AWWY

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5097 - "Music When You Least Expect it"
Acts 16:22

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    I'm an early riser in our family, so it's not uncommon for me to be in the bathroom around 6 a.m., alone and the only one awake. I go through my routine very quietly, so one morning when I was half awake, I was startled when I heard the gentle strains of a song. I had never heard this in the bathroom before. I recognized the song - "It's a Small World After All." Well, here I am in this already dazed condition, I couldn't figure out where the music was coming from. Is there a radio on? No radio. An alarm? No. Did somebody leave a music box in here? No music box. I searched high and low. Finally, I found out where it was coming from. Believe it or not, the song was coming from the roll of toilet tissue. Yes, my wife had rigged the tissue with this little device that plays a song every time you roll that thing. You say, "Oh, no." That's nothing. Downstairs in the main bathroom, it plays the "Star Spangled Banner." That music was very unexpected, but it did get my attention!
 , and I have to admit it brightened up a bleary time of day.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Music When You Least Expect it."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 16:22. Paul and Silas have been preaching the Gospel, the town has been incensed over it, and the crowd is attacking them. It's not a good day. The Bible says, "The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet to the stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them."

    God sends a very violent and dramatic earthquake that lets Paul and the other prisoners loose, and it ultimately leads to the jailer and his family dramatically turning to Christ. Let's go back to the part about Paul and Silas singing at midnight. You think, "Wait, something's wrong in this picture." They can't move, because they've been flogged, imprisoned, put away, stripped, and they're singing. What's going on here?

    I would expect this verse to read, "Paul and Silas were complaining at midnight, or griping or feeling sorry for themselves," but there's not something wrong in this picture. There's something right. It's like that little song in the bathroom. This is music when you least expect it, not at a time of victory or prosperity. It couldn't come from anything around them. It had to come from inside them.

    There's another way this midnight concert is like my bathroom concert. It got people's attention. It says the other prisoners were listening. You bet they were! Here's someone facing the same hardships you are, except they're doing it with joy rather than with an attitude. Maybe you're going through one of life's long nights right now, and you've taken a beating. Maybe you've been stripped of things you care about, or you're in one of those prisons that doesn't have walls.

    How are you handling it? Are you like all the other prisoners, or is Christ inside of you giving you the grace to sing when you otherwise would sink? See, positiveness and joy are not feelings, they're a choice. Focus on your Lord, as they were with these hymns. Fill up on Christian music. Quote the verses. Quote the promises. Then, secondly, focus on your opportunity.

    Paul and Silas probably looked around and said, "Hey, we have a captive audience. There are people watching us now that will see how we respond to this." See, people watch you when you're in the midnight darkness more than any other time. The greatest impact of your life comes at the time of your greatest pain. If you let God take this moment, He will give you the unexplainable grace and joy that will lift you and everyone around you. My musical surprise came early in the morning, not late at night, but I know that no one can ignore your life if it produces music when they least expect it.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5098 - "Always in Touch With the Tower"
Galatians 5:25

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    I guess the airlines know how easily we get bored, so they provide flyers with various forms of diversion and entertainment. For example, the headsets on the planes so you can listen to several styles of music; or if you want to even listen to the conversations between the pilot and the tower sometimes. And if you know your flight number, you can even follow the communication that involves your plane. And you listen to them clear your pilot for take-off and later in another tower they'll clear him for landing. But you'll hear that pilot stays in touch all the time. The tower has some very important information to give between the take-off and the landing. I mean, that's not all that matters. Right? There's more to the flight than just the beginning and the end. Frankly, I think it's good to know that if there are other planes near you, the pilot is going to find that out. Or if there's bad weather coming up, that's going to mean there is a change of plans. I'm glad my pi!
 lot is going to know that. Maybe there's a problem at the airport you're going to. I'm glad the pilot doesn't turn off the tower after he takes off.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Always in Touch With the Tower."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Galatians 5:25. God says in these simple instructions, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Of course, He's speaking of the Holy Spirit of God. He's talking about that wonderful internal guidance system that you got with the Holy Spirit the day you opened your life to Jesus as your Savior. He's living in your body; He's in your personality. All day long He's trying to tell you the next thing God wants you to do, or something He wants you to avoid or change. You need to decide. That's why it says, "Keep in step with the Spirit." You can't just plug in in the morning and then again at night. You never know where the Lord might want to steer you next.

    There's a problem with us busy people, honestly. We check in with the tower when we take off in the morning, then we usually check in at the end of the day's flight. It's important to get in touch with the Lord at the beginning and the end of the day, but also as the day heats up. See, we tend to turn off our radio then, we take off our headset; we make a hundred little decisions on our own without consulting our Lord. We get cut off from the tower, so we end up in a lot of turbulence, we get off course, we crash into people, we make unnecessary mistakes.

    Following Jesus means listening to the Spirit's directing all day long, not just at the beginning or the end. I'm a straight ahead, go forward, make a schedule, make a plan, make a list kind of person. Sometimes I have been so goal-oriented that I've turned off the tower. At that point, you just can't hear the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit of God. So, I've often missed one of the great gifts I got when I got Jesus; the perfect guidance of my Creator who makes no mistakes. So, I'm trying to become a better listener to the Holy Spirit inside of me.

