A Word With You

Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

Daily A Word With You

  1. 23m ago

    Your Goal or Your People? - #10300

    Chimney Mountain! I wanted our family to conquer it together. So, my wife and I, and our then three little Hutchcrafts started hiking up the trail. And my wife was a lovely tour guide as we went up that mountain trail. She pointed out for example, “Oh, look at the chipmunks over there! Hey, there goes a squirrel! Oh, look at those roots, they’re huge! Notice how they tangled around the tree. Wait, wait, stop, listen; can you hear the wind whispering to us in the pines?” We were having a great time together. We were about half-way up the mountain and my wife said, “Oh, this has really been nice. Well, let’s go back.” I said, “What? Let’s go back? What is the purpose for getting on a mountain trail in the first place? The reason you climb a mountain is to get to the top of the mountain. We’ve got to conquer it! We have to achieve!” But my wife was saying, “Well, we’ve had a nice experience together. Isn’t that what was important?” Sounds kind of like a guy and a woman perspective, doesn’t it? Get to the top or get with each other? You have to decide what’s important on your mountain too. I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Your Goal or Your People?” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ecclesiastes 4. Solomon says this in verse 4, “And I saw that all labor and all achievements spring from man’s envy for his neighbor.” He called it kind of a great chase! “This, too," he said, "is meaningless...” That’s his verdict on a lifetime of work. Listen to this: "a chasing after the wind.” Then he says, “Better one handful with tranquility than two hands full with toil and chasing after the wind.” Now, this sounds like an indictment really of a lifestyle that’s considered normal by most of us. Work harder and harder to get more and more. The tendency is to live as if my worth is my work. I am what I do. Then one day people retire and they don’t know who they are because they don’t have their job any more. One day after I spoke at a church, a well-dressed woman came up to me, probably in her 30s, she started to cry and she shook her head and she said, “I can’t believe I fell for it.” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “All these years we‘ve watched the price that our husbands paid to chase success: stress, heart attacks, pressure, broken relationships.” And she said, “I decided I would go after that too.” And she said, “Do you know what I have to show for it? Pressure at work and failure at home.” Men have fallen for the lie that your worth is your work for a long time – getting up that mountain. And you know what? Now women are falling for it too. Now they’re getting the ulcers; they’re getting the heart attacks, and both are leaving a trail of neglected relationships as they push up the trail. There was a song some years ago that said, “Daddy, don’t you walk so fast. Won’t you slow down some, because you’re making me run? Daddy, don’t you walk so fast.” People around us may be crying, “Slow down! I need time with you!” But we’re ruled by our work. God says, “People are more important than work or achievement.” Only you can be Mom or Dad to your kids. You’re the only husband or wife, brother or sister that they have. Are you busy chugging up Mount Work, Mount Accomplishment, Mount Goal? Are you so busy that the people you love are only getting your leftovers? Being is more important than doing. Who you’re on the mountain with is more important than getting to the top.

  2. 1d ago

    Your Passport for Heaven - #10299

    I was traveling to South Africa, and I had this 18-hour flight layover in Rome, and I wanted to see as much of it as I could. A friend of mine picked me up at the airport and we began this whirlwind day by taking me to the Coliseum. As we left, we were surrounded by five or six gypsy children who started talking all at once. My friend actually told me to hang onto my stuff, which I desperately tried to do. I had my wallet in my front pants pocket as a precaution, my passport in my sport jacket, a camera bag, and an umbrella because it was raining. Those kids were good at what they did. They did everything to distract us as they tried to grab something of value. Well, my friend fended them off using his umbrella like a sword, and then we breathed a sigh of relief as we checked to see if we had everything. We had just rounded a corner when I saw this little gypsy girl - maybe five years old or so - running over the hill toward us. She was waving something blue in her hand. It was my passport. Unbeknownst to me, the kids had gotten my passport, and unbeknownst to them, this little girl had brought it back to me. It was a little miracle actually, and it was a good thing. I wasn’t about to get into South Africa without my passport! I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about “Your Passport for Heaven.” There’s no telling what would have happened without that little girl. There was no way I could go where I wanted to go unless I had my passport. It’s the only way of getting into any country in the world. It’s the same about getting into heaven when you die. You've got to have your passport! Jesus spelled that out in very explicit terms in our word for today from the Word of God in John 3:1-3. In light of what He says about who will be in heaven, it’s surprising how many think they will be and apparently are wrong. The Bible says, “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know You are a teacher who has come from God’ ... In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” That’s the required passport to get into heaven - being born again. Well, what is this? Whatever it is, you have no chance of heaven without it. It’s the experience that makes it possible for a sinner like you and me to be born into God’s family so we can be with Him forever. Now, at what point are you “born again”? Listen to God’s Word a couple of chapters earlier: speaking of Jesus it says, “To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). The only way to be born into God’s family - to be born again - is to open your heart to Jesus, to tell Him you’re done running your life, that you’re putting your total trust in Him and His death for your sins on the cross. The man Jesus said this to was deeply religious, very successful, and he was highly respected. But apparently none of that will get you into heaven. The most religious people still have sin that will keep them out of heaven until they’ve been to Jesus to get it forgiven. And if you don’t know you’ve done that, I'm guessing you haven’t. And you can’t possibly get into heaven when you die. The Bible says, “No one can enter unless he is born again.” But Jesus is coming to you right now and He’s got your eternal passport in His hand. Don’t you want to reach out and take it? You want to belong to Him? Listen, tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. Only what You did on the cross for me can pay for my sin and remove it from God's book forever. Jesus, you paid for my life. I give it to You today." And let me encourage you to check out our website. There’s where you’ll get biblical information on how to be sure you belong to Jesus. Here’s the address: ANewStory.com. Today could be like your birthday - your second birthday. This is the one that gets you into God’s family and gets you into heaven. This could be the day that you could be born again.

