JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"Watch Out When You're HALTed!"

Genesis 25:29-33  "Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary (exhausted and hungry).  And Esau said to Jacob, 'Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.'  Therefore his name was called Edom.  But Jacob said, 'Sell me your birthright as of this day.'  And Esau said, 'Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?'  Then Jacob said, 'Swear to me as of this day.'  So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.  And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way.  Thus Esau despised his birthright."

Exodus 2:11-15  "Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens.  And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.  So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.  And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, 'Why are you striking your companion?'  Then he said, 'Who made you a prince and a judge over us?  Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?'  So Moses feared and said, 'Surely this thing is known!'  When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses.  But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well."

2 Samuel 11:2-4  "Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.  So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, 'Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?'  Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house."

Matthew 4:1-4  "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'  But He answered and said, 'It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Ephesians 4:26  "'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath."

1 Corinthians 10:13  "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Insight: We are most vulnerable when we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT).  Be careful!  Realize that the enemy will tempt you and prepare now to overcome.  God will be faithful and help you stay pure and sinless, but it won't always be easy.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us.  Make us like You.  Please strengthen us and remind us that we are most vulnerable when we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired.  Let us stay close to You.  Remind us that You are faithful and remind us how You want us to be 100% pure and holy, set aside for You.  Forgive our sins.  Help us see them as You see them and repent.  We love You, Lord.  Bless us and purify us.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Lew Wallace (1827-1905), was a Major General in the Civil War, a diplomat and the author of the famous novel, Ben-Hur, 1880.  He became the Governor of New Mexico, 1878-81, and served as the U.S. minister to Turkey, 1881-85.

On February 2, 1893, he wrote in the Youth Companion:

At that time (1875), speaking candidly, I was not in the least influenced by religious sentiment.  I had no conviction about God and Christ.  I neither believed nor disbelieved them . . . .

I had been listening to a discussion which involved such elemental points as God, Heaven, life hereafter, Jesus Christ, and His Divinity.  Trudging on in the dark, alone, except as one's thoughts may be company, good or bad, a sense of the importance of the theme struck me for the first time with a force both singular and persistent.  I was ashamed of myself, and make haste now to declare that mortification of pride I then endured, or, if it be preferred, the punishment of spirit, ended in a resolution to study the whole matter, if only for the gratification there might be in having convictions of one kind of another.

Forthwith a number of practical suggestions assailed me.  How could I conduct the study?  Delve into theology?  I shuddered . . .  There were the sermons and commentaries.  The very thought of them overwhelmed me with the idea of shortness of life.  No, I would read the Bible and the four Gospels.  A lawyer of fifteen or twenty years of practice attains a confidence peculiar in his mental muscularity, so to speak . . .

The manuscripts in my desk ended with the birth of Christ, why not make it the first book of a volume, and go on to His death?  I halted - there was light! . . . I had my opening; it was the birth of Christ.  Could anything be more beautiful?  As a mere story, the imagination of man has conceived nothing more crowded with poetry, mystery, and incidents, pathetic and sublime, nothing sweeter with human interest, nothing so clearly a revelation of God in person.

So, too, I saw a fitting conclusion.  Viewed purely and professionally as a climax or catastrophe to be written up to, the final scene of the last act of the tragedy, what could be more stupendous than the Crucifixion? . . .  Wanting a connecting thread for the whole story - that given to Christ the Child and that given to Christ the Saviour, I kept Belthasar alive to the end . . .

I determined to withhold the reappearance of the Saviour until the very last hours.  Meanwhile, He should always be coming - today I would have Him, as it were, just over the hill yonder - tomorrow He will be here, and then tomorrow. . . .  Finally when He was come, I would be religiously careful that every word He uttered should be a literal quotation from one of His sainted biographers . . . .

The name "Ben-Hur" was chosen because it was biblical, and easily spelled, printed and pronounced.

As this article is in the nature of confessions, here is one which the readers of the Youth's Companion may excuse, and accept at the same time as a fitting conclusion: Long before I was through with my book I became a believer in God and Christ.

If you'd like to have the citations for the footnotes above, please email us.  If you'd like to see more quotes from those who framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.  There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

Jesus was the founder and CEO of the biggest organization and movement of all time.

We are direct descendants of the first Christians.

Jesus was like Bill Gates.

You wouldn't find Jesus hiding behind a desk, but you'd find Him getting His hands dirty.

Jesus had the answer and He took it to the people.

Jesus ordained a model for us to follow.

Institutionalizing ministry isn't biblical.

The minister is the equipper.  The ministers are sitting in the pews.

All Christians are ministers.

Your hometown is no less a mission field than a foreign country.

You are no less a missionary than a trained, ordained missionary on foreign soil.

We live in a world that's designed to rob you of your joy.

Do you see what Jesus sees when you look at people?

Help change the ratio between the workers and the harvest.

If you'd like to read more quotes, we have thousands in our archive!  Visit http://quotes.jcsm.org.