AWWY

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5109 - "The Punch You're Not Ready For"
Luke 4:1-4

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    Think of a name that goes with magic and you'll probably think of Houdini. Harry Houdini was the master of illusion, incredible escapes which made it almost ironic how he died. He defied all kinds of dangers in his life, like the time they tied him in a straight jacket, hung him upside down from the eaves of a tall building and he got away. And then there was the time he escaped from an air-tight tank filled with water. One of the tricks he did was he would often invite people to come up and hit him as hard as they could right in the stomach and he never winced. One day a young athlete volunteered to come up on stage and try it, and he landed his hardest punch in Houdini's stomach, except Houdini wasn't ready for the trick yet, and that blow to the stomach killed him. Now, it wasn't the most dangerous thing he ever faced. He just wasn't ready.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Punch You're Not Ready For."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 4. I'll begin reading with verse 1, "Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led 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. 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.'" No one ever said the devil plays fair. Here is Jesus' weakest spot, his hunger, and Satan goes for it. Satan's thinking one way he could get Jesus to do what he said was to hit him at the point of his hunger.

    It's the same way the devil comes after you and me. Here's an interesting question to think about briefly, "If I were the devil, what weakness would I go after in me?" Would it be your ego? Your need to get the credit and the glory? Would it be your insecurity? Your feelings of inadequacy? Your need to control? Your sexual weakness? Your materialism? Or would he exploit your loneliness? Or go after your tendency to worry? See, it's important to know where your most vulnerable spots are because I'll tell you, your enemy knows. So how do you handle this? How do you get ready for the punch?

    Each morning, you consciously surrender that soft spot, that weakness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Make it His area of your life. Secondly, deal with any of yesterday's failures. Bring it under 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Get rid of yesterday's failures so they don't set you up for today. And then the third thing is the thing I do when I get on an airplane; identify your exits. I always check and see where the exits are. You have to see where your exits are from that temptation and say, "How can I avoid being in a position where I can have my weakness exploited? Make sure that you candidly and completely bring it to Jesus. And fourthly, learn scripture that relates to that area of weakness so that you can do what Jesus did: answer the temptation with a bold retort from the Word of God. And don't get careless because you've won a few in that area recently.

    1 Corinthians 10:12 warns us, "Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." Houdini didn't die because of the hit. He died because he wasn't ready. Don't let Satan knock you out with his punch just because you're not ready. When you make that area of weakness that has been the devil's playground into Jesus' holy ground, then you are ready for any hit.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5108 - "Flexible Fighters"
Matthew 9:12

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    So why did the Colonists win the American Revolution? Well, it shouldn't be a surprise if you saw how the Red Coats fought. They fought battles in the old fashion European way - line up in straight rows, the front row shoots, then the next row rotates in while the others reload. Now, the Colonists on the other hand, didn't believe in lines. They just came in from everywhere. Saw those red uniforms all lined up in a rigid row and said, "Oh, nice targets!" Now, the Colonists looked like they were disorganized, but their new way of fighting won a battle.

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

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 9:12. The religious leaders are criticizing Jesus' approach to reaching the lost. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law that belong to their Sect complained to the disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I've not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Later He says no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine has to be poured into new wineskins. See, Jesus broke out of the religious mold to reach people that no one was touching. It was new wineskins.

    I understand that in those days the bottles in Palestine were really animal skins and the wine would ferment and give off this gas, and if the bottle was new and it had elasticity in the skin, well, then it gave with the pressure. If it were an old wineskin, the skin was dry and hard and of course it burst. Sometimes you have to replace an old idea with a new idea if you want God to do a new thing, if you want to reach people no one else is reaching. It's like those Revolutionary War soldiers. You know the Red Coats were rigid and they lost. The ones that were flexible won the battle.

    Maybe God is trying to do a new thing in your life or in your church, or in your ministry. Could it be that you're unwilling to go with his flow? There are some things that never change and must never change: the product, the Gospel, the message, the doctrine of Jesus Christ; that never changes. The package - it constantly changes - never the message - always the method will change.

    The world of lost people and the world of the church have never been so far apart. There's a new unbeliever out there, America's first post-Christians. They're biblically illiterate. They don't ever plan to go to a religious meeting to hear a religious speaker talk on a religious subject. It takes new things to reach them or else we'll just leave them lost. We've got to, for example, maybe leave the church building and have our outreaches on neutral ground. We have to learn to express Christ without all of our religious language. Maybe we're going to have to use some new music because it's the language of the native we're trying to reach.

    All missionaries know that you do it in the language of the person you're trying to reach. It may have to be with some new ideas. Maybe we need to learn to wrap this Gospel that's so unfamiliar to people in a familiar need. So we talk about marriage, or parenting, or handling stress, maybe about sex or singleness, and then move from these into the story of Jesus and show the difference a Savior can make.

