work. You can try to manipulate those rules all you want, but ultimately, they are still My rules and they will work the way I intend them to work. Just as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, My principles are just as steadfast and true. You can’t get past them.

So try doing what Paul does. Give away the credit to others. Share the glory with those around you. Let generosity rule your life and hold on tightly to only the relationships in your life. Let everything else just rest loosely on your outstretched palms and let Me use whatever you have for the good of others. You’ll be surprised at what happens in your life. You’ll be awed by the increase in your joy, your contentment, your comfort, your peace of mind. You will be overwhelmed by the real meaning that comes to your life when you let go of it and live for Me.

Let generosity be the new watchword for your life this week and see what happens.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Seeds, trees, bodies, and more (1 Corinthians 15:35-58), Mar 30, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
Set – Psalms 42; 1 Corinthians 15
Go! – Judges 8; Psalms 42; 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:35-58
³⁵ Now I know what some of you are thinking: “Just how are the dead going to be raised? What kind of bodies will they have when they come back to life?” ³⁶ Don’t be a fool! The seed you plant doesn’t produce life unless it dies. Right? ³⁷ The seed doesn’t have the same look, the same body, if you will, of what it will have once it starts to grow. It starts out a single, naked seed—whether wheat or some other grain, it doesn’t matter— ³⁸ and God gives to that seed a body just as He has desired. For each of the different kinds of seeds God prepares a unique body. ³⁹ Or look at it this way: not all flesh is the same. Right? There is skin flesh on humans, furry flesh on animals, feathery flesh on birds, and scaly flesh on fish. ⁴⁰ Likewise there are bodies made for the heavens and bodies made for the earth. The heavenly bodies have a different kind of glory or luminescence compared to bodies below. ⁴¹ Even among the heavenly bodies, there is a different level of brilliance: the sun shines differently than the moon, the moon differently than the stars, and the stars themselves differ in their brightness.

⁴² It’s like this with the resurrection of those who have died. The body planted in the earth decays. But the body raised from the earth cannot decay. ⁴³ The body is planted in disgrace and weakness. But the body is raised in splendor and power. ⁴⁴ The body planted in the earth was animated by the physical, material realm. But the body raised from the earth will be animated by the spiritual. Since there is a physical, material body, there will also be a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ That’s why it was written, “The first man Adam became a living soul”; the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ Everything has an order. The body is not animated first by the spiritual but the physical; then the spiritual becomes its life-giving source. ⁴⁷ The first man, Adam, came from the earth and was made from dust; the second man, Jesus, has come from heaven. ⁴⁸ The earth man shares his earth nature with all those made of earth; likewise the heavenly man shares His heavenly nature with all those made of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have carried the image of the earth man in our bodies, we will also carry the image of the heavenly man in our new bodies at the resurrection.

⁵⁰ Now listen to this: brothers and sisters, this present body is not able to inherit the kingdom of God any more than decay can inherit that which lasts forever. ⁵¹ Stay close because I am going to tell you a mystery—something you may have trouble understanding: we will not all fall asleep in death, but we will all be transformed. ⁵² It will all happen so fast, in a blink, a mere flutter of the eye. The last trumpet will call, and the dead will be raised from their graves with a body that does not, cannot decay. All of us will be changed! ⁵³ We’ll step out of our mortal clothes and slide into immortal bodies, replacing everything that is subject to death with eternal life. ⁵⁴ And, when we are all redressed with bodies that do not, cannot decay, when we put immortality over our mortal frames, then it will be as Scripture says:

Life everlasting has victoriously swallowed death.
⁵⁵ Hey, Death! What happened to your big win?
Hey, Death! What happened to your sting?
⁵⁶ Sin came into this world, and death’s sting followed. Then sin took aim at the law and gained power over those who follow the law. ⁵⁷ Thank God, then, for our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, the Liberating King, who brought us victory over the grave.

⁵⁸ My dear brothers and sisters, stay firmly planted—be unshakable—do many good works in the name of God, and know that all your labor is not for nothing when it is for God.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Since the resurrection on that first Easter morning, My followers wondered what their spiritual bodies would be like. Many speculate on the substance, shape, and size of something you cannot comprehend. I returned after the resurrection in a form all of My disciples could understand, in a way. Even then, My form was incomprehensible. I appeared behind closed doors, yet didn’t fit their criteria for their legends of ghosts and spirits. I appeared as flesh and blood with scars in My hands, feet, and side. I ate and those around Me could see Me, talk to Me, hear Me. Yet I came at went at will at distances the people of those times could not understand.