    I encourage you to check in regularly through the day. "Which way do you want to go now, Lord? What should come first?" Allow the Spirit to steer you into things and into people you never planned. They might look like detours to you, but if the Spirit pulls you in that direction, that's your main road. I call this "Spirit-tenaity." That's letting the Spirit direct you moment by moment, hour by hour. That means you may have to stop and call that person the Lord leads you to call for some unknown reason. You may not know why this is happening but you got the prompting. He might be leading you to write to someone, to stop for time with someone you love or who needs you, or maybe to wait when you want to plunge ahead, or to go for it when you want to wait. But practice seeking the Lord's prompting, listening to His prompting, and acting on His prompting.

    If you want the safest route to the best destination, keep your headset on from take-off to landing every day and stay in touch with the tower.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5099 - "The Eeyore Complex"
Nehemiah 8:10

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    Some of our fun family memories are the days when I would read stories to my kids. And I did my best to bring those old stories to life. I remember one of their favorites was Winnie the Pooh, so we had Winnie the Pooh and Piglet and Christopher Robin. Oh, and of course, Eeyore. Remember the donkey in Winnie the Pooh? He's the one who usually managed to see the dark side of everything. There always seemed to be something wrong in Eeyore's world.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Eeyore Complex."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Nehemiah 8:10. We're talking about Eeyore, and we probably all know a two-legged Eeyore. Those are the people who respond to the pressures and problems of life by throwing a party - a pity party for themselves. You know any of them? The last time I looked in the dictionary, there were 192 words that began with self, but there are few of them as damaging as self-pity.

    Here's the cure: Nehemiah had been through all kinds of burdens and challenges and attacks. Here is what he says, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." This joy of the Lord has nothing to do with your environment. It does have to do with your in-vironment. See, this joy gives the ability to look for God in any situation and to ask the question, "Now, how could God use this?" I may not particularly like what's going on right now, but God has okayed it. It had to get through my Father's hands before it could get to me, so God must be able to work through this. Where is He at work here?

    Focus on what's good about the situation or what could be good. Concentrate on the positive. Sometimes when I'm tired and I'm stressed, I hear some Eeyore coming out of my mouth. I start to complain, I start to see the negatives, I start to see the problems, I'm critical. You know, this could go wrong, this is looking bad, and oh, that's pretty bleak. What happens? You make a gray day darker because you drag everybody else down with you with your Eeyore complex. It's amazing how a negative person can be a cloud that blocks out the sun for everyone. Play back the tape of some of your recent conversations. What do you hear? Is it the joy of the Lord or do you hear a lot of "poor me" talk?

    I remember a day when I woke up really, really depleted. I had a marathon schedule ahead of me - like a lot of days - and I decided that that day in my first conscious moment I was going to focus on Jesus' strength. Oh, I could have been thinking about my sore throat, or I could have focused on the fact that I'd only had three hours sleep, but instead of the negatives, I said, "Now today I'm just going to keep thinking about the strength of Jesus, not the weakness of Ron." Well, I found myself energized for that whole long day by focusing on the joy of the Lord. I cannot tell you how many days there have been like that since. It works! The joy of the Lord is your strength, and conversely, I'll tell you there is nothing that will de-energize you as fast as complaining, self-pity, negativity and down talk.

    When you look out a dirty window, everything looks dirty. The joy of the Lord can clean that window through which you're looking at everything else in your life. Look for the Lord. Look for His goodness in your day-to-day living. Go after some God sightings in your day. He's all over the place. Talk about the good things, and if you hear the voice of old Eeyore, turn the page.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5100 - "No Such Thing as a Secret"
Romans 2:16

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    A friend of mine was commenting on some recent news stories in which something very shocking, very violent and seemingly unexplainable had happened within a family. He concluded with a comment based on a classic country song he knew, "No one knows what goes on behind closed doors." Actually, that's not true.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Such Thing as a Secret."

    It's a fact that there are plenty of secrets behind closed doors. No one on earth probably knows the real you like the people you live with. They see you unmasked and unedited. There's some ugly stuff behind some of our closed doors. Then there are the things we do when no one seems to be watching or hearing - our secrets. I'm reminded of those commercials advertising a certain resort city that say, "What you do here stays here."

    Well, I've got some bad news for anyone who thinks their secrets are safe behind closed doors. Actually, I'll let the Bible give you the news. It's recorded in Romans 2:16, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. The Bible talks about "the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ." Guess what? Someone has been watching; someone has been listening. Someone knows everything that happens behind those closed doors. What you do there won't stay there. You'll meet it on Judgment Day - standing before the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He will, the Bible says, "bring to light what is hidden in darkness" (1 Corinthians 4:5).

    Maybe you feel relieved that you haven't been caught. Wrong. If God knows, you're caught. And He does know. The Bible says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is ... laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." All the dark secrets of our life will be "outed" and we will face the penalty for them. The Bible makes the penalty clear: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). That's death as in eternal separation from God and from His love.