    In Jesus' day the religious people totally missed what God was doing because they couldn't accept the new approach. The British soldiers of Revolutionary times lost because they were rigid. Now, we're in a battle for our town, our neighbors, the ever-living, never-dying souls of men and women. If God says, "I'm doing a new thing," let's not lose the battle by insisting on the same old formations.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5115 - "The Surprising End of a Long Search"
John 6:35

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    When you go to a church pot luck dinner, you never know what kind of luck you're going to have in your pot. Friends of ours were at one of those dinners with their granddaughter recently. Someone there had baked what they called a Jesus cake. That, of course, raised the obvious question, "What is a Jesus cake?" They were told that someone had actually baked a very small plastic baby toy into the cake, and they called it Baby Jesus. If anyone found the baby in their piece of cake, they would win a prize. Well, our friends' granddaughter became obsessed with finding the baby - to the point of downing five pieces of cake. She was desperately trying to find baby Jesus, and she did. And when she found the baby, the little girl said, "Finding Baby Jesus changes everything."

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Surprising End of a Long Search."

    When my friends told me about their granddaughter's discovery, my first thought was, "Cute story." But then I realized that what happened to that little girl was also a picture of what's happened in the lives of so many people I've met - a long search for the prize. Then the end of the search that changes everything - finding Jesus.

    Our lives are so much more than just the sum of all our daily activities. Those aren't enough to satisfy the thirst in our soul. We're seekers. Beginning in our teenage years, we're searching for what goes in the hole that's deep in our heart. We want significance. One of the best-selling books in recent years is entitled "The Purpose-Driven Life." That's a good description of what we're looking for; some great purpose that will drive our life and give it significance - give it meaning. We're looking for the answer to the question, "What's the point of all this?"

    We're also on a search for love. We invest pretty heavily in one relationship after another, hoping that this one will pay off in giving us the one love that we'll never lose. But that's the problem with every human love - they either desert you, disappoint you, divorce you, or die on you. So our search for that anchor love goes on. We're really looking for security, too; something we know will be there to hang onto when everything else in our life is up for grabs.

    So we just keep grabbing another piece of the cake, hoping that what we're looking for is in that slice. And it isn't. Listen to what Jesus says about the end of our lifetime search in John 6:35. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." Hunger satisfied. Thirst quenched. Search over when you come to Jesus.

    Why? Because the God who puts us here is what we've been looking for. We were made for a love relationship with Him. But, according to the Bible, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We were created for God, but we've lived for ourselves. And we've lost Him, and thus the hole in our heart. That restlessness - that lack of peace and fulfillment - is an echo of another world; the constant reminder that God is missing. Until, in the words of that little girl, "Jesus changes everything."

    That's because His death on the cross was the payment that can cancel the sin that stands between us and our God - between you and your God. His resurrection from the dead is the proof that He can deliver the eternal life He promises. And this very day, He is, in His words, knocking on the door of your heart. In reality, you don't find Jesus. He finds you and comes to you, offering you the opportunity to grab Him like a drowning person would grab their rescuer. At the moment you do that, everything between you and God is erased forever.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5116 - "Realizing You Were Made for More"
Isaiah 55:1

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    Our grandson's been on a very limited diet - just mother's milk or baby formula for his first six months. But something's been happening in the last couple of weeks. He has suddenly become fascinated with what the rest of us are eating. Fascinated, you know, as in staring at the food on our plate, the fork going down to get that food, the fork coming up to put that food in our mouth, and our mouth as it's chewing that food. Then repeat the exercise as the fork goes down for another bite. You can tell by the longing look in his eyes, he's not content with that milk or formula anymore. He wants some of that good stuff. If he could talk, I think he might be saying, "Hey! I've been made for more than what I've been getting!"

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Realizing You Were Made for More."

    Our grandson's growing dissatisfaction with his liquid diet is actually setting the stage for moving to something much better. In fact, many all grown-up people have some of those same feelings, "I've been made for more than what I've experienced so far." The good news is that, in many lives, restlessness like that has immediately preceded the greatest life upgrade those people have ever experienced.

    Many of us know the feeling of a life that is full but not fulfilling. For all the things we've done to get some love, there's never been enough. We're still lonely. For everything we've tried to give more meaning to our life, nothing has ever really satisfied our soul. We're still wondering what the point of it all is. For all we've thought would give us some lasting peace inside, the unrest in our soul just won't go away. Even if you seem to have everything going your way, your heart may still be saying, "I'm made for more than this."

    And your heart's right. It's just that the "something more" has always been elusive. It may be within your reach today, if you reach the right direction. Who could have more love, more meaning, more peace to give than the God who gave us our life in the first place? Here's what He says in Isaiah 55, beginning with verse 1; it's our word for today from the Word of God. "Come, all you who are thirsty" - or "all you who are restless for more" - "come to the waters ... come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare ... hear Me, that your soul may live."