  3. 2d ago

    Not Just When There’s Trouble - #10298

    One of the most amazing scientific advances in my lifetime has been those great space shuttle flights. Especially back when they were first getting started. We got to hear space news on a pretty regular basis and watch those dramatic launches. We’d hear conversations from space. We still do, from the Space Station. It looks like we’re getting back into the moon business too! You know, you could hear the familiar sound of the conversation between the NASA Mission Control Center and those astronauts up there. The space day would begin with a wake up song from Houston. They’d play something that would say, “Good morning!” Then they would communicate back and forth all day long. Of course, they were in constant communication. See, when you’re living in an environment where so much could go wrong; it’s really important to do that. I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Not Just When There’s Trouble.” Our word for today from the Word of God – Isaiah 30. I’ll begin at verse 1: “’Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the Lord.” Who are those? “Those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge. But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame. Everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.” This is a description of God’s people off course; they’re off on their own. They’ve made some plans, they’ve made some alliances, they’ve asked for some help. But it’s only going to lead to shame and disgrace. Why are they off course? Well, he said they planned but “not by my Spirit.” They’ve gone ahead “without consulting me.” Imagine if our astronauts had only communicated with Mission Control at launch time, and then as soon as they were safely up, they went off and did what they pleased; no input all day from the data that they have at Mission Control? Well, that would be dumb if not disaster! And then the only other time they would contact Mission Control was when a crisis developed. I can just imagine Houston coming back and saying, “If you’d been in touch with us all along, there might not have been a crisis.” Or, “We could have helped you correct it when it was small.” I’ve done that so many times in my relationship with my Mission Control - I mean my Heavenly Father. Have you? We have a good time talking when we’re launching something. As the day begins, I spend my time with the Lord, and we talk through the issues of that day. And then, of course, I run to Him when trouble develops. But I neglect the points in between sometimes. I tend to neglect that regular communication throughout the non-crisis details of the day and that’s a big mistake. You know, just stop for a moment and say, “Lord, what do You want done here? Which way should I go on this? Who’s the right person? What’s the best way to answer this? What’s the best way to solve this?” Listen to those words; they’re haunting words. God says, “You’ve proceeded without consulting me. You’re carrying out plans that are not mine.” We don’t mean to. It just happens because we do not stay in close, all day communication when those little choices are being made that make the big choices. Many crises are the result of everyday decisions we make without consulting our Commander. We need to consciously practice what Jesus calls “abiding in Him.” Not just visiting. Abiding in Him! Like those astronauts, we need to stay in constant contact with Mission Control.