    Without a way to remove all the sins of my life from God's records, I have no hope of ever knowing God, of avoiding hell, and of living in His heaven. The Bible makes it clear that there is no religion or human goodness that can erase our sins. Amazingly, it was the very God we've rebelled against who reached out to give us a way to belong to Him. A way that cost Him the most precious thing He had - His one and only Son. In God's own words, "He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). In other words, Jesus had all the guilt and all the hell of all our sin and shame dumped on Him when He died on the cross; including the darkest secrets of your life.

    When He hung on that cross, He said, "Father, forgive them." He was thinking of you. God says, "Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name" (Acts 10:43). That could be you today if you will acknowledge your sin - even the hidden sin - and grab Jesus as the only One who can rescue you spiritually. Imagine going to bed tonight knowing you're clean, knowing you're forgiven, and knowing you're right with God and ready to meet Him.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5101 - "Deadly Deafness"
Hebrews 3:7

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    Jim was spending his first night as a college student. As he began to fall asleep in his dorm room, he was suddenly awakened by a frightening sound. A train whistle blew, and the train was coming right through his room. Or at least that's how it sounded to this particular college student. It turned out that the railroad tracks were right next to his dorm. That's probably why they put lowly freshmen there. Well, Jim found it pretty challenging to slip into la-la land for the night when it sounded like a train was roaring through his room. I said, "But I'll bet you eventually got used to it, didn't you?" He told me, "Well, after a while, I didn't even notice the train anymore!"

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Deadly Deafness."

    Amazing, isn't it? What used to seem so loud to you becomes something you eventually can ignore totally. That's good if it's the sound of the train roaring by your room at night. It's bad if it's the voice of God you don't hear anymore. And the more you've been around the Word of God, the greater the danger that you may be developing the most deadly form of deafness in the world - deafness to the God that you can't afford to miss.

    Our word for today from the Word of God is a sobering warning about this deadly deafness. Hebrews 3:7 says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Every time you hear about what Jesus did for you on the cross and you do nothing about it, your heart gets a little harder. We wouldn't know that if God didn't tell us in the Bible. This hardening of your heart is gradual - almost imperceptible - but very, very real and very dangerous. Proverbs 29:1 tells us that the one who continually ignores many warnings from God "will suddenly be destroyed - without remedy."

    The Bible gives us a disturbing example of this danger in the story of Pharaoh. Moses continued to deliver a message from God to Egypt's king and he continued to disregard it. The Book of Exodus tells us that "Pharaoh hardened his heart" (Exodus 8:14, 32). After all the times Pharaoh heard and rejected God's message, the Bible tells us that "the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" (Exodus 9:12). He reached the point where he could not respond to God because of all the times he would not respond to God. Ultimately, Moses says, speaking on God's behalf, "I will never appear before you again" (Exodus 10:29).

    Right now I'm talking to someone who has heard about Jesus many times. You've heard what He did on the cross was for you. You've heard it was to pay for the sins that cut you off from God. You've heard that He's alive. You've heard that He's inviting you to put your trust in Him. And you agree with Jesus. You like Jesus. But you've never given yourself to Jesus. Without knowing it, without meaning to, you've been hardening your heart. You're so familiar with Jesus that you're becoming immune to Jesus.

    But if you sense any stirring in your heart toward Jesus, there's still time. You can still believe because God has come to draw you to His Son at least one more time; at least this time. When will it be too late to choose Jesus? Only God knows. What we do know is that today is your only guaranteed opportunity to make Jesus your own Savior from your own sin; to change your eternal destination from hell to heaven.

    It starts when you tell Jesus, "I'm Yours, Lord. I have no other hope but You and what You did on the cross for me." I'd love to help you make sure that you belong to Him. Actually, we've set up our website to do just that. I encourage you to visit us there today. Just go to yoursforlife.net. Or, if you'd rather get my little booklet about getting started with Jesus, it's called "Yours For Life." Just call and ask for it at 877-741-1200.

    Remember what God says. Today if you hear His voice, grab Him while you still can. There's so much to gain when you do grab Jesus and there's so much to lose if you don't.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5102 - "The Tragedy of Doing Nothing"
Luke 10:30-34

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    We love it when we hear those stories in the news about ordinary people who come upon someone in danger and risk their own lives to save them. And then there's the kind of story that came from Mount Everest not long ago. A British mountaineer became desperate for oxygen on his descent from that peak that is really a legendary mountain. Ultimately, he collapsed along a well-traveled route to the summit. He was dying. And more than forty climbers are thought to have seen him as he lay dying, and they passed him by. He died there of oxygen deficiency. He didn't have to die.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Tragedy of Doing Nothing."

    The official cause of death was probably something like "oxygen deficiency." But apparently there was another cause of that climber's death - human indifference: people too busy climbing their mountain to stop and help someone who was dying.

    Sadly, that happens more than we know. And the ones who are dying may be people we see every day. Without the Bible, we'd never know the real spiritual condition of the folks we know who don't belong to Jesus. But we have the Bible, and it describes every person without Christ in words like these: they are "lost," according to Luke 19:10; they are "without hope and without God in this world" (Ephesians 2:12); some folks you see often are, in God's words, "condemned" (John 3:18) and they're called those who are "being led away to death" (Proverbs 24:11).

