by Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
Email Addresses
0 available
Phone Numbers
0 available
June 28, 2024
<img src='https://hutchcraft.com/images/AWWY_Images/2024-06/2024-06-28-The-Small-World-of-Self-Focus.png'> <p>At Disneyland or Disney World there's this little boat ride that goes through this long canal where you're surrounded by animated dolls from all over the world. French children, Eskimo children, Arab children, Indian children. You get the idea. And they are all singing to you It's a Small World After All. Don't you want to sing it with me? Probably not. You say, "monotonous lyrics." You hear it about 50 times! It's really cute when they first start singing. And the songs okay for a little while. But by the time you hear it over and over, you're sick and tired of a small, small world. <p>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Small World of Self-Focus."</p> <p>You may have never been on the Small World ride, but you still might be sick of a small, small world. You might be living in one and not even realize it. We do realize it's a world of frustration, negative thinking, sameness, and monotony. That's the small world. It's called the world of "me." It's a world of self-focus.</p> <p>God addresses this inwardly focused kind of living in our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 5:15. In a selfie world, it's a great scripture to read. "Christ's love compels us. He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves." That's supposed to be the radical effect of Christ coming into your life. Radical because it reverses the way we've been thinking since we were babies. At that time, we expected the whole world to revolve around our needs. "Time for me to eat, burp, wake up." No thought for how it's affecting everybody around you. We were just totally focused on ourselves.</p> <p>We're older now, but the baby still wants attention to be on me; wanting my needs to be taken care of, wanting my agenda to be carried out, wanting my issues to be dealt with, wanting my way. In fact, most researchers agree that a lot of us in several generations are really into ourselves.</p> <p>There are two factors that can make you a pretty self-focused person. One is busyness. The other one is pain. Now look at Jesus' example. No one had more to do in a lifetime than He did. You talk about being busy! But He was constantly stopping for others, constantly forgetting himself to meet the needs of others.</p> <p>No one has ever carried more pain than Jesus did. All the grief of all the sins of all the world, of you and of me, yet even during the agony of His crucifixion Jesus is caring about the needs of His Mother, of his friend, John. He's caring for the eternity of the thief next to Him. He's even caring about the people who crucified Him.</p> <p>When you invite Jesus into your life, it's this Jesus you get. And He wants you to be like Him. Not self-focused. A world that's only as big as you are is a world that's too small to live in. Jesus invites you to break out, to start finding the needs around you and doing something about them, to focus on others instead of yourself, to find your life, as He said, by giving it away. Not to lose your life by hanging onto it.</p> <p>This selfless Jesus, who poured out His life for you, the Bible says that when you make Him the center of your life, you open the door for Him to come in and change you and become a new creation in Christ. And that old selfish "me" starts to die. You start to become part of the answer. You start to become someone who is making other people feel important instead of being about how important you are. It begins at His cross - a transformation you could never effect in yourself.</p> <p>I invite you to consider beginning that relationship with Jesus today if you never have. He loved you enough to die for you. He's powerful enough to change you. Isn't it time you began that relationship with Him that can change everything? Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website to be sure you belong to Him - <a href="https://anewstory.com">ANewStory.com</a>.</p> <p>Jesus died so we no longer live for ourselves. Have you been in a small, small world long enough? Then follow Jesus into the big life you were made for.</p> <p></p>
June 27, 2024
<img src='https://hutchcraft.com/images/AWWY_Images/2024-06/2024-06-27-The-Deadly-Cost-of-Compromise.png'> <p>Now don't accuse frogs of being dumb. Not that you ever would. I mean, I've been told that if you take a frog and you put him in a pot of boiling water (which, why would you do that?) he'll be smart enough to jump out. He knows he's going to die there. <p>On the other hand, if you put that frog in some lukewarm water, he's going to start swimming around in there. He's going to go, "Oh, it's cool in the pool!" And if you turn it up ever so gradually, the water is going to start to bubble, and steam, and he'll just keep swimming, and diving, and looking up at you with those big old eyes. Until finally the water is boiling and he'll never know what hit him. He'll slowly become comfortable in something that will ultimately kill him. Maybe just like us.</p> <p>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Deadly Cost of Compromise."</p> <p>It's amazing what erosion can do. It can create whole geological masterpieces, and it can destroy a life a little bit at a time. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 13, and I'm reading verses 12 and 13. It's about Abram, his nephew Lot, and they're choosing where they're going to live in Canaan. And, of course, at that time the city that more than any other symbolized man's rebellion against God was the city of Sodom.</p> <p>Here's what it says, "Abram lived in the land of Canaan while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord." It's interesting how Lot's disintegration began. It only began by pitching his tent in the direction of Sodom. If you would have said to him, "You know, one day you're going to live there, Lot. One day you're going to be a part of those people." He would have said, "No! All I'm doing is camping in the neighborhood."</p> <p>But you see, while Lot started to be in Sodom, pretty soon Sodom was in Lot. And by the time God brought fire and brimstone, Lot had so lost all of his credibility no one in that city would listen to him, even some of his own family members. He tried to get them to follow God and follow Him out of that city and, literally, Genesis says, "they laughed at him." Why would they believe this man who had become so much like the environment around him?