    God says, "Don't waste any more time or energy on things that can never satisfy your soul. I've got what you're looking for." And where can you find it? It's not in a church. It's not in a religion. It's in a person. Here's what the Bible says about God's Son, Jesus: "All things were created by Him and for Him" - that includes you - "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 1:16; 2:9). It goes on to say, "You are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10, KJV). Complete, fulfilled, at peace, because you've found the One you were made by and made for.

    Sadly, we haven't lived our life for the One we were made for. We've made it all about me instead of all about Him. So we're away from the One who has the "something more" that we were made for. But in the greatest act of love in human history, Jesus paid the price to give us a chance at knowing God. This same book of the Bible says that He reconciled us to God "by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20). We can have life now and life forever because He gave up His life for us. But, thank God, He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead; so He's alive right now and inviting you to turn to Him for what only He can give.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5117 - "Why You're So Important to the People You Know"
Luke 10:2

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    Our son-in-law was visiting his grandfather in Florida, with a nice Florida view outside his bedroom window - grapefruit trees. Now, it wasn't all a happy view. Many of the grapefruit were actually rotting on the ground. His grandfather wasn't up to harvesting them anymore. So those grapefruit got all ready to be picked and no one came, and they dropped to the ground and died.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why You're So Important to the People You Know."

    That's what happens when there's no one there to harvest a crop when it's ready. It will die ready. Tragically, that same thing can happen to something much, much more valuable - a human soul. But it doesn't have to happen.

    In Luke 10:2, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Now I grew up in an apartment in Chicago, so I don't know much about harvesting. We just harvested cockroaches there. But I've asked a lot of farmers what's the first thing they think of when I say the word "harvest." Their answer is almost always the same, "ready."

    So Jesus was saying, "The ready is plentiful." In other words, He's got a lot of lost people ready to hear about Him. They don't know that it's Jesus they're ready for, but they will when they hear about Him - if they hear about Him. Because Jesus' problem isn't with the people who don't know Him; it's with the people who do - His spiritual harvesters. He has so many of His people who He's counting on to harvest the hearts that He's gotten ready for Him, but they're just sitting in the farmhouse with the rest of God's family. Meanwhile, the harvest of hearts is waiting in the field ready - until that person dies ready.

    This is a heartbreaking spiritual tragedy; lives lost because the Christian they know isn't telling them about Jesus. Here's what He says to do about this deadly apathy. "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field." Those words "send out" sound so gentle in the English. But the original Greek word is "ekballo" which means to "forcibly expel." It's used of throwing demons out of people, undesirables out of the temple. Many uses of the word include at least a hint of getting really aggressive, even violent. Jesus said His people need to be forcibly thrown out into the harvest of ready hearts, and maybe that's what He's trying to do with you.

    That's why you're restless and unfulfilled as a believer. He rescued you to be using your everyday influence for something eternal - rescuing others from a Christless eternity. In Jesus, you've got so much that lost people around you are looking for. Peace in times of trouble, when Jesus is the only explanation for your peace; a love you know you'll never lose; the power to change the dark parts of you that you could never have changed yourself; a purpose to live for beyond just making it through the day; and an eternity you are sure of. You have all of that because you have Jesus. They have none of that because they don't have Jesus.

    The Savior who died for them has been working in their life to get them ready to hear about Him. And He's moving and shaking things in your life and in your soul to get you to tell about Him. He died for them, and they don't know it. And you are in possibly the best position of anyone to tell them. Before you talk to someone without Jesus, pray the 3-Open Prayer: "Lord, open a door to talk with them." "Lord, open their heart." And, "Lord, open my mouth."

    You have no idea how important you are to the people you know. And they have no idea how important you are, but Jesus does. You are their best chance at Him; their best chance at heaven. It's harvest time, but it won't be for long.The ready time never is. Don't wait 'til their heart turns hard or beats for the very last time. Please don't let them die ready.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5118 - "Flying Too Low"
Philippians 3:12

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    Every child's dream - Disney World! Our three-year-old granddaughter had counted down to her visit there for weeks. And she was absolutely giddy as she finally entered the Magic Kingdom. One ride she really wanted to try was the flying elephants. Actually, the flying Dumbos, named after that elephant with oversize ears that enabled him to be a flying elephant! Dumbo basically just goes around and around; he's a ride for the little kids - kids like me. Now when you pull the bar in your Dumbo car, it starts to go up. Not super-high, but high enough to get a nice view of a lot of things in the park. And our granddaughter began making those Dumbo circles with her uncle, he started to pull the bar to help the flying elephant fly. It was not to be. Our little princess would have none of this going higher business - too scary! And she made no secret of her desire (well, maybe "demand" is more accurate) that Dumbo was to fly at the lowest possible level - and stay there.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flying Too Low."