    My Bible tells me that neighbors and friends of mine who don't know Christ will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord" forever (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). There's no way anyone can get into heaven with their sin unforgiven. And the only One who can forgive them is the only One who died for those sins. So we have dying people all around us. People whose eternal destination may hinge on whether or not we stop for them to tell them what Jesus did for them on the cross. Just living a good life in front of them won't explain that. We'll have to tell them.

    Where are we in this disturbing story Jesus told in Luke 10:30-34, our word for today from the Word of God? "A man ... fell into the hands of robbers. They striped him ... beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side." Then another religious leader came along and he "passed by on the other side." "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds ... he took him to an inn and took care of him." What troubles me is that it's the really religious folks who just keep walking by a man who needs them - people like me, and probably like you.

    So many times I've met people who have come to Christ late in life, and with great regret that they didn't know Him sooner. Often they'll say something like, "I was 52 years old, I was 45 years old before I ever heard what Jesus did for me." And it turns out, in retrospect, that they had known several folks along the way who were believers who never told them about their Jesus.

    Look around your personal world: co-workers, family members, fellow students, teammates, fellow club members, your friends, your neighbors. If you'll let Jesus show you what He sees, you'll see people who are slowly dying spiritually; who are headed for an unthinkable eternity without Christ while you're enjoying the glories of heaven. Silence is unacceptable. Silence is wrong.

    Don't talk to them about religion. Don't talk to them about church. Don't talk to them about their lifestyle. Tell them about the Man who loved them enough to die in their place. God put you in their life to give them a chance at Jesus. Please, don't keep walking by their need. You know Jesus. They need your Jesus. Don't let them down. Don't let Him down.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5103 - "Nothing But the Best"
Jeremiah 48:10

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    There's an interesting story that's told about Queen Elizabeth at a time when she wanted to get away from all that hustle and bustle of London and Buckingham Palace. She just wanted to go for a walk, and it's kinda hard if you're the Queen of England. So, she got all dressed down, she had her chauffer take her out to the countryside, and she said, "Let me out and you can come and pick me up later." Well, as she walked for a while a shower began to come up, and the weather changed, and she came to this old, old kind of hut. She knocked on the door and an elderly woman came to the door, and the Queen, of course dressed down in disguise, said, "Listen, can I borrow an umbrella from you?" The old lady looked and she had two umbrellas by the door; one was a brand new one and the other one was her beat up-old umbrella. She gave the lady the beat-up, old umbrella and the Queen said, "I'll make sure you get your umbrella back." The next day that big ole limousine pulls up in fro!
 nt of that hut, the chauffer knocks on the door and presents the umbrella to the lady and says, "The Queen asked me to return your umbrella." And the old lady was heard to say, "If I'd only known who it was, I would have given her my best."

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nothing But the Best."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jeremiah 48:10. Listen to these sobering words, "A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord's work." Wow! Don't be lax. Don't be lazy. Don't be careless in doing the Lord's work. That's strong words; a curse on that person. You see, sometimes we give the Lord what's easy for us to give Him even though the King deserves our best.

    A lot of people unfortunately are lax doing the Lord's work. That's why a strong word like this is needed. Some of us maybe have been financially lax with the Lord's work. We've been careless with the money. Maybe there's not been full integrity in the way the funds have been taken care of. We've got to say, "Man, every dollar is God's money." I had one Christian leader tell me, "Ron, this money is blood money. It's been bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus sacrificed his life for the work this money was given to. We can't be wasteful with it." Maybe some are lax with their time. A lot of time gets wasted in the service of the Lord. Let's be honest about it. We need to be doing every task as if it were a royal task because it is. It's for the King of Kings; giving it 100% however big or small it is, whether it's in or out of the spotlight, realizing that time is too precious to waste. And maybe we've been lax with the quality of our work for the Lord!
 . Settling for mediocrity when the King should always be represented by excellence, don't you think?

    In a very busy world, in our very busy lives, the King too often gets our leftovers. Our leftover time, our leftover energy or talent, and that's wrong. We forget this isn't work for the church or for some Christian organization, or for the people around us, or the people we report to. This is for the King! This is the King who bought me back with the life of His Son.

    Someday you'll stand before this King and you'll offer Him the work you did for Him. Make it work that Jesus will be proud of and you don't have to be ashamed of - "...a workman who needs not be ashamed" (2 Timothy 2:15) the Bible says. Then you won't ever have to say, "If only I had known this was for the King, I would have given Him my best."

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5104 - "Reservation Tested"
Luke 4:1

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    Our family has had the wonderful privilege of spending some unforgettable ministry days on some Indian Reservations in the Southwest and when you're there, you do a lot of driving. The vehicle of choice there is not a car. No, you want a truck. See, the roads there are of, shall we say, uneven quality. Many places are only accessible by roads that are steep and bumpy, and it's a major challenge to the durability of any vehicle - or passenger for that matter. The radio stations in that area have advertised lots of trucks and they've used one phrase to promote the quality of their truck. This macho voice comes on and says, "It's reservation tested!"