  4. 3d ago

    Dangerously Blind - #10297

    New York City is a bit of a shock to any first-time visitor. It’s especially jarring for someone who has spent her whole life on an Indian Reservation. Now, Linda was from the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and she was part of our ministry’s Native American Youth Outreach Team that we call “On Eagles' Wings.” She was able to see New York from a distance at first. There’s the Empire State Building, there’s the skyline, and she said she wanted to see it all up close. Ha! Well, that may have changed now that she has seen it up close. See, she went in with us when I spoke in the city one night and the traffic and the crowds; man, they were all over the place and they made her feel like maybe she was on a battlefield without a helmet. She also found certain aspects of the city exciting and she might go back. But as our team was driving along the Hudson River, we were headed for the George Washington Bridge and Linda must have been reflecting on her life on the reservation for a minute because she just looked up into the Big Apple sky and said two words, “No stars.” I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Dangerously Blind.” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 4:4. It’s a very revealing statement from God’s perspective. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” Basically, what’s this saying? There is heavenly light that God wants you to see. It’s the Good News of the glory of His Son, Jesus Christ. And what’s the Good News? Jesus loves you very much. He proved it by paying the sin penalty that you deserved when He died on the cross. He demonstrated His unbeatable power when He blew the doors off His grave and rose from the dead, and so Jesus is all the love, and all the meaning, and all the peace you’ve been looking for all these years. But there’s a problem with God’s light. It’s the same problem our Navajo friend had seeing those stars in New York City. The earth lights blinded her to the heavenly light. When that happens to people spiritually, they can literally miss Jesus and miss God’s love, and miss heaven forever. This says that the god of this world, who is the devil, has blinded our minds. We’re surrounded by a lot of earth lights that blind us to the much brighter light of God. We’re blinded by the lights of making money, or having fun, or important relationships, or busy schedules, even our religion. And we just keep ignoring Jesus, or postponing Jesus, or forgetting Jesus. We’re blinded. The devil, whose goal it is to destroy you, will use anything or anyone he can to keep you from seeing and following Jesus. His intention is very simple - to block your view of the real light until you’ve passed the point of no return. But today, maybe right now, the light is breaking through. This could be your God day. You could tell Him right where you are, “Lord, I have run my life long enough. You are supposed to run my life. You gave it to me, and I’m tired of this sin wall that’s been between us. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ, died to take that wall away to pay for my sin. And beginning this moment, Jesus, I’m Yours.” I hope you'll take that step so you can be sure you belong to Him and secure your eternity once and for all. That's what our website's there for. It's ANewStory.com. And it would be a great place to anchor to as you cross over, as the Bible says, "from death to life" today. I hope you'll go there. For this moment, God has taken you away from the blinding light of all that earth stuff and all those earth people so you could get one clear look at the light of Jesus Christ. Now in the words of the Bible, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.”

  5. 4d ago

    Spiritually Hungry, Spiritually Starving - #10296

    I’ll never forget those early morning seminars in Haiti. We were in Port-au-Prince, the capital city, and we were doing a youth crusade there. Every morning at 6:00 a.m. they offered four seminars in the National Gymnasium to any teenagers who wanted to come. Did I mention 6:00 a.m.? First of all, I was amazed at how many teenagers showed up. They met in the balcony of the gym in one of the corners with their leader. So, four corners – four leaders, four teachers. They had to sit on solid concrete steps that formed the benches for seating up there. They asked me to do a two-hour seminar. (Tell a speaker to please do a two-hour seminar, he’s got no problem; it’s the five minutes that’s hard…like this program.) So, for two hours I taught teenagers the Bible. They took notes; they asked questions. Would you believe I was the first one to be done? The other three seminars were still going on. What do you think those teenagers did? They ran, each of them, to another corner hoping they might be able to catch a little bit of another seminar before it ended. I had just met believers who couldn’t get enough! Just like us, right? Not necessarily. I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Spiritually Hungry, Spiritually Starving.” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 5:6. Jesus talks about appetite. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Jesus seems to be saying, “Satisfied people are those who have a hearty spiritual appetite. You want the restlessness in your heart to be cured? Then have a great spiritual appetite; be hungry for spiritual things.” That’s a sign of health, right – appetite? Our appetite is often in stark contrast with the rest of God’s kids around the world who can’t wait to get more. My pastor went to India. He was told, “Be sure you speak for at least an hour.” He said, “No problem.” But we live in a microwave society. Everything has to be quick and instant. “Boy, you had better be done speaking by noon, Buddy, because I think God goes off duty then. Twenty-minute message, please. Thirty-minute message please. That’s all we can handle.” We try to see what the minimum number of Christian meetings is we can get to a week. "Could we get this down to just Sunday morning, and could we get it down to maybe 60 minutes at most?” Maybe we could have one-minute devotions. I could just pull a quick little devotional off the shelf and I want it not to be more than one page, and I want it to be pre-packaged, and I’d like to get through it fast. Instead of taking leadership in Christian service, could I just write a check? You see what we’ve done? We’ve created a streamlined spirituality; a minimal commitment of time; a minimal commitment of me. “Let’s go through the motions. I’ll meet my obligations. I’ll do my duty and then I’ll get on with the stuff that really matters.” Can you imagine a couple in love saying, “Hey, can we keep our time together short.” No! When you’re in love you can’t get enough of the other person. I wonder, “Have we left our first love for Jesus?” Well, check your appetite. If you’re trying to fit church, and Bible, and prayer, and service into the tightest possible time slots, maybe it’s time to go for a check-up for a cold, cold heart. David said in Psalm 42, “Where can I go and meet with God? My heart pants for the Lord.” Is it time to say, “Lord, give me an insatiable appetite for You”? Maybe you’ll want to un-streamline the God time in your life and grow beyond the point of “How short can we make this?” And grow to the point where you can say, “Lord, I can’t get enough of You.”