    There's a whole lot of people who are just like our granddaughter with her flying elephant - not flying; settling for a low level spiritually when there's so much to see higher up. And maybe, without realizing it, you have settled into a low level of all there is to experience in the living Christ. You may not realize it because so many other believers around you are flying low, too. It seems to be normal Christianity. It's not. Just because spiritual mediocrity is common, doesn't mean it's normal! And my guess is your heart is saying, "There's got to be more than this." There is. Much more.

    The writer of Hebrews gave some early Christians this challenge: "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again ... Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with teaching about righteousness." God's saying, "You've known Jesus much too long for you to be still living on the ABCs of the Bible. Grow up, son! Grow up, daughter! There's so much more that only spiritual grownups experience!" The challenge continues: "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity" (Hebrews 5:12-13; 6:1).

    God has made you restless for more because He wants you to go for a much bigger, much bolder, much more powerful and exciting relationship with Him. He's calling you to the kind of spirit the great Apostle Paul had after thirty years of one of the greatest Christian lives ever. It's in Philippians 3, beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God. "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me ... forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." In other words, I refuse to stay at the level I am! I'm going higher! I want to see the view!

    So what does this look like? Give yourself to four "going higher" goals. One: To dig deeper into God's Word than you've ever gone before. Two: To pray bigger in God's throne room than you've ever prayed before; no more safe, predictable, scripted prayer. Three: Open wider to God's control than you've ever opened up before. Let Him drive in the areas where you've always insisted on holding the wheel. Four: Tackle something bigger in God's work than you've ever risked before; say yes to a mission for Him that will make you dig deeper into Him than you've ever been before.

    So go for the awesome view that's up higher. It may be safe down low, but it's boring and powerless. In the time you've got left, however little or much that may be, don't you want to experience all of Jesus that you can? No more settling for life where it's safe. You're going higher where the view is amazing!

[airIam2worship]

AMEN
Brother, thank you for theses posts they are something to look forward to everyday. We all need this kind of encouragement

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5120 - "Fatal Refusal"
Hebrews 2:3

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    Four boys in a house on fire - that's what happened to my friend's nephews. Thankfully, the Fire Department got the call early and they were there in minutes. It was clear there was no way they could go into that blaze to bring the boys out. But all four of them were huddled around a second floor window, which meant they could be saved. The firefighters quickly prepared to catch the boys. Then they yelled to them to jump into the waiting net below. The oldest boy jumped; he was safe. A second, then a third brother jumped to their rescue below. Their 10-year-old brother was the last one left at that upstairs window. He hesitated. The firefighters begged him to jump again and again. And every time, he refused. And sadly, it cost him his life.

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

    That is a heartbreaking story. It's a tragedy when someone dies because there was no one there to rescue them. It's an even greater tragedy when someone dies because they refused the rescuer who could have saved them.

    It’s a tragedy that has been repeated countless times to people that Jesus came to rescue from an eternity without Him. People who had a chance (maybe many chances) to jump into the saving arms of Jesus, but they never did. Actually, God bringing us together today is another opportunity for you to choose life. When will it be too late to do that? Only God knows.

    In some ways, the more religious you are, the more times you've heard about what Jesus did on the cross for you, the greater danger you're in. Because you may not even realize that you're in a burning house. Good people, religious people tend to live in the false security that they're okay because they know a lot about Jesus. They're trying to do things Jesus likes. But that ignores what it is that keeps a person out of heaven forever - their sin. All the wrong things you've ever done in your life. They are, in God's courtroom, a capital crime, punishable by eternal death. No one with sin can possibly live in the presence of a sinless God, and sin must be paid for.

    And that fire of God's judgment on our self-willed, self-run life burns closer and closer every day we live. But God loves us so much that He acted dramatically to save us from the punishment we deserve. He sent His only Son to bear that punishment in our place. When Jesus was butchered and cut off from God on that awful cross, it was all the sins of my life He was paying for, and all of yours. Your only hope of rescue is to jump into the strong and waiting arms of Jesus and pinning all your hopes on Him. When have you done that? If you don't know you did, you probably didn't. So God asks this sobering question in Hebrews 2:3, our word for today from the Word of God, "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" That's how most people miss heaven. They don't out-and-out reject what Jesus did. They just ignore His rescue; either not caring or mistakenly thinking that they'll make it out somehow. They won't. Only Jesus can save you.

