A Word With You | Ron Hutchcraft

The Last Day's Weather Forecast - #6540
Friday, February 3, 2012

I usually wake up in the morning to a local news station, which is a real
encouraging way to wake up. You know, you can get your day off to a really
cheerful
start. You can hear about a war or two, a little terrorism, some of last
night's fatalities. Oh yeah, that will get you started! Actually it's not
the
news I'm actually so interested in, it's the weather I want to hear. And
when you hear the weather, then you can plan your day's wardrobe and your
activities,
you know, a little better.

In fact, if I'm in charge of an important meeting or an event that's coming
up in a few days, I want the five-day weather forecast. Now, okay, it's
always
right, but it does help me anticipate some of the problems and some of my
responses and how we ought to plan. Recently I read a long, long, long-range
forecast; one that should help you and help me as we make our plans.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Last
Day's Weather Forecast."

Our word for today from the Word of God; it comes from Matthew 24. The
disciples are asking in verse 3, "What will be the sign of your coming,
Jesus, and
of the end of the age?" Well, people have been curious about this for 2,000
years, "What's it going to look like before the Lord comes and He writes
that
last chapter of human history?" Well, Jesus, in part of His answer says,
"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not
alarmed.
Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise
against nation..." Sounds a little familiar doesn't it? "...kingdom against
kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the
beginning of birth pains."

Well, our world really seems to be fitting this description: religious
turbulence, merging with international turbulence, merging with turbulence
in nature,
all coming together at one time. When that happens, Jesus said, "I'm
coming." What will the weather be in the church during those countdown days?
Listen
to this from verse 12, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of
most will grow cold. But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And
this
gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to
all nations, and then the end will come."

Now, you'd think that in these terminal days with everything turbulent that
Christians would become more and more excited and more and more aggressive
in
their witness for Christ. But there are two groups, basically, in the last
day's weather forecast...the cold and the hot. And it says, "The love of
most
will grow cold." You know, cooling is gradual, you don't even notice it.

And it might be that you've been drifting toward coldness and you haven't
even realized it. Because the way the world has become so corrupt, you still
look
good, but really you've cooled off tremendously in your walk with the Lord.
You gradually start to spend less time with Him. You watch what you wouldn't
have watched before, and you listen to what you wouldn't have listened to.
You go where you wouldn't have considered going only a short time ago. Sin
slowly
becomes more attractive; the things of God less attractive. You're not
exploded; you're just eroded - a deserter.

Join the Conversation

But it's a time for heroes too, because Jesus said, "There will be those who
will become hotter, who take their stand, who spread the gospel of the
kingdom
to the ends of the world." So, you're either going to become colder or
bolder; no third group. Pick your group. You're becoming one or the other
right
now. Most, Jesus said, become colder. You know why? Because colder doesn't
require any choice; you just drift to coolness. Bolder? Now, that demands a
choice, "I will take a stand. I will not compromise. I will be unembarrassed
about my association with Jesus Christ." If you haven't chosen bolder,
you're
probably getting colder.

You know, I'm thinking there's not a lot of time left on God's clock. This
is a time for passion, for action! The cold winds of earth's last days may
be
blowing right now. It's time to write your own personal forecast, "Very hot
for Jesus until He comes!"


To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
please visit:
Yours for Life
or call 1-888-966-7325.

"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with
slice-of-life illustrations and insights-providing practical help on the
issues that
matter most. If your local Christian radio station does not air this
program, please let them know how much it is of value to you. "A Word With You" is a radio outreach and production of
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

Please prayerfully consider
financially supporting Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
Your tax-deductible donation will help support ministry efforts such as "
A Word With You" daily devotionals and radio programs.

Contact Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

Creative Commons License
© Ronald P. Hutchcraft Distributed by Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
"A Word With You" by Ronald P. Hutchcraft is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at
www.Hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You.
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. · PO Box 400 · Harrison, Arkansas 72601