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Reservation Tested."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 4:1. This is the familiar story of the temptation of Jesus. It says, "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan." Remember, that's where He has just been baptized. The Spirit had come down from heaven in the form of a dove and He heard the Father's voice saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." For Jesus, that was probably the ultimate spiritual high. Now it says, "Then he was lead by the Spirit in the desert where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and at the end of them He was hungry. And the devil said to him, 'If you are the Son of God tell this stone to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written, man does not live on bread alone.'"

    There are two more temptations that come right at the weak spots of Jesus and He again answers with the word of God. And after the devil finally gives up and leaves, it says in verse 14, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised Him." That was the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ.

    There's a cycle in this incident from Jesus' life that is repeated many times in yours and mine. First, there comes the Spirit touch. For Jesus, that was His baptism in the Jordan River. That's when the Lord comes in an evident, almost tangible way. Do you remember a time like that; a season of your life when the Lord was so dramatic in the way He revealed himself when He spoke to you? There's no doubt that He's there. Okay, now that's the beginning.

    The end of the cycle comes with the Spirit triumph. We saw at the end of the story that Jesus' life exploded in ministry. Now the ending of that cycle for you is that Spirit touch ultimately ends in your life becoming very powerful and in affecting many other lives. Did you notice though what's in between the Spirit touch and the Spirit triumph? It's a Spirit test. That's your time to be "reservation tested." It's hot, it's bumpy, it's lonely, you're taking a beating, and you ask, "Can we skip that part?" No, Jesus didn't and neither can you and I. There is no dove there. There is no voice from heaven. The devil feels more real than God does. There's doubt and temptation and deprivation; your feelings aren't inspired anymore - just numb. Sound familiar? That's the road to power, but you have to go through the desert to get there. The Lord says of the Old Testament saints that He put them in the desert to test what was in their heart.

    It's not the spiritual high that makes the work of God real in your life. It's a time when there's no feeling and no outward evidence of God at work. See, the wilderness isn't the devil's idea. It's his opportunity, but it's the Spirit's idea. It's the wilderness that proves the reality of what God said to you in the high time.

    Your Lord leads you into this wilderness to wean you from depending on evidence from Him to depending only on Him. He wants you to test the power of God's Word by facing down the Prince of Darkness with only God's Word in your hand. You feel more powerful after the Spirit touch, but you really are more powerful after the Spirit test. Remember the reason God may be driving you over difficult roads. It's to make you a more powerful vehicle for Him.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5105 - "Unappreciated Beauty"
Colossians 1:16

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    I keep telling my wife that I'm expecting Tarzan or George of the Jungle to come swinging through our house any time now. She's set up a corner of the house as her own personal little jungle to accommodate the new guests in our house - our orchids. My wife has found some sources for orchids that are pretty reasonable, and she's really been enjoying collecting some in recent weeks. They're very stately. They come in some beautiful shades of lavender, purple, red, yellow. (Now, please don't write to us and ask us about orchids. We're just learning about them.) I will tell you that my favorite gardener is doing her best to create the kind of conditions those delicate flowers are used to; warmth in the day, cooler temps at night, light, pure water, humidity. Orchids are tropical plants and they're often found in out-of-the-way places; which poses a fascinating scenario: millions of these spectacular flowers over many centuries, displaying this exotic beauty where no one may !
 have ever seen it.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unappreciated Beauty."

    Those orchids tell us something about what the Creator of us all is like. He's extravagant in creating beauty - deep in remote jungles, deep beneath the sea - where much of that beauty is never seen. That happens with people, too. In fact, there's probably someone listening right now who is a uniquely beautiful person - even though few, if any, have ever appreciated that beauty. An orchid doesn't need an admirer to be beautiful. Beauty unappreciated is beauty still the same.

    God really did do something beautiful when He created you. First, because you are created in God's own image. The Bible tells us that "God created man in his own image ... male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). The Bible goes on to say that God knit you together in your mother's womb - that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:13-14). You may not have been treated like you're a divine masterpiece (you may not have even believed it yourself) but that doesn't change the fact that you are. God only does masterpieces.

    Unfortunately, we've all made the mistake of trying to find our worth in other things: a relationship, a marriage, our children, our friends, our success. But there's never enough love, never enough approval. Here's why. Colossians 1:16, our word for today from the Word of God, reveals that "all things were created by Him and for Him." The "Him" is Jesus Christ. And you were created by Him. You were created for Him. The Bible also makes it clear that we haven't lived for Him. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray," it says. "Each of us has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). Our beauty, our worth are rooted in the One who made us. And we're away from Him because of a lifetime of self-serving and sinful choices.

    I'm so thankful that God loved us too much to leave it that way, though. He launched a very costly rescue mission. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to actually lay down His life in exchange for ours. To put it simply, you did the sinning, but Jesus did the dying for it so you could cross the awful sin-canyon between you and God and experience the love you were made for. And the One who gave you your worth. Suddenly, with Him in your heart, you know who you are - someone worth so much to God that He made you in His image and paid for you with His blood.

    You've been looking a long time for a love and a worth that only Jesus Christ can give you. And today you can actually begin your personal relationship with Him and finally be complete. What it's going to take is your act of faith - telling Jesus, "I'm pinning all my hopes on You and what You did when You died on the cross for my sins. I want to belong to You, Jesus, from this day on."