Paul glimpsed a piece of heaven and the spiritual bodies there when I met him on the road to Damascus. What he saw, he could not describe. Ezekiel caught a glimpse of My glory and words failed him when he tried to describe the scene. John tried his best to describe the throne room of heaven, but couldn’t begin to share the splendor of his vision with the limitation of the words in his vocabulary.

Paul’s description to settle the questions of early believers provides some thought and insight into just how difficult it is for you to comprehend something to incredible to begin to understand. The best Paul could do is share the change that happens between seeds and the plants they produce. It’s a good analogy, though.

From a tiny acorn, I produce the mighty oak tree. To look at that small seed, the size of the end of your finger, I grow something you could never imagine it housing. I talked about a mustard seed, barely visible, that produces a plant in which birds build their nests. Who would dream it could happen.

Now imagine your bit of creation dust as the physical casing of that spiritual body Paul talks about. The body that seed produces at the final resurrection of the dead is as incomprehensible as those scenes that Paul and John saw of heaven. If I tried to describe those new bodies to you, you could not comprehend them. Just know that there awaits those who trust in Me new bodies, spiritual bodies, unlike anything you know.

You will know each other. You will know Me. You will live forever. You will experience no pain or suffering. You will know no night or darkness. You will labor in love as I created you. You will worship Me throughout eternity as I intended at creation. All things will become new. Indescribable. Incomprehensible. Paul says earlier in his letter, “Now you see as through a darkened, distorted piece of glass, but then you will see and know clearly even as I have known you throughout your life.

Don’t worry about what the next life will be like or what kind of body you will have. It doesn’t really matter. Just know that you’ll like it…But only if you love Me more.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Can you be a Gideon? (Judges 6:1-21), Mar 29, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Judges 6:1-21
Set – Judges 6; Psalms 52; 1 Corinthians 14
Go! – Judges 6-7; Psalms 52; 1 Corinthians 14

Judges 6:1-21
¹ When the people of Israel again did what the Eternal One considered evil, He made them serve the Midianites for seven years. ² The power of Midian prevailed over Israel so that the Israelites built for themselves hiding places in the mountains, in caves, and in safe strongholds. ³ Whenever the Israelites planted seed, the soldiers of Midian, Amalek, and others from the east would rise up against them ⁴ and destroy their farms and fields as far as Gaza in the west, leaving them nothing to eat and no livestock. ⁵ They would come up with their tents and their livestock, as thick as a cloud of locusts. They and their camels were so numerous they could not be counted, and they left the land desolate behind them.

⁶ So the people of Israel were impoverished because of the Midianites, and they cried out to the Eternal One for help. ⁷ When the people of Israel cried to the Eternal for relief from the Midianites, ⁸ He sent a prophet to them.

Prophet: Here are the words of the Eternal God of Israel: “I brought you out from slavery in Egypt. ⁹ I delivered you from the Egyptians, from all who would have oppressed you. I drove the Canaanites out before you and delivered their land into your care. ¹⁰ But I said to you, ‘I am the Eternal One, your True God, and you must not worship the gods of the Amorites, those people in whose land you settle.’ And you have not listened to Me.”

¹¹ Now in Ophrah, the Eternal’s messenger sat under an oak tree that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. Gideon, the son of Joash, was beating out wheat in the winepress so that the Midianites could not see what he was doing. ¹² The Eternal’s messenger appeared to Gideon.

Messenger of the Eternal One: The Eternal One is with you, mighty warrior.

Gideon: ¹³ Sir, if He is with us, then why has all this misfortune come on us? Where are all the miracles that our ancestors told us about? They said, “Didn’t the Eternal deliver us out of Egypt?” But now He has left us. He has made us servants of the Midianites.

¹⁴ The Eternal turned to Gideon and addressed him.

Eternal One (speaking through His messenger): Go out with your strength and rescue Israel from the oppression of Midian. Do you understand that I am the one sending you?

Gideon: ¹⁵ But, Lord, how am I supposed to deliver Israel? My family is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least of my family.

Eternal One: ¹⁶ Go. I will be with you, and you will totally destroy the forces of Midian as one man.

Gideon: ¹⁷ If You do look on me with favor, then give me a sign that I’m really hearing from You. ¹⁸ Wait here until I return and bring out my offering and place it in front of You.

Eternal One: I will stay here until you return.

¹⁹ So Gideon went into his house, cooked a young goat, and made cakes of unleavened bread from half a bushel of flour. He then put the meat into a basket, poured the broth into a pot, and brought the food out to present it to Him under the oak.

