The Daily Readings for SATURDAY, September 22, 2018

To an unknown god
Acts 17:23

The Daily Readings

SATURDAY, September 22, 2018

Old Testament

Esther 2:5-8, 15-23
2:5 Now there was a Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish, a Benjaminite. 6 Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with King Jeconiah of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried away. 7 Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his cousin, for she had neither father nor mother; the girl was fair and beautiful, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter. 8 So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in the citadel of Susa in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.

15 When the turn came for Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was admired by all who saw her. 16 When Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the other women; of all the virgins she won his favor and devotion, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great banquet to all his officials and ministers—“Esther’s banquet.” He also granted a holiday to the provinces, and gave gifts with royal liberality.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot
19 When the virgins were being gathered together, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Now Esther had not revealed her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had charged her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. 21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Ahasuerus. 22 But the matter came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. 23 When the affair was investigated and found to be so, both the men were hanged on the gallows. It was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

The Epistle

Acts 17:16-34
Paul in Athens
17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 19 So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

32 When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 At that point Paul left them. 34 But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

The Gospel

John 12:44-50
Summary of Jesus’ Teaching
12:44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’

The Morning Prayer for SATURDAY, September 22, 2018

Saturday morning prayer

Lord on this preparation day, I jump into all that You have given me. Might I embrace each part of this glorious time, enjoying the service, relishing in the challenges, engaging with the fun and celebrating with laughter.

Lord on this day, may I enjoy the beauty of the created world all around me. Might I run, drive, walk and sing in the freedom of this day! Thank you that right now I can feel Your love flowing through each vein of my being, causing me to pulsate with vision and life. Lord, on this day I jump into all that You have given me.

Lord, on this preparation day, I wake to live and give. May it be a worthwhile day, fill up to the brim. A day with service, laughter, work and play, a time to run and sing. May Saturday be a day I walk and breathe your goodness in, enjoy the beauty all around and freedoms joy within.

Amen

Verse of the Day for SATURDAY, September 22, 2018

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV) May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Read all of 2 Corinthians 13

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Un dia a la Vez - Espera tu bendición

Espera tu bendición

La bendición de Jehová es la que enriquece, y no añade tristeza con ella.

~ Proverbios 10:22 (rv-60)

Cada día que pasa puedo ser testigo de cómo mi amado Dios tiene muchas bendiciones separadas para nosotros. Lo que sucede es que a menudo colocamos nuestras expectativas y sueños en otras personas que quizá no nos ayuden a llevarlos a cabo. No se trata de que sean malas personas, sino que no son el canal de bendición que Él tiene para nosotros.

¿Cuántas veces te han ilusionado, te han prometido ayuda, y a la hora de la verdad nada de nada? Es verdad que se siente frustración y que hasta decimos: «No vuelvo a confiar en nadie».

Hay cosas que tú y yo debemos tener como una fórmula de vida y es que debemos aprender a identificar las cosas que vienen de parte de Dios, así como las personas que son canal de bendición.

Siempre debemos pedirle al Señor que nos guíe y nos muestre las cosas con claridad, a fin de que no nos confundan y, mucho menos, que nos engañen.

Es preferible que esperes tu bendición y saber que viene con la aprobación del cielo.

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón
Cada día que pasa puedo ser testigo de cómo mi amado Dios tiene muchas bendiciones separadas para nosotros.

Standing Strong Through the Storm - DEALING WITH DIFFERENCES

DEALING WITH DIFFERENCES

“Master,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

~ Luke 9:49-50 (NIV)

The disciples complained to the Lord Jesus that some other men who were not of their group were ministering in Jesus’ name. The disciples had forbidden them to continue, but Jesus rebuked them. The Lord had to deal with Peter very specifically through a vision and a dramatic experience before he could say, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right” (Acts 10: 34-35).

The Apostle Paul enlarged on this idea in Romans 14. He summarized his teaching when he said, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?” (Romans 14:4). “You then, why do you judge your brother?…for we will all stand before God’s judgment seat” (Romans 14:10).

We must be very careful about rejecting someone simply because they do not serve the Lord the same way we do. If we quietly go about the work the Lord has given us, we need not be overly concerned about how others feel led to serve Him.

In Eritrea, Helen Berhane experienced differences among believers even in the horrible conditions of the shipping container prison. She writes in her book, Song of the Nightingale:

It was an incredible experience to share my imprisonment with others who were also imprisoned for their faith. However, with Christians from six different denominations in one container, we often found that we disagreed. For example, there was one lady who was a traditional Orthodox Christian; a very strong believer. If I told a joke as part of my Bible teachings she disapproved, so she actually began to pray and worship alone, and even eat alone. I found it amazing that even in a container she would not socialize with Christians she perceived to be too worldly! Other people argued over how we prayed. Some people preferred to pray silently, while others would pray out loud, and in such a small space it was easy to see why this was a problem.