    And He's calling to you today - right now in your heart. He's saying, "When I went to that cross, I did all that for you to rescue you from your sin. So now, while there's time, jump into My arms." He's never dropped, He's never lost anyone who trusted Him to save them. But you have to make your move.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5121 - "Discovering Your Global Positioning"
John 10:3

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    He's not the youngest motorcycle rider in the pack, but he's got to be one of the most devoted. Take that away from him and you'd be taking away one of the great joys of his life. Problem: he's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. And as that condition progresses, he can expect to begin to experience some disorientation, among other things. That's not a good thing for a fellow running around on his motorcycle. So he has installed a global positioning system on his bike which will always show him where he is and where home is. That way, if one day he's out on his bike and forgets his way home, he'll be able to find his way home no matter where he goes.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Discovering Your Global Positioning."

    Being able to get home is one of the strongest drives and deepest needs in every human heart. For most people, you can only be away from home for so long before your deep longing for home kicks in. Occasionally, we'll hear about a child or even an older person with failing mental faculties who has wandered away from home and can't find their way back. We have a word for that. They're "lost."

    I find it interesting that "lost" is the word that God frequently uses in the Bible to describe us humans. For example, Jesus Christ announced His personal mission on earth this way: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). Spiritually, we're away from home and we don't know how to find home. "Lost" is the name of a hit TV show that tells the stories of plane crash survivors stranded on a strange island with no way to get home. In a way, they're a picture of all of us. "Lost" could be the title of a series based on the lives of any of us.

    The exciting revelation in the Bible is that we don't have to stay lost. We weren't put here to be lost; unable to find home. Home is a personal relationship with the God who created you. Having been made, in the Bible's words, "by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16), God is clearly the reason for our existence, the meaning for our life. But we've thought we could run our lives ourselves and we've ended up acting in so many ways that have separated us from God; that have left us away from home - unable to find our way back.

    Maybe you know this feeling of being lost on this planet, even if life is good. No real direction, no great purpose - wandering. Jesus has great news for you in our word for today from the Word of God. He wants us to be His sheep and He wants to be our Shepherd. In John 10, beginning with verse 3, He says: "He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out ... He goes on ahead of them and His sheep follow Him ... My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." Talk about security! Belonging to the God of the universe now and forever. And talk about meaning! Being led by the One who put you here!

    But it cost the Shepherd everything for you to find home. He had to leave home and come to this earth where He died on a cross to pay the penalty for all our sinning. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). That's how precious you are to Him. That's how much He loves you. He died so you could live this life with Him in your heart and so you could be with Him forever in heaven.

    There is a plan. There's a destiny for your life; something so much bigger than just the scattered pieces of the puzzle of your life. God has the top of the box that shows you how to put the pieces together. And Jesus is the only way you can have the God of heaven be your God. And you will belong to Him from the moment you tell Him, "Lord, I'm lost because I've done my life my way instead of Your way. I want that to change. I want my sins forgiven so I can belong to You, and I'm pinning all my hopes on Jesus because He died to bring me home."

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5122 - "Wrapping Jesus in Hard Words"
Colossians 4:3-4

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    It's an English-speaking church. The visiting pastor was Hispanic. He spoke in Spanish, using an interpreter to help his audience understand. I've spoken through an interpreter; either you say half as much or it takes twice as long. The pastor chose the latter. It took quite a while to get through his message. To be honest, I know some minds started to wander at times. At the end of his message, the pastor surprised everybody. He spoke to them completely in English. And he made a promise - the next time he would definitely speak in English. Of course, some folks were just a little frustrated. He could have spoken in the language of the people he was talking to; he just chose to speak in his own.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wrapping Jesus in Hard Words."

    It doesn't matter how important or sincere your message is if you deliver it in words the other person can't understand. And not all language problems are linguistic. Parents of teenagers know that. What their kids are saying may be some kind of "English," but who can understand what they're saying?

    More importantly, when Christians tell about Jesus in church words, how many people without Christ can understand what they're saying? That's not just a casual question. It really matters because the message of Jesus is life-or-death information - like the directions to get out of a burning building. Every missionary to another culture knows that you can't settle for the easy thing; speaking in the language you're comfortable with. You don't just transmit the Gospel, you have to translate it. It's unacceptable that people may miss Jesus because you didn't put it in words they can understand.

    American church folks speak a language I call Christianese. And sometimes I'm not sure we even understand what some of our words mean! But we tell people they need to be "born again," to "accept" or "receive Christ," to "become a Christian" or be "saved." And they either have no idea what those words mean or they have the wrong idea. The same is true of important words like "sin" and "Savior" and "believe." We think we've told them about Jesus, but they have no idea what we meant.

    Thus, our word for today from the Word of God. It's a great prayer request from the Apostle Paul in Colossians 4:3-4. "Pray for us ... that God may open a door for our message ... Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should" Then he also asked people to pray that "whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me" (Ephesians 6:19). The words you use matter. Proclaiming it clearly can make the difference.