  6. Jun 26

    Lost But Looking Found - #10295

    Occasionally I see this bumper sticker that says, “I brake for antique shops.” I’m not a bumper sticker guy, but I think we would have qualified for that over the years, depending on who was driving—my wife or me. If it was my wife, we were a lot more likely to break for an antique shop. But my wife was not so much into collecting old stuff, it was more about finding items that she had as a girl growing up on a farm that had very few modern conveniences. And she had an eye for what was real and what was just a reproduction: Depression Glass, pottery, butter churns, even old violins. Take the famous Stradivarius violin. We didn’t have one, there are relatively few originals. There are a lot of copies. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Lost But Looking Found.” Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s a copy in antiques and in people; especially people who claim that they belong to Jesus Christ. Jesus described both the real ones and the copies in the story He told in Matthew 13, beginning in verse 24. It’s our word for today from the Word of God. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.” Jesus said the man’s servants wanted to go out and pull up the weeds, but he stopped them. “’No,’ He answered, ‘because while you are pulling out the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” When Jesus explained His parable later, He made clear that the wheat represents those who really do belong to Him, and the weeds; they represent those who look like they belong to Him, but they don’t. That’s a pretty sobering thought—sitting next to one another in church may be two people who are singing the same songs, believing the same beliefs, saying the same words, but one is headed for heaven and the other is headed for hell. And no one on earth can tell the difference. But on Judgment Day it will be very clear who was real and who was the look-alike. That’s why God says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.” For some of us church folks, the business of being a Christian is really more of a religion, or a performance, or maybe a belief, or a script where we’ve got all the right words. You can have all that and you can miss what this is all really about; a deep love personal relationship with Jesus Christ based on His dying for your sins. It is a relationship you can only begin one way. You begin it the day you tell Him you are putting your total trust in Him, consciously giving all of you to Him. With all your Christianity, it’s possible you've missed Christ, even though everyone around you thinks you know Him. That's everyone except Jesus. It’s very hard to admit that you’ve never really given yourself to Him, but it’s fatal not to. So would you let this be the day that you finally, consciously and clearly make Jesus Christ your personal Savior from your personal sin. Tell Him, "Jesus, I want to know you for real. I'm pinning all my hopes on You like a drowning person would grab a rescuer." Then go to our website and check that out. Because there you will find the information you need to secure your relationship with Christ and know for sure you've got this settled. Our website is ANewStory.com. There’s all the difference in the world between someone who really belongs to Jesus and someone who just looks like they do. It’s actually the difference between heaven and hell.

  7. Jun 25

    Parents Afraid - #10294

    My wife and I were staying in this apartment at the Jersey shore for a weekend. We were going to save some money by cooking for ourselves. But, there was one small problem with the kitchen. We discovered it the first morning. We had this English muffin in the toaster. Suddenly I hear this high-pitched alarm in the kitchen. I went running out there. The smoke detector had gone off. Problem: There was no smoke, just a little English muffin cooking. It was just a little heat coming from across the room from the toaster. Oh, we got to hear that smoke alarm again several times while we were there. It was a very sensitive alarm. And the problem is because it would go off so often, guess what? Pretty soon you don’t take it seriously any more. I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Parents Afraid.” Our word for today from the Word of God is a great verse for anyone, but especially for parents in times like these. 2 Timothy 1:7 - “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind.” You’re not supposed to have a spirit of fear. See, fear-based decisions usually don’t