Eternal One: ²⁰ Put the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour out the broth.

Gideon did as he was told. ²¹ Then the Eternal’s messenger touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff he carried. Fire raged out of the rock and consumed the food, and the Eternal’s messenger vanished from sight.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Gideon was anything but a mighty warrior until I met him and made him one. Notice what he did before I came to him. Gideon hid in the wine press to thresh his grain because he feared the retribution of the Midianites who invaded the land like locusts. But I chose Gideon to act as the judge, the military leader for Israel to rescue them from the hands of these invaders.

If you look back through history, you’ll find I do that a lot. I choose the most unlikely characters to do spectacular things for Me. Gideon rightly noted he came from the weakest clan of the weakest tribe in the nation. How could lead such a defenseless, unorganized band to defeat such a formidable foe? The answer is he couldn’t, but I can…through him.

Was Gideon afraid? Absolutely, until he understood I would fight his battles. Did he understand how I would use him to defeat his enemies? Not at this point, but he willingly volunteered to act as an instrument in My hands. Would Gideon volunteer if he knew I would ask him to defeat the Midianites with just 300 men? Probably not at this point. But Gideon trusted Me and that’s all I really asked of him.

You might think you’re not good enough, strong enough, smart enough to do something I’ve asked you to do. That’s not unusual when I call people to important things. I know your capabilities. I gave them to you. But in your weakness, I am your strength. In your foolishness, I am your wisdom. I know My plans for you. And I don’t make mistakes.

The job I want you to do for Me is suited best for you and you alone. Otherwise I wouldn’t ask you to do it. Just trust Me. Like with Gideon, I’ll be there for the whole journey. I won’t leave you to face the job alone. I’ll make you successful when I give you a task. Just say yes to Me and trust Me to carry you through.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Love is a choice, not an emotion (1 Corinthians 13), Mar 28, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 1 Corinthians 13
Set – Psalms 39, 41; 1 Corinthians 13
Go! – Judges 4-5; Psalms 39, 41; 1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13
¹ What if I speak in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal. ² What if I have the gift of prophecy, am blessed with knowledge and insight to all the mysteries, or what if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing. ³ I could give all that I have to feed the poor, I could surrender my body to be burned as a martyr, but if I do not live in love, I gain nothing by my selfless acts.

⁴ Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love; ⁵ it’s never rude, crude, or indecent—it’s not self-absorbed. Love isn’t easily upset. Love doesn’t tally wrongs ⁶ or celebrate injustice; but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight! ⁷ Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. ⁸ Love will never become obsolete. Now as for the prophetic gifts, they will not last; unknown languages will become silent, and the gift of knowledge will no longer be needed. ⁹ Gifts of knowledge and prophecy are partial at best, at least for now, ¹⁰ but when the perfection and fullness of God’s kingdom arrive, all the parts will end. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke, thought, and reasoned in childlike ways as we all do. But when I became a man, I left my childish ways behind. ¹² For now, we can only see a dim and blurry picture of things, as when we stare into polished metal. I realize that everything I know is only part of the big picture. But one day, when Jesus arrives, we will see clearly, face-to-face. In that day, I will fully know just as I have been wholly known by God. ¹³ But now faith, hope, and love remain; these three virtues must characterize our lives. The greatest of these is love.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Listen carefully. This is what it’s all about. I created humankind to have loving relationships with Me and with each other. The church is all about love. My coming in human flesh and dying on the cross is all about My love for you. The entirety of the Bible echoes My love for My highest creation and My plan to redeem fallen humankind.

Today’s problem is that love has been hijacked by the entertainment world and made it something I never meant it to become. The cheap lust that the world substitutes for real love continues to pull people, young and old, into its clutches. But My intentions for men and women were much higher than the temporary pleasures Satan uses to tempt lost souls.

Read Paul’s description of real love in several different translations and let its meaning soak into your heart. Understand what I want from you as you relate to one another. I want you to love Me and love one another with the conscious, deliberate love Paul describes. It’s not an emotion, it’s an action. It’s a decision you make when you love one another. Here’s that description again to show you it’s not an emotion.

“Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love; it’s never rude, crude, or indecent—it’s not self-absorbed. Love isn’t easily upset. Love doesn’t tally wrongs or celebrate injustice; but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight! Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. Love will never become obsolete.”

I gave Paul these words because love is an action, a practice, a purpose, a choice you make every day with those around you. You can love your spouse, children, and family. You can love your brothers and sisters in Christ. You can also love your enemies. How? Because love is a choice, an action, a purpose, a practice you exercise each day. With My help, there is no one you cannot love. And remember what I told you in My word. If you cannot love your brother whom you can see, you cannot love Me whom you cannot see.