The King's Speech - #6366
Monday, June 6, 2011
Now, I don't really go see many movies. Look, my popcorn is much cheaper
than theirs, and actually, I don't like the sticky "cinemuck" on the floor.
Now,
I haven't seen this one either, but the story's fascinating. It's called The
King's Speech, and it walked off with all kinds of Academy Awards.
King George VI was handicapped with a stutter, and he had to go on radio to
give the speech of his life. Great Britain is about to go to war, and their
king must rally them. Ultimately he is able to say what he needs to say to
the people who must hear it because of the man who gives him the coaching
and
the help he needs.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The
King's Speech."
Now, I'm personally familiar with that story line. Well, actually, every
follower of Jesus should be. Because we've all been positioned by Him to
deliver
a message from the King of all kings, with all the help we'll need. It's a
message people must hear, because their eternity depends on it.
But we hold back because we're afraid we'll fail, we'll mess it up, or
people won't like us. What we're missing is that we're not in this alone.
There is
Someone who has promised to give us everything we will need if we open our
mouths.
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in 2 Corinthians 5:19. It
says, "God was in Christ, restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting
men's sins against them but blotting them out." This is the wonderful
message He has given us to tell others. "We are Christ's ambassadors. .."
Now, if
you belong to Jesus, the King Himself has given you a life-changing trust; a
message to deliver.
Since the eternal destinies of the people around us depend on hearing the
King's message, our silence can be for them a silent death sentence. God
told
me, so I would tell them, and I don't. So they may live and die without ever
hearing what Jesus did on the cross for them because I failed them, and I
failed Him.
As bold as I am speaking on a platform, I know, as most believers do, the
fear that keeps us from telling people close to us about our Jesus. I still
experience
that. But in those moments of fear and holding back this life-saving
message, we can experience the wonder of what God promised to a reluctant,
inadequate
Moses. He said, "I will be with you...Now, go; I will help you speak. I will
teach you what to say" (Exodus 3:11, 4:12).
You know, so often I have failed to deliver the message of Jesus because I
was afraid of what might happen to me if I told them. But isn't the greater
fear
what will happen to them if I don't tell them?
The lepers in the book of 2 Kings, who had found all this food at an enemy
camp at a time when all the people in the city were dying of starvation,
after
stuffing themselves made this realization. They said, "This is a day of good
news and we are keeping it to ourselves... We're not doing right" (2 Kings
7:9). Could that be us?
Join the Conversation
Hey, the King will go with me. The King will give me the words to say. He's
the hand; I'm just the glove.

To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
please visit:
Yours for Life
or call 1-888-966-7325.
"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with
slice-of-life illustrations and insights-providing practical help on the
issues that
matter most. If your local Christian radio station does not air this
program, please let them know how much it is of value to you. "A Word With
You" is a radio outreach and production of
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
© Ronald P. Hutchcraft . Distributed by Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
"A Word With You" by Ronald P. Hutchcraft is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 3.0 United
States License.
Based on a work at
www.Hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You.
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. · PO Box 400 · Harrison, Arkansas 72601

A Word With You | Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc."
"Don't Forget to Check Your Box"
 "Relationship, Not Religion" (Part 1) By Ron Hutchcraft
Sometimes our mission to rescue spiritually lost people is filled with
obstacles, so we've got to know how to remove them so the people we love and
care about can have a chance at Jesus. In this video, Ron Hutchcraft explains
what some of those obstacles are and how we as spiritual rescuers can overcome
them.
Don't Forget to Check Your Box - #6273
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
We have one of our staff who has a pretty regular assignment. That is, show up
at the post office every morning. Yeah. Yeah, the one who goes there is a pretty
familiar figure. They know about what time to expect our person to come in, and
they know it's important. See, the orders are, "Don't stop at the office. Do not
pass go. Do not collect $200. Go straight to our post office box." See, that
daily trip to the post office is really our lifeline. She checks the box and
there we find the contributions that really keep us going, very important
communications, maybe answers we're looking for. And I'll tell you what, if
she's sick, we'll send somebody else over there the first thing in the morning.
We are dependent on that daily pickup.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Forget
to Check Your Box."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is actually written by a prophet
who's in the pits. Now, you didn't know prophets got in the pits. Well, you
thought they were on top of everything all the time? No. No, the neat thing is
that the heroes of the Bible have their down days. And I'm so glad, because so
do I; so do you.
Lamentations. ..now how do you like that for the name of a book written by a
prophet? Right away you know the fellow's not feeling too good. Lamentations 3,
and listen to the mood he's in as I begin verse 19. "I remember my affliction
and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul
is downcast within me." I think in Hebrew that means, "In the pits." Right?
"This I call to mind and therefore I have hope."
What do you call to mind, Jeremiah? Well, here's what he says. "Because of the
Lord's great love, we are not consumed, For His compassions never fail." Now,
get this. "They are new every morning." And then you remember that hymn that
comes from these words Great Is Your Faithfulness? Do you know what the margin
of survival is when you're overwhelmed, when the pressure's coming at you, when
your feelings are at low ebb? He says, "It is the Lord's compassions, " and
notice, "new every morning."
Now, it may be that you're limping along right now because you have started too
many days without checking your box. I mean to fill up with today's special
strength, with today's special love, with today's special words from His book
for this day and all of its needs.
Richard Foster, the author of Celebration of Discipline, writes that when he
prays, he likes to pray palms up/palms down. He puts his palms down first of all
to empty out all of yesterday, and then he prays with his palms up to get all
that God has to give him that he's going to need for that day. That's a pretty
good idea, dropping yesterday's accumulation; receiving today's strength. And
the key words are "every morning."
We live life, not as years, not months, not weeks. We live days. That's why a
once a week fill up won't do it, or some occasional spiritual highs. We're wired
for an every morning relationship. The alternative is a growing mountain of
stress, and frustration, and paralysis, frayed nerves, frayed relationships.
See, it's possible to go through a daily Bible reading and prayer ritual without
picking up the Lord's love for that day. I'm talking here about having a
transaction with Him each new morning.
Like our staff person going to the post office, your first responsibility of the
day is to stop and see what's come from God for you for that day. There will
always be what you need if you stop to pick it up before you rush into your day.
Your Father has something special to give you for this day. So, don't forget to
check your box.