OUR DAILY BREAD : NO SUBSTITUTE NEEDED

[cimi]

April 1
Monday


NO SUBSTITUTE
NEEDED

READ:
Psalm 139:1-12
_________________________________Where can I go
from Your Spirit? Or
where can I flee from
Your presence?
__Psalm 139:7
__________________________________While I was visiting my son in San Diego, we decided to go to Shadow Mountain Church to hear Dr. David Jeremiah preach. Steve and I got up early on sunday morning and took the hour-long drive to the church. But our anticipation turned to disappointment when we discovered that Dr. Jeremiah was not there that day. "Some other guy" _a substitute_was preaching.

A couple of weeks later, I was scheduled to preach at the church in Grand Rapids where my wife and I attend. As I stood in front of the congregation, I realized that now I was "some other guy" and they might be disappointed because they had come to hear our pastor__not me__speak.

While we find comfort in the familiarity of those we depend on in life, we have to recognize that at times they can be substituted. But the One we need most__the One on whom we depend for life itself__is always present (Ps. 139:7-8). When we desire to enter God's presence in prayer, he is always there: "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice" (55:17).

Looking for God? He's always right there. No substitute needed. __Dave Branon

Dear Lord, I am so thankful that You are always present.
I never need to make an appointment to speak to You,
the God of the universe. No matter where I go or what
time it is, I can depend on Your presence.
__________________________________When you come to the Lord, there is no waiting line__
His ears are always open to your cry.

******Tioday's Bible Reading __Psalm 139:1-12************

1 O LORD, You have
searched me and known
me. 2 You know my sitting
down and my rising up; You
understand my thought afar
off. You conprehend my
path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all
my ways. 4 for there is not
a word on my tongue, but
behold, O LORD, You know
it altogether. 5 You have
hedged me behind and
before, and laid Your hand
upon me. 6 Such knowledge
is too wonderful for me; it
is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from
Your Spirit? Or where can I
flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend into heaven,
You are there; if I make my
bed in hell, behold, You are
there. 9 If I take the wings
of the morning, and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the
sea, 10 even there Your hand
shall lead me, and Your
right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, "Surely the
darkness shall fall on me,"
even the night shall be light
about me; 12 indeed, the
darkness shall not hide
from You, but the night
shines as the day; the
darkness and the light are
both alike to You.

>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<
Psalm 139 is one of the Bible's most theological chapters, touching
on the three traditional "omni-" descriptions of God. In verses
1-6, David describes the wonder that God knows everything about him (omniscience). God's omnipresence (present everywhere) is celebrated in verses 7:12. The third of the traditional "omni-" descriptions of God, omnipotence (all-powerful), is not explicitly found in Psalm 139. However, it is implied in the description of God's wonderfully creative works in verse 14.


March 31
Easter Sunday

KNEE-DEEP
IN DAFFODILS

READ:
Luke 24:13-34
_______________________________

The Lord is risen
indeed! __Luke 24:34
______________________________

When the first flowers of spring bloomed in our yard, my 5-year-old son waded into a patch of daffodils. He noticed some debris from plants that had expired months before and remarked, "Mom, when I see something dead, it reminds me of Easter because Jesus died on the cross." I replied, "When I see something alive__like the daffodils__it reminds me that Jesus came back to life!"

One reason we know Jesus rose from the grave is that, according to the gospel of Luke, He approached two travelers headed to Emmaus 3 days after His crucifixion. Jesus walked with them; He ate dinner with them; He even gave them a lesson in Old Testament prophecy (24:15-27). This encounter showed the travelers that Jesus conquered the grave__He had risen from the dead. As a result, the pair returned to Jerusalem and told the disciples, "The Lord is risen indeed!" (v.34).

If Jesus had not come back to life, our faith as Christians would be pointless, and we would still be under the penalty of our sin (1 Cor. 15:17). However, the Bible tells us that Jesus "was raised to life for our justification" (Rom. 4:25NIV). Today, we can be right with God because Jesus is alive! __Jennifer Benson Schuldt

I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today;
I know that He is living, whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He's always near. __Ackley
__________________________________
The empty cross and the empty tomb
provide a full salvation.

******Today's Bible Reading __ Luke 24:13-34*********

13 Now behold, two of
them were traveling that
same day to a village called
Emmaus, which was seven
miles from Jerusalem.
14 And they talked together
of all these things which had
happened. 15 So it was, while
they conversed and
reasoned, that Jesus Himself
drew near and went with
them. 16 But their eyes were
restrained, so that they did
not know Him....

27 And beginning at Moses
and all the Prophets, He
expounded to them in all the
Scriptures the things
concering Himself.

28 Then they drew near to
the village where they were
going, and He indicated that
He would have gone farther.
29 But they constrained Him,
saying, "Abide with us, for it
is toward evening, and the
day is far spent." And He
went in to stay with them.
30 Now it came to pass, as
he sat at the table with
them, that He took bread,
blessed and broke it, and
gave it to them. 31 Then their
eyes were opened and they
knew Him; and He vanished
from their sight. 32 And they
said to one another, "Did not
our heart burn within us
while He talked with us on
the road, and while He
opened the Scriptures to
us?"

33 So thy rose up that very
hour and returned to
Jerusalem, and found the
eleven and those who were
with them gathered together,

34 saying, "The Lord is risen
indeed, and has appeared to
Simon!"
>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<
At dawn on the first Easter, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdelene (John 20:11-18). Sometime later, He appeared to Peter, but Scripture does not specify when or give details (Luke 24:34). Late that
afternoon, Cleopas and another disciple met Jesus on the Emmaus Road (vv.13-34). That evening He appeared to the disciples (Luke 24:36; John 20:19-20).