It might not be a bad idea to put this part of Paul’s letter in a place you can read it every day for a week to remind yourself what I want from you in your relationship with Me and each other. Give it try and see where you might be falling short.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

God has a task for you (1 Corinthians 12:12-31), Mar 27, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Set – Judges 2; 1 Corinthians 12
Go! – Judges 1-3; 1 Corinthians 12

1 Corinthians 12:12-31
¹² Just as a body is one whole made up of many different parts, and all the different parts comprise the one body, so it is with the Anointed One. ¹³ We were all ceremonially washed through baptism together into one body by one Spirit. No matter our heritage—Jew or Greek, insider or outsider—no matter our status—oppressed or free—we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Here’s what I mean: the body is not made of one large part but of many different parts. ¹⁵ Would it seem right for the foot to cry, “I am not a hand, so I couldn’t be part of this body”? Even if it did, it wouldn’t be any less joined to the body. ¹⁶ And what about an ear? If an ear started to whine, “I am not an eye; I shouldn’t be attached to this body,” in all its pouting, it is still part of the body. ¹⁷ Imagine the entire body as an eye. How would a giant eye be able to hear? And if the entire body were an ear, how would an ear be able to smell? ¹⁸ This is where God comes in. God has meticulously put this body together; He placed each part in the exact place to perform the exact function He wanted. ¹⁹ If all members were a single part, where would the body be? ²⁰ So now, many members function within the one body. ²¹ The eye cannot wail at the hand, “I have no need for you,” nor could the head bellow at the feet, “I won’t go one more step with you.” ²² It’s actually the opposite. The members who seem to have the weaker functions are necessary to keep the body moving; ²³ the body parts that seem less important we treat as some of the most valuable; and those unfit, untamed, unpresentable members we treat with an even greater modesty. ²⁴ That’s something the more presentable members don’t need. But God designed the body in such a way that greater significance is given to the seemingly insignificant part. ²⁵ That way there should be no division in the body; instead, all the parts mutually depend on and care for one another. ²⁶ If one part is suffering, then all the members suffer alongside it. If one member is honored, then all the members celebrate alongside it. ²⁷ You are the body of the Anointed, the Liberating King; each and every one of you is a vital member. ²⁸ God has appointed gifts in the assembly: first emissaries, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrators, and then those who speak with various unknown languages. ²⁹ Are all members gifted as emissaries? Are all gifted with prophetic utterance? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Or are all gifted in healing arts? Do all speak or interpret unknown languages? Of course not. ³¹ Pursue the greater gifts, and let me tell you of a more excellent way—love.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I really want everyone involved in the work of My church. There are a handful of leaders in a congregation that I’ve given the skills to manage the business of the church. But I don’t expect them to do everything because I didn’t give them the skills to do everything. I gave pastors the gift of preaching My word, sharing the good news of what I can and will do for you. But I didn’t give them all the skills necessary to fulfill all the responsibilities I planned for My church.

Today, too many parishioners think they only need to warm a seat in the sanctuary and they fulfilled their responsibility to Me. That thought is so far from the truth. I gave each individual in the congregation just the right skills and talents I need to help My church complete all I want it to complete. When everyone gets involved with the skills I gave them, the very gates of hell can not hold it back from the success I have for it.

The problem most churches have is you’ve told yourselves for too long that the work is someone else’s responsibility. Since when did that work ethic become part of My plan? You may not be gifted in teaching, but if you’re not, that’s probably not the job I had in mind for you anyway. Standing in front of a crowd might make you want to faint. If so, I probably didn’t give you the gift of preaching.

Perhaps, though, you have a tremendous knack for carpentry. I gave it to you for a reason. Would it hurt you to give some of that talent to support My church or the people I direct you to help? Maybe you are at the top of your league in some sport. Could you spare some time for some of the kids in your neighborhood to teach them some of your skills…for Me? I gave you those talents for a reason. I want you to use them to carry out My plan for you.

You see, it takes all kinds of talents to carry out the plans I have for your particular congregation. I have a job for every single individual there. I just need you to get on board and recognize the skills you possess came from Me for My purposes. I have plans for you, individually and collectively. When all of you work together to build My church and My kingdom, amazing things can happen. But when you try to let a few carry the load, they don’t have all the skills they need, no matter how hard they try.