</p> <p>See, the Devil destroys Christians. But not in the way you might think! Not by explosion, but by erosion. James 1:15 tells us a lot about how a spiritual disaster takes place. It says, "Desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." Notice, it starts just as a desire. You've got to fight sin when it's on the beach, not when it's in your backyard. And the desire is the place to stop it because it will inevitably always kill. Sin always fascinates, but then it assassinates. It kills your reputation, your self-respect, your self-worth, your closeness to God. There are awful consequences. You say, "Well, look, I'm only pitching my tent in the direction of Sodom. I'm only with friends who do wrong. I don't do what they do. I'm a little friendly with someone outside of my marriage; but we're just friends, it's not serious." But those flirtations are eroding you. Maybe you're walking along the sexual cliff saying, "Well, I don't plan to go all the way." Oh yeah, but you're being eroded. There are more lies in your life maybe than there used to be; recurring thoughts of sinful activity. Do you see what's happening? Slowly but surely your resistance is going down and you're going down.</p> <p>Listen! Run! Don't walk from Sodom; run from it. Run the other direction today. Don't wait for the fire and brimstone. Don't wait until the water's boiling. Don't be eroded. There is nothing ahead in Sodom but death.</p>
June 26, 2024
<img src='https://hutchcraft.com/images/AWWY_Images/2024-06/2024-06-26-Stopping-for-the-Wounded.png'> <p>Voicemail I guess is better than nothing. It doesn't respond, it records. One friend captured how I feel in what he recorded tongue-in-cheek. You call, then you know, you get the little click and you hear the friend's voice saying, "In a world of cold and uncaring humans, isn't it refreshing to be greeted by a warm and friendly voicemail?" No! You just can't automate a personal response! <p>I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stopping for the Wounded"</p> <p>Actually, when it comes to the needs around you, you're probably one or the other: you're an answering person or an unresponsive person, like an answering machine. Jesus was trying to point that out in Luke 10:30-34. It's our word for today from the Word of God. You know the story. He says, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, they beat him, they went away, leaving him half dead."</p> <p>"A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So, too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him 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, pouring on oil and wine..."</p> <p>It's a great story, huh? Yeah, but it's a troubling story. It's the professional God-lovers - the priest and the Levite - who don't stop for this obvious human need. And it's a Samaritan, one who's considered a spiritual reject by the Jews, who responds as Jesus would with above and beyond love.</p> <p>Like me, I mean, you may be pretty busy in Christian activities and programs, and that can become a trap. I believe the priest and the Levite knew about meeting needs. I believe they knew about helping wounded people. But they may have confined their response to programs for helping people, to meetings to plan programs, to theological concepts about love and mercy and compassion. Tragically, the longer you've been around Christian things, the more you can replace personal acts of love with programs and structures to do it.</p> <p>You know, it goes like this: "We have a program that ministers to the poor, the homeless, the brokenhearted, and the hurting. We have meetings that present Christ to the lost. We're having a seminar on reaching people for the Lord." Answering machines - machines to answer the calls of men and women in need. Now I'm very much in favor of organized, large-scale efforts to respond to the needs of desperate people around us. But they're just no substitute for you being the Good Samaritan yourself, for the natural flow of love and mercy that stops for someone who needs money, or a listening ear, a word of encouragement, a chance to hear about Christ's love or to see it in action.</p> <p>Like the Good Samaritan, I hope you don't lose that beautiful characteristic of your Master. A breakable heart. You got one? Sometime this week, you'll almost surely encounter someone who is wounded or someone who is without Christ. Will you excuse yourself because you're busy in a lot of Christian activity - your answering machines? Or will you stop and be the answer with your loving, personal, above-and-beyond response? That's what Jesus commands.</p> <p>When the people around you call, they don't need an answering machine, they need an answering person!</p>
Focus on the Family
Chip Ingram
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Dr. Charles Stanley
Moody Radio
Focus on the Family
Passion City Church
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Dr. Lee Warren
Dr. Tony Evans
Joni and Friends
Alisa Childers
Paul Hastings
The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast
Pod Engine is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected with any of the podcasts displayed on this platform. We operate independently as a podcast discovery and analytics service.
All podcast artwork, thumbnails, and content displayed on this page are the property of their respective owners and are protected by applicable copyright laws. This includes, but is not limited to, podcast cover art, episode artwork, show descriptions, episode titles, transcripts, audio snippets, and any other content originating from the podcast creators or their licensors.
We display this content under fair use principles and/or implied license for the purpose of podcast discovery, information, and commentary. We make no claim of ownership over any podcast content, artwork, or related materials shown on this platform. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
While we strive to ensure all content usage is properly authorized, if you are a rights holder and believe your content is being used inappropriately or without proper authorization, please contact us immediately at [email protected] for prompt review and appropriate action, which may include content removal or proper attribution.
By accessing and using this platform, you acknowledge and agree to respect all applicable copyright laws and intellectual property rights of content owners. Any unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or commercial use of the content displayed on this platform is strictly prohibited.