I had to remind them, “We are not in our churches now. In our own church halls we can do as we please, but here we must tolerate each other’s differences. If we keep fighting they may send us to the underground prisons in the mountains, so we must be thankful for our freedom to worship together here, and not argue about the ways we used to worship when we were free.”[1]

RESPONSE: Today I will be very careful about rejecting someone simply because they do not serve the Lord the same way I do.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to be humble in dealing with believers who see things differently than I.

1. Helen Berhane, Song of the Nightingale (Colorado Springs: Authentic Media, 2009), pp. 49-50.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

The NIV Couples Devotional - How True Love Behaves

How True Love Behaves

1 John 3:11–24

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

~ 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

Television personality Art Linkletter once asked a little girl if she knew what true love was. She thought for a moment and then said, “Love is when your mommy reads you a bedtime story. True love is when she doesn’t skip any pages.”

The apostle John would have agreed. It’s easy to pledge love in the heat of passion or during the quiet intimacy of a Valentine’s Day dinner. But true love has to deal with short fuses, tired bodies, overextended commitments and inconvenient interruptions every day. And yet it keeps on giving.

The church at the end of the first century was wrestling with a philosophic aberration of Christian doctrine called Gnosticism. Gnosticism played up the spiritual nature of humanity and downplayed its physical nature. Some select people believed they had a spark of divinity trapped in their flesh. Only the religious elite had the secret information (gnosis means “knowledge”) that would help them transcend their evil flesh. To them, Jesus was a heavenly visitor who came to this world like a ghostly apparition; he never actually became flesh and blood, for all flesh is evil and a divine spirit would never become human. Salvation consisted of secret chants and rituals that prepared one for release into the transcendent world. Gnostics ignored the physical needs of others and disdained those who did not share their secret inspiration.

John wrote about the true Spirit of God, who helps us know that Jesus actually came in the flesh. The “true love” of God put Jesus into our world, not just to float around like a ghostly figure with meaningless chants and rituals, but to struggle with the world’s problems and difficulties as a person of flesh and blood. Such true love helped those who were cold and hungry and in need of shelter. True love dug in and got dirty.

So it is in marriage. One couple I used to know never figured that out. The wife was addicted to romantic novels and TV soap operas. For her a constant flow of romantically charged passion was the only sure sign of love. When her husband came home from a hard day at his job too tired to court her, or when hours of cleaning or cooking took the fairy-tale bliss out of her week, she couldn’t take it. Eventually she filed for divorce. She’s probably still looking for that make-believe kind of happiness.

The apostle John urged the church to believe in a God who physically came into our world to be with us in our struggles. Furthermore, he calls us to imitate God’s love by investing our energy in the day-to-day messiness of the real lives of others. We need to see others—especially our spouses—with our Father’s eyes, touch them with our Savior’s hands and be inspired by the Spirit’s passion as we act out true love.

Wayne Brouwer

Let’s Talk

• What is the romantic temperature of our relationship? Hot? Lukewarm? Frosty? How does each of us feel about that? Why?
• How do we express our love for one another in words? How do we express it in deeds and actions?
• What do we need to keep in mind in those times when we don’t feel like loving? How can actions move our relationship forward when words become meaningless?

Television personality Art Linkletter once asked a little girl if she knew what true love was.

LHM Daily Devotions - "Have a Heart"

"Have a Heart"

Sep. 22, 2018

Then they said to Jesus, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

~ John 6:28-29 (ESV)

God provides, because He has a heart. It is hard to believe, but it is true. The truth becomes a reality to those who believe it. The Bible calls that kind of belief "faith." It is more than believing something is true. It is confidence in God Himself, trust in God, reliance upon God, complete submission to God, depending upon God to make His promises come true.

That's faith -- faith in God. It is a kind of a miracle in itself. People don't come by that naturally; it is a special power in God, to give people faith in Him almost against their own will. Left to ourselves, we don't believe in God. We would rather believe in ourselves than believe in God. Picked up by the power of God, we learn to believe in Him. While it is not our nature to believe in God, it is not unnatural either to have confidence in Him who made heaven and earth, who redeems our life from destruction, who forgives our sins and gives us life, simply because He has a heart.

It is not so hard to believe that there is a God. It is much harder to believe that God cares. Only the fool says in his heart, "There is no God" (see Psalm 14:1). A lot of intelligent people have serious questions, however, about whether God cares.