It’s time for you to pitch in and do your part. Did you ever think about tithing your time to Me? Remember, I want your living sacrifice much more than I want your money or material goods. Everything in the world is Mine, so I don’t need your money. I gave you particular talents because I want you. I want your time. I want your commitment to the plans I have for you.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

You must choose each day (Joshua 24:11-28), Mar 26, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Joshua 24:11-28
Set – Joshua 24; Psalms 44
Go! – Joshua 23-24; Psalms 44; 1 Corinthians 11

Joshua 24:11-28
¹¹ When you crossed over the Jordan into the land of Canaan and came to Jericho, the leaders of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave them all into your power.

¹² I sent hornets ahead of you to run off the two kings of the Amorites; it was not done by your bow or sword. ¹³ I delivered to you fields you had not worked and towns you had not built, yet today you live in them. You eat the fruit of olive trees and of grape vineyards you did not even have to plant.”

¹⁴ So remember: fear the Eternal and serve Him sincerely and faithfully. Put away from you any gods your ancestors served across the Euphrates River or in Egypt, and serve only Him. ¹⁵ If you decide that you’re not willing to serve Him, then today is the day for you to choose whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors bowed to in the land beyond the great River, or the gods of the Amorites whose country you possess. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Eternal.

People of Israel (responding): ¹⁶ Nothing could be further from our minds than abandoning the Eternal to serve other gods. ¹⁷ We know that the Eternal One our God rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. We remember that He performed all those great signs in front of us. He protected us from the people we passed as we traveled. ¹⁸ And we know that He removed the Amorites and all the peoples who lived in Canaan. We, too, will serve the Eternal One, for He is our True God.

Joshua (warning them): ¹⁹ If you think you will be able to serve the Eternal, you are wrong. He is a holy God and a jealous God; He will not tolerate your shortcomings and your sins. ²⁰ If you desert Him and worship these foreign gods, He will fall upon you and totally consume you, even though He has done all this great good for you.

People of Israel: ²¹ All the same, we choose to serve the Eternal.

Joshua: ²² All right, then. You are witnesses—against yourselves, if it comes to that—that you have made this choice to serve the Eternal.

Israel: We are witnesses to it.

Joshua (repeating): ²³ Then you must put all other gods away from you and turn your hearts to the Eternal God of Israel.

Israel: ²⁴ We will serve the Eternal One, our God, and we will obey His voice.

²⁵ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem and gave them statutes and ordinances to obey. ²⁶ Joshua wrote the words in the scroll of the law, and he had a large stone set up underneath the oak tree near the Eternal’s holy place.

Joshua (to all the people): ²⁷ This stone will also be a witness to your vow. It has heard all the words the Eternal spoke to us, so it will be a witness if you turn your backs on your True God.

²⁸ So he sent the people away, back to the lands He had given them.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Everyone must make a choice about whether they will follow Me. Joshua made the choice early in his life while assisting Moses in the Exodus of Israel from the bonds of slavery in Egypt. Then as Joshua neared the end of his life, he called on the rest of the Israelites to make a choice for themselves. They did. But they didn’t keep their covenant with Me.

Joshua tried everything he could to remind the people of their promise to follow Me. He wrote the covenant on a scroll. He had a memorial stone erected under an oak tree near the tabernacle where they worshipped Me. He called all the elders together and had them and all the people personally vow their allegiance to Me.

Joshua gave all of them the consequences that would follow if they failed to keep their vow and the rewards they would gain if they kept it. Still, over time they forgot what they pledged and fell away from Me and began to worship the pagan gods of the nations I defeated for them. It’s truly a wonder to Me as to why they would trust the idols of the lands I defeated instead of trusting Me after I clearly showed My power over them. But they did.

You must make a choice also. And just as with the Israelites, you will find yourselves bombarded by a host of other gods that try to sway you from worshipping Me. Today’s gods don’t appear as idols of wood, stone, or silver, though. Today, Satan has become more subtle in his attempts to gain humankind’s attention. The most sought after god of the world today finds itself in the form of money and material goods.

Men, women, and young people around the world seek material goods and socio-economic status as their prime objective rather than pleasing Me. They chase the dollar and the things they think will earn them more. They worship money instead of Me. People give themselves to the pursuit of making more regardless of what it takes to do so. They sacrifice almost anything to accumulate more things that won’t last and in so doing, give up what is really important.

Families become secondary. Spiritual growth becomes unimportant. Support to others becomes a waste of hoarded resources in their eyes. Relationships are built only for what they can provide rather than for the joy of the relationship. The world turned My creation upside down for so long that what I ask of you seems topsy-turvy. But trust Me. Following My way leads to real life. Real joy. Real peace. Real riches. Just try it.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.