[Rookieupgrade1]

A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5106 - "Why God Will Never Be a Grandfather"
John 1:12

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    It was one of those unforgettable, milestone moments for our family. Our firstborn child was holding her firstborn child. What a moment! And we got to join them in the delivery room only moments after the little guy's arrival. And I knew this presented a shocking development. My wife was a grandmother! Can you believe it? Me, living with a grandmother! Yes, I was living in denial. And now that she's been a grandmother more than once, I'm finally going to have to accept the disturbing reality. I - I am a grandfather!

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why God Will Never Be a Grandfather."

    All through the Bible, God introduces Himself to us as our Father in heaven, but never as our grandfather. God never has been and never will be anyone's grandfather. He only has children and no grandchildren.

    That may be very important information for you to consider - eternally important - because you might be one of the many people who are counting on the faith of their family to qualify them for heaven. If you've got a Christian mom or dad, that might help you know about Jesus. It won't do a thing for you when it comes to knowing Jesus personally. You can't "osmote" a relationship with Jesus from your Christian parents or your Christian husband or wife - or from all the Christians you've been with your whole life. Unless there's been a personal transaction between you and Jesus to have your sins forgiven, you've never been born into God's family, and you'll never see heaven. God has no grandchildren.

    Jesus described the essential qualification for going to heaven when He said, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3:3). A couple of chapters earlier, the Bible describes just how that birthing into God's family takes place. It's in John 1:12, our word for today from the Word of God. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."

    What does it mean to "receive" Christ? It's consciously opening the door of your heart and welcoming Jesus in. Has there ever been a time when you did that for yourself? This verse also talks about "believing in His name." What's that about? When you check out "believe" in the original language of the New Testament, it's clear that it's a lot more than just agreeing with the facts about Jesus dying for your sin. It's all about total trust in Jesus as your only hope. "His name" literally means, "Jehovah rescues." That's what He died for - to pay for your sin so you don't have to. You've got to grab onto Jesus like a rescuer would desperately hold onto the one who had come to save them. Has there ever been a time when you did that with Jesus? If you don't know you have, you probably haven't. When you've grown up in a Christian home, spent a lot of time in a Christian environment, it's easy to feel like you must have picked up Jesus somewhere. Not unless there's been a time!
  when you consciously put all your trust in Him for yourself. That's when your sins are erased from God's records. That's when you're born into God's family.

    It may be that God is whispering to your heart today, "Take care of this now. You've known a lot about Me all these years, but you've never known Me. Don't wait another day to begin your personal relationship with Me." You could do that by telling Jesus, "Lord, I've never really pinned all my hopes on You and what You did for me on the cross, but I am today. Beginning today, Jesus, I am Yours."

[nChrist]

It may be that God is whispering to your heart today, "Take care of this now. You've known a lot about Me all these years, but you've never known Me. Don't wait another day to begin your personal relationship with Me." You could do that by telling Jesus, "Lord, I've never really pinned all my hopes on You and what You did for me on the cross, but I am today. Beginning today, Jesus, I am Yours."

AMEN BROTHER GARY!

I always enjoy these, but this one is exceptionally beautiful. Brother, thank you so much for sharing these with us.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hebrews 10:19-23 NASB  Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

[Rookieupgrade1]

So often they have something in them that really touches how I am feeling

Like today



A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5107 - "A Dog and a Disciple"
John 12:26

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    The daughter of our friends was kind enough in her last semester of college to buy a dog. You know what that means? She's out of college now and the dog has moved in with our friends. They inherited Starbuck. It's not coffee - that's a black Labrador retriever, and our friends are learning some very interesting things about this dog. In fact, this dog is stuck like glue to them. My friend told me just the other day that everywhere he goes Starbuck goes, whether you want him to or not. And they'll go in the living room, Starbuck goes there. They'll go into the kitchen, Starbuck goes there. Starbuck doesn't much care where he goes, he just follows his master around, and my friend said sometimes you finally want to say to him, "Hey, listen leave me alone. Don't you have something to do?" He told me, then you look at those big ole eyes looking up at you and it's irresistible. When we got a dog I had the same experience. See, we understand the dog's value system now. The dog !
 doesn't care where he is, he just wants to be where his master is.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Dog and a Disciple."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 12:26. Jesus says, "Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am My servant also will be." He's talking here about the central response of a follower of Jesus Christ. Find out where my master is going and be there. Find out where my master is going and I'm going to go there, too. Now this kind of allegiance to the Master's direction is what being a disciple is all about. It's not just about having the right beliefs and going to the right meetings. You want to be where your master is as he wants to move deeper into your life.

    That's why every morning he is supposed to be your starting point. Luke 9:23 says, "Take up your cross daily and follow me." Each day as you get into His Word, you hold that book in your lap and say, "Lord, show me what new ground you want to touch today," and then you want to be where Jesus is as he's moving in the lives of those you love. You begin to look around at your mate, and what's He's trying to do in his or her life. You don't try to shape them in the way you want them to go. You follow where your Master's going and contribute to what He's trying to do.