It was just this very human issue that Jesus Christ faced squarely, in language that cannot be misunderstood when He said, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow." (See Matthew 6:25-34) He was talking about the ordinary needs of life like food, drink, and clothing. In effect, Jesus was saying, "God feeds the birds. He will feed you, too. Don't worry. God will provide. He clothes the flowers, and He will provide clothes and house for you, too. Just believe in Him. Don't fear."

That's hard to believe. The words of Jesus are not an encouragement to sit down and do nothing, but they are an encouragement to believe in God, in spite of everything.

When people asked Christ what they should do so that they would do the works of God, He replied: "Believe in Him whom God has sent." To believe in Jesus Christ is to believe in God. Believing in Jesus Christ, in His atonement for your sins, is to accept the forgiveness of God. Believing in Jesus Christ, and His resurrection from the dead, is to accept the life God gives to people who have faith in Him. Believing in Jesus Christ, the beloved Son in whom His Father was well pleased, you know God has a heart, and you get a new heart with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. That's the way faith in God works; it works by love.

THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we cherish the gift of faith we have been given. Remind us daily that You provide for all our needs and will keep us safe unto the day Jesus returns. In His Name we pray. Amen.

From "Have a Heart," a sermon excerpt from, Rev. Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour. Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
It is hard to believe, but it is true.

Lời Sống Hằng Ngày - Phước Hạnh Của Người Khích Lệ

Phước Hạnh Của Người Khích Lệ

Đọc: Công vụ 9:26-31 | Đọc Kinh Thánh suốt năm: Truyền đạo 10-12; Ga-la-ti 1

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Ba-na-ba giúp đem [Sau-lơ] đến với các sứ đồ. Công vụ 9:27

Bộ phim Nhà Vua Nói Lắp (The King’s Speech) năm 2010 nói về vị vua George thứ VI của nước Anh, ông lên ngôi bất đắc dĩ khi người anh trai thoái vị. Đất nước đang đứng trước bờ vực của Thế Chiến II, các quan chức chính quyền muốn có một vị lãnh đạo giỏi ăn nói bởi vì vai trò của phát thanh bằng radio ngày càng ảnh hưởng lớn. Tuy nhiên, vua George VI lại có tật nói lắp.

Tôi đặc biệt bị thu hút bởi vai diễn hoàng hậu Elizabeth, là vợ vua George trong phim. Trong quá trình đầy khó nhọc của vua George nhằm chữa tật nói lắp, bà đã luôn là nguồn khích lệ của ông. Tấm lòng luôn tận tụy của bà đã góp phần giúp ông vượt qua những thách thức để cai trị đất nước thành công trong suốt thời chiến.

Kinh Thánh nhắc đến nhiều câu chuyện về những người khích lệ – những người đã mang đến sự hỗ trợ đầy sức mạnh trong những tình huống đầy thách thức. Môi-se đã có được sự hỗ trợ của A-rôn và Hu-rơ trong suốt các cuộc chiến của Y-sơ-ra-ên (Xuất. 17:8-16). Ê-li-sa-bét khích lệ Ma-ri, người bà con đang mang thai (Lu. 1:42-45).

Sau khi Phao-lô trở lại tin nhận Chúa, ông cần sự hỗ trợ của Ba-na-ba, tên gọi này có nghĩa là “con trai của sự yên ủi.” Khi các môn đồ khiếp sợ Phao-lô, Ba-na-ba đã liều cả danh tiếng của mình để bảo lãnh cho ông (Cv. 9:27). Sự bảo lãnh của Ba-na-ba là cần thiết để Phao-lô được cộng đồng Cơ Đốc nhân tiếp nhận. Về sau, Ba-na-ba đã đồng hành cùng Phao-lô trong các chuyến truyền giáo và trong việc giảng dạy (Cv. 14). Dù đối diện với nhiều hiểm nguy nhưng họ vẫn cùng nhau rao giảng Phúc Âm.

Những người tin nơi Chúa Jêsus cũng được kêu gọi để “khích lệ nhau và xây dựng nhau” (I Tês. 5:11). Ước mong chúng ta luôn khích lệ, hỗ trợ lẫn nhau, đặc biệt khi chúng ta đối diện với nghịch cảnh.

Lạy Chúa Jêsus, cảm ơn Ngài đã đặt để nhiều người trong cuộc đời con để khích lệ con. Xin giúp con cũng biết khích lệ người khác.

Sự khích lệ của bạn hữu có thể tạo nên sự khác biệt.

bởi Lisa M. Samra

© 2018 Lời Sống Hằng Ngày
Sự khích lệ của bạn hữu có thể tạo nên sự khác biệt.