    So ask the Lord to help you hear yourself using Christianese and to help you find non-religious words to explain what a person needs to know to come to Christ. For example, sin can be explained as "you running your life instead of God running it" or "hijacking your life from your Creator." In our time, a "Savior" is a rescuer - someone who rescues you from a deadly situation you can't get yourself out of. That's what Jesus came to be for us. And what does it mean to "believe" in Jesus? The Bible's meaning is similar to what a dying person does when the rescuer comes; holding onto Him as if He's your only hope.

    The most urgent, the most important news in the world needs to be delivered in words that a lost person can understand - non-religious words! We can do it if we choose to do it. There's someone you know whose only hope is hearing about and understanding what Jesus did on the cross for them. Please put Him where they can reach Him.

[Rookieupgrade1]

A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5123 - "It's Show Time!"
1 Samuel 17:34

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    We had been working on our production for our college's Junior-Senior Banquet for months. It was an original musical drama, written and directed by my roommate and me, based on the book of Esther. The orchestra had rehearsed night after night, the chorus had rehearsed, the actors, the light crew, the sound crew; we had prepared as much as we could. The night before, we had the dress rehearsal. But all those months of preparation and practice came down to one evening - the night of the big performance, and it was show time!

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "It's Show Time!"

    All of our work, all of our experiences over all those months were to get us ready for the moment that really mattered - the real performance that would affect many people's lives. The practices with no audience watching helped us do it right when there was a large audience watching. It may be that you're in rehearsal right now. God is sending or allowing you to go through some things right now that really are your preparation for some important assignments ahead - which means what you're going through isn't random. It isn't meaningless. It has great meaning which you can't see now, but which many will see when it's "show time."

    It happened to David. In our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Samuel 17, beginning with verse 34, young David is persuading the king that he can go out and defeat the enemy giant, Goliath, even though he is only a shepherd boy and all the professional soldiers have retreated. He says, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who has delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

    David had experienced God's power in battles he fought when no one was watching. What he learned there (because he did it right in practice) enabled him to win a decisive victory for the Lord when the nation was watching! I can't help but think of something Lisa Beamer said in an interview. After her husband, Todd, died trying to stop the hijackers of Flight 93 on September 11, Lisa was thrust into the national spotlight, where she winsomely represented her faith and her hope in Jesus Christ. She said, though, that it was her struggle with the death of her father years earlier that had prepared her for this larger moment, where she now impacted millions of lives.

    Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose life has included some very high highs and some very low lows, said, "Through the ups and downs of success, we become better people, and as better people, God can call us to bigger jobs." That may very well be what God is doing in your life right now. He is preparing you for bigger things; for opportunities to impact many lives. That's the reason for the things you're going through right now.

    But now, in practice, where there aren't many people watching, when the load is heavy, and when the temptations are many, now is the time you must be faithful. You must be opening yourself up to God's working as you never have before. Or maybe it's "show time" right now; a major crunch time when it's your time to show what a mighty God you serve. May you hear the applause of heaven!

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5129 - "Asleep at the Wheel"
Ezekiel 34:2-5

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    The power was out this morning when some of our neighbors woke up. In fact, several hundred customers were without electricity. Now, it wasn't the power company's fault. It was the fault of a driver who ran his car into an electric pole. Oh, not on purpose, of course. See it was a grandfather returning from an all-night hunting expedition with his grandson. Unfortunately, his body didn't want to wait until it got home to sleep. So the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Now, he was injured, his car was damaged, and lots of folks had no power.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Asleep at the Wheel."

    It's never good for the person who's driving to fall asleep at the wheel, whether it's someone driving a car, or a family, a business, an organization, or a ministry. When you're supposed to be driving and you're sleeping instead, people can get hurt, damage can be done, and lives can be disrupted.

    Whether you realize it or not, you may very well be in the driver's seat. You certainly are responsible for the wheel if you have children, or employees, or people looking to you, or if you're in a position of responsibility or influence. And you can't afford to fall asleep at the wheel.

    In Ezekiel 34, beginning in verse two, our word for today from the Word of God, God reveals how He feels about those who have leadership but who are neglecting the people they should be caring for. The "driver" in this case is described as a "shepherd" - those who should have been leading God's ancient people. What God says about them all too often applies to some of us who should be shepherding the lives that He's entrusted to us.

    Here's what God says, "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves. Should not the shepherds take care of the flock? ... You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. ... they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for the wild animals."

    I think we can assume from this that God is watching how you are caring for the people that He's entrusted to you. And if you're busy, it may be that you are asleep to their needs - to their wandering. It's all too easy to be off conquering the world somewhere, totally oblivious to the tragedy of everything falling apart back at home base; to be avoiding the hard work of making it work at home. You can be so immersed in the pursuit of your agenda and your goals (maybe even noble goals) that you can entirely miss or entirely ignore what's happening to the people that you're supposed to be giving direction to. Until one day there's an explosion, a disaster, a breakdown, or it just runs into a pole. The car hits a wall, you're injured, there's damage, or the lights are going out for some people who really need you.