    How about your parent or your child? Nurture what Jesus seems to be doing in their life. Find out where He's going and follow it. And also as He moves in that place where you serve, follow His lead there as well. See, the key question a leader needs to be asking is, "Where does Jesus seem to be going?" When the Board meets, when the committee meets, when a leader is on his knees praying, you ask, "Lord, where are You going in this ministry?" Not, where would I like to take you in this ministry. You seek out God's agenda. You go with His flow and it becomes an exciting, dynamic process. You have to stay flexible because you never know where the Master's going to go next. But then that's how that dog follows its master isn't it; that wherever my master is, I will be there wherever that takes me.

    In John 12:24 just before this, Jesus said that He would be lifted up to die for lost people. And I'll tell you that if you're going to go where Jesus is going, pretty soon you'll be in the middle of reaching lost people, because that's where Jesus is always going. I've learned a lot about being a disciple from watching our dog; from watching what happened at my friend's house. See, a dog's big issue is basic; where is my master right now? The dog made his decision where he'll be - wherever my master is, and so it is with a disciple of Jesus. Where is my Master on this issue? I don't care where it takes me. I don't care what it costs me. I just want to be where my Master is.



My thoughts.............when all around me things seem in utter chaos.......I fall down and pray to follow Christs path. Its the only path that makes any sence. "Master where are we going today?"...................Over the weekend a bit of the old redhead bubbled to the surface, and it hurt me badly. I know that it is a process of purification and there was something there she was holding on to that Jesus wanted her to reveel and let go of. Again I find that not only is she being pursued by Jesus and slowly becomeing the woman I see in her, I also feel that the Master is working in me, my maturity, faith in his path, trusting him before myself, changing the way I react to outside influance, and how I deal with the pain inflicted. He holds every one of my tears, and knows my heart,.............Where are we going today Master?

[Rookieupgrade1]

A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5112 - "Radar from the Rough Times"
2 Corinthians 1:3

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    I was in Georgia a few years ago when a friend said to me, "You know who one of the best football teams in our state is?" And I said, "No, who would that be?" He said, "The Georgia School for the Deaf." That caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting a school for the deaf to be football champions. He said, "Man, when we played them when I was in high school, you always had to get up for that game. They were always the toughest." And I began to think, "How can they play football when you can't hear the signals being called; when they can't hear the plays being called. How would you play football?" He said, "Well, they bring their band to every game and they beat the drums and the signals are called through the drumbeat and they feel the signals through their face." Well, I couldn't do that, but they can. They've got radar I don't have because they have faced a challenge I haven't faced.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Radar from the Rough Times."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 1, beginning at verse 3, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives so also through Christ our comfort overflows." Now verse 3 here talks about this beautiful side of God. He's the God of all comfort and compassion, the healing hugs of God who brings what only He could bring, a supernatural comfort deep inside of us where no human being can go. You've probably experienced that.

    But there's a comfort cycle here. It says that we are supposed to comfort with the comfort we got from Him. This word "comforting" is really the Greek word which means "called along side of to help," so it's saying God comes along side us to encourage us so that we can do that for others. So that the comfort isn't just for us to get comfortable, it's to fill us up with love and support to give to others. Now how does this happen? Okay, now you go through a deep valley, maybe you lose someone, you have a season alone, a lingering illness, a financial disaster, maybe you're abandoned or betrayed, and it hurts. But God can do something beautiful with that hurt. He turns it into sensitivity - radar for people who are hurting in that same area.

    Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed as a teenager in her dive that day and it was a terrible tragedy. But, the worst thing that ever happened to her has given her a worldwide ministry. She knows how the disabled and the wounded feel. My friend, Jean, was abused as a girl; she's got a wonderful ministry to abused girls. My friend, Don, was raised in a broken home; he has an incredible ability to work with kids from troubled backgrounds. When you open up your hurt and your wounds to the God of all comfort, He can use it in ways you never dreamed. When life's trouble hits you, it can be a tool either for Satan or for God. You dwell on the pain, you dwell on the people who hurt you, on yourself - you're going to start a downward cycle of depression.

    Maybe that's where you are right now. But if you surrender it to Jesus, all the pain, all those people who hurt you, all the questions, you're on your way to turning a loss into a victory. Like those at the Georgia School for the Deaf. They have special sensitivity because of their loss; because of their handicap. You can, too. God can give you radar from your rough times; radar that will make you the one who could be the Jesus person for some other hurting hearts.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5111 - "The Cost of Putting Off the Repairs"
Isaiah 55:6

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    The recent storm that roared through our area got so intense that a tree as big around as a car came crashing down on a house in our community. It went all the way through the roof and the house. We're talking major damage here. It didn't take long for the insurance adjuster to come by and give the owner a check to get the damage repaired. She called a contractor to come for an estimate, and when he asked if she wanted him to do the work, she told him she wanted another estimate. He warned her that there was more rain in the forecast, but she was determined. She had a similar conversation with a second contractor. Then the big rain came - and, of course, poured into her house. That's when she called a third and fourth contractor; both of whom gave her much higher estimates than the first two. Finally, she called in that first contractor who gave her a new estimate as high as the others. He said, "Ma'am, you waited so long that the rain came and did a lot more damage. So !
 getting things fixed is going to cost a lot more."

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cost of Putting Off the Repairs."

    It's amazing how we have a tendency to do that - to put off repairs that need to be made in our marriage, with our child, with our parents, in a broken relationship, in dealing with a problem that we don't want to confront. We keep thinking about how much it's going to cost to try to fix things. And we put it off - a little bit longer.

    Problem: the longer you wait to repair what's broken, the more expensive it's going to be. This is the easiest and cheapest it's ever going to be to make it right. One day it's going to get so bad it's unlivable that way. But the price of repairs may be more expensive than you ever dreamed.

    In the Bible, God is constantly urging us to get things fixed now. He says about our anger, for example, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:27). Translation: fix it now. Putting it off will only make it more expensive to fix.

    Jesus told the story of the son who insisted on getting his inheritance while his father was still alive. Then he went to another country and squandered it all on partying. Did he face the damage and start repairs at that point? No. Postpone the repairs. Too hard to go home and admit you're wrong. Did he give in when his friends all abandoned him? No. When the only job he could find was feeding some farmer's pigs? He still postponed the repairs. Finally, as he was reduced to eating pig slop, he said, "I will go to my father." And that's when he finally got a real relationship with his father - when he least deserved the love and forgiveness his father gave him.

    We all need to come home to God that same way, because the most broken thing in our life is our relationship with God. The Bible says we're "far away" from God because our sin has cut us off from the one Person we can't afford to live without - or die without. Our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 55:6 warns us to "seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." One day you won't be able to find Him. If you feel His moving in your heart today, you still can find Him - for today, that is.

    Postponing the Christ who died for your sin gets more and more expensive; more and more days wasted without the love and the meaning you were made for. Until one day the days run out, and you will have to pay forever the bill for your sin that Jesus already paid for you on the cross because you put it off one time too many. Which is why I urge you - why I pray for you - that you won't postpone repairing your relationship with God one more day.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5110 - "When Only Blood Could Do it"
Hebrews 9:26

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    He's a noted surgeon who wants to make a difference in the world. So once a year, he dedicates a month to going to Central America to do volunteer medical work. Not long ago, he was in an emergency medical clinic, performing urgent surgery on a young boy. The boy started losing blood faster than expected, and he clearly needed blood. The problem was that he had a rare blood type that only two percent of the population carries. And this village clinic certainly didn't have anything that rare. In that critical moment, the doctor suddenly put down his scalpel and went to another room - where he gave blood. He, too, has that rare blood. The boy got the blood he needed, the surgeon returned to finish the operation, and the boy came through just fine.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Only Blood Could Do it."

    A boy's life hanging in the balance; his only hope - blood given by the only one who had what it took to save him. I understand that. Mine was once a life hanging in the balance, and my only hope was the gift of someone's blood - the only One who had the blood that could meet my need.

    Some have called Him the Great Physician. Many call Him Savior. We all call Him Jesus. And my only hope of escaping the spiritual death penalty for the sins of my life was blood - His blood; the blood of the only Man who had no sin of His own to pay for - God's one and only Son. No matter what religion you are, no matter how religious or spiritual you are, His blood is your only hope, too.

    All of our theories, all of our systems for getting to God and getting to heaven are, at best, guesswork. Only God can tell us what it takes to get to Him. To be forgiven of that sin that makes it impossible for Him to have a relationship with us. And God does tell us in Hebrews 9:22, "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Sin carries the eternal death penalty of being separated from our God now and forever. And a death penalty cannot be paid by doing nice things. Someone has to die, and Someone did. Hebrews 9:26, our word for today from the Word of God, says of Christ: "Now He has appeared once for all ... to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Incredibly, Jesus said to God the Father, "Let Me die so Ron doesn't have to." You can put your name there. "Father, let Me die so (your name) doesn't have to."

    If you get to the end of your life and you find out that you've missed heaven, that your eternal destination turned out to be hell, don't blame God. He gave His only Son to die so you wouldn't have to go there. If a rescuer extends his hand and you don't grab his hand, don't blame the rescuer. In this case, the Rescuer is God's Son, reaching for you. He didn't just donate blood so you could be saved. He poured out His life-blood, dying for you. It is the blood of Jesus that could cover every sin of your life. It is because of that blood shed for you that God is willing to say to you today, "You are forgiven. You are clean. You are Mine forever." You can see why what you do with Jesus is the decisive choice of your life. God will never forget what you do with His Son, because He gave His Son for you.

    This is a spiritual rescue we're talking about. And your only hope is to grab the hand of Jesus, God's rescuer, with all the faith you've got. That step will trigger a cleansing miracle of God. In the Bible's words, "The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Every sin you've ever committed, erased from God's book forever today, if you'll tell Jesus that you are His from this day on - that His blood, shed for you, is your only hope.

    At our website, I've got a brief explanation of just how to begin this life-giving relationship with Jesus. If God is stirring in your heart at all, I'd encourage you to visit us there. It's yoursforlife.net. Or, if you prefer to get my booklet about this called "Yours For Life," just call and ask for it at 877-741-1200.

    There's an old hymn that says it pretty powerfully: "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Your blood was shed for me. And that You bid me come to Thee. O Lamb of God, I come."