    The book of Proverbs says that "a king must give constant attention to those who are under him for the crown is not forever" and it goes on to say "do not forget to give attention to your herds." That could be a family; that can be people you minister to. It is people over whom you have influence or leadership and it's so important that you stay alert to their needs on the way to that goal that you're headed for. It's time to wake up to the needs that you've been neglecting, to the silent or maybe not-so-silent cries of the people who need you. You've got to wake up before there's a crash.

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5130 - "Looking Good, Going Nowhere"
Proverbs 14:12

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    When my wife and I are driving somewhere, we don't lose any time when she drives. In fact, we've set some records, so it's all right if she drives. Once when we were on a trip and I was preparing for the meetings we were going to, she was driving down this four-lane, divided highway, and I was looking down. All of a sudden, I looked up and I saw orange plastic cones on the middle line that divides the two lanes on our side. Now, I wasn't clear which lane we were supposed to be driving in, because I hadn't been looking up. And as I looked, every vehicle but one was moving into the left lane, to the left of the cones. I said everyone but one - that was us. My wife continued in the right lane, and I said, "Honey, what are you doing? It looks like this lane is closing." She said, "Just watch." Well, we passed a line of cars on our left, with a big truck at the head of it. See, that truck had moved into the left lane, and all the other cars said, "Oh, that must be the lane to!
  be in." and all the other cars followed it. The problem was that the truck that they were following was taking equipment to a big tar truck parked in the left lane, so we waved as we zipped by all those cars as they were headed for an unpleasant surprise.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking Good, Going Nowhere."

    Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 14:12. It's short, but it's hard-hitting. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death." Well, the Bible is pretty clear here. A lot of people are on a road that looks good, but it's going nowhere. Jesus talked about that in Matthew 7:13-14, when He said, "Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it; but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

    See, lots of people are wrong about the one thing you can't afford to be wrong about - God, and how to get to Him. If you're wrong about God, it's eternally fatal. Maybe you're someone who might be on a sincere road that seems very right, but that ends far away from God forever instead of with Him forever. The Bible says many are on that kind of road. It's like those cars following that truck. Almost everybody chose that lane. It seemed like the best one, but it led to an unpleasant end.

    Only God can tell us how to get to Him, and He does in John 14:6. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." In 1 John 5:11-12, it says, "There is life in God's Son, and he that has the Son has life. He that does not have the Son of God does not have life." Do you have the Son of God in your heart? This bothers a lot of people that Jesus is the only way. You say, "Well, I believe in tolerance. As long as we're sincere." Well, if you're trapped in a burning building, and a firefighter risks his life to bring you out, I don't think you say, "Hey, wait, you mean there's only one way out of here?" No, you grab that rescuer and you say, "Thank God there is a way."

    Thank God there is one way. There wasn't any way until one Savior came and paid the price for our sin. Sin has a death penalty. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death," and someone has to die for my sin. No good works, no matter what faith they're from, can pay that death penalty. Romans 5:8 says, "God proved His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

    If you haven't pinned all your hopes on Jesus the Rescuer, you're still on the road that leads to death. That's why everything, now and forever, depends on what you do with God's Son, Jesus. This could be that day when you make this Jesus your Rescuer from your sin. Would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours."

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A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5131 - "Trapped Where You Don't Want to Be"
Romans 7:15

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    It seemed harmless enough when I entered. I was just a kid at an amusement park in Chicago, and the ride was just a big cylinder that made you feel like you were walking into a washing machine. They called it The Rotor. I stood against the edge and I waited for it to do its thing. Then it started to do what something called The Rotor might be expected to do - rotate. As it began to spin faster and faster, the floor started to disappear in front of my feet. I was plastered against the side of the cylinder, looking down into this yawning black hole. I hated it. I wanted off. Too bad!

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Trapped Where You Don't Want to Be."

    It's one thing to be stuck on a ride you really don't want to be on. It's something else to be stuck in a life you really don't want to be in. And a lot of people are; sometimes, people that might surprise you.

    Recently, a national magazine published a candid interview with the man they called "TV's hottest action hero." He stars in one of the most successful, most talked about shows on American television, but he seems to be on a ride he really doesn't want to be on. Too often, his feelings of being as he said "trapped" and "caged," cause him to revert to alcohol for some relief. Here's how he feels about it in his own words. "I should be able to wake up in the morning without going, 'Oh, no! Where's my boot?' Or, 'Where am I?' Or 'One of your friends didn't happen to being my car home, did they?' It's not a very clever way to live, and I don't want to live like that." This admirably successful star goes on to say: "I have a few drinks and I'm not so worried about tomorrow and I'm not thinking about yesterday. Then the next day, I go, 'Oh God, don't let me do that again.' So why do I do it again, and again, and again?"

    His battle echoes the battle raging in many hearts; the feeling of being trapped in a cycle that's going nowhere and leaving us disappointed or disgusted. It's not a new struggle. Paul, one of the writers of the Bible, wrote these words in Romans 7, beginning in verse 15. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "I do not understand what I do ... I have the desire to do good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing ... Who will rescue me?"

    There's a me I want to be, and then there's the me I am. In between is this darkness that I can't overcome. It's got a name. The Bible calls it sin. We're trapped in a cycle of doing things we know we shouldn't do, of treating people in ways that we later regret - especially people we love, of handling life in ways that hurt us and hurt other people.

    And, as the Bible writer suggests, our only hope is spiritual rescue. We can't get ourselves out of our sin. We can't get ourselves out of the hell that is the eternal penalty for our sin. We need a rescuer. Paul goes on to answer his "who will rescue me?" question, "Thanks be to God," he says, "through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

    Sin's power could only be broken by a sacrifice that was even more powerful - the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He gave His life there to pay for my sin and to break its hold on me ... and on you. Three days later, He demonstrated His supreme power by walking out of His grave. Death could not hold Him, and now He stands ready to walk into your life with all that love and all that power. So you can be forgiven for every sin. So you can be rescued from sin's cycle of defeat and despair.

    But you do have to grab the Rescuer and let Him rescue you. He's waiting to do just that this very day. It's a matter of you talking to Him and telling Him, "Jesus, I'm tired of my sin. I'm ready to turn from my sin and turn to You as my only hope. You died to rescue me. And here I am."

[Rookieupgrade1]

A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#5132 - "Your Line in the Sand"
Acts 4:12

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    Some say it's legend. Some say it's history, but it's one of the most inspiring stories from America's past. The scene: a tiny mission near San Antonio, Texas. A small band of Texas Freedom Fighters is taking their stand against the invading Mexican Army, and they're vastly outnumbered. There's a brief window during which the men of the Alamo have a choice between leaving or staying to fight. Colonel William Travis is in command of the garrison and, according to some accounts; he gathered the defenders in the courtyard of the Alamo. With his sword, he drew a line in the sand and he called his men to a destiny choice: cross the line as your pledge to fight, or stay where you are as an announcement that you are leaving. They all crossed the line to heroism, to immortality, and to honor that has endured nearly 200 years.

    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Line in the Sand."

    Two thousands years ago, a spiritual line was drawn in the sand and it's still there. And every person who belongs to Jesus Christ has to make their choice.

    To understand that choice, let's go back those twenty centuries to the first Christians who had to make it. Their story is found in Acts 4, beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God. The scene is Jerusalem - the city where Jesus had been put to death only weeks before. Peter and John have just been proclaiming Jesus in the temple area. Now, facing a hostile crowd of powerful rulers, they make this bombshell announcement: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved."

    At that point, some of the same people who had arranged for Jesus' crucifixion "called them in again," the Bible says," and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." And there's the line in the sand. Talk about whatever you want, but don't talk about Jesus! The Christians' answer? "We cannot help but speaking about what we have seen and heard." Later, the Bible says, "With great power the apostles continued to testify to resurrection of the Lord Jesus." They made their choice. They would talk about Jesus, whatever it cost.

    What about you and me? We face the same choice in situation after situation. Will we talk about Jesus at a time and in a culture where it's okay to talk about anything you want except Jesus? Actress Patricia Heaton, one of the stars of the hit TV series, "Everybody Loves Raymond," has publicly professed her faith in Christ. Recently, in People Magazine, she said: "Most people have some kind of faith. However, I think Jesus is a scary subject. 'God' you can make into anything you want. But confronted with Jesus you have to say I believe that or I don't, and that's very powerful."

    Yes, it is. And the devil knows it. That's why he's made you and me choke so often when we get to that name - Jesus. We'll talk about God, family values, our church, our faith, but when it comes to Jesus, we unwittingly obey the 2,000-year- old order from hell, "Do not mention Jesus." But there is no other name by which people can be rescued from an awful eternity. Of course, Satan does everything to have us chicken out on talking that name.

    So the line is in the sand. Are you going to stay where it's "safe," hiding Jesus behind you? Or are you going to cross the line and join the heroes who say, "I'll tell them about Jesus, whatever it costs." The people who think nothing of Jesus aren't ashamed to freely speak His name in disrespect. What about you - someone whose life, whose eternity has been changed by Jesus? Will you talk about Him because you love Him and because they need Him? Or will you be ashamed of Jesus? On that brutal cross, Jesus was not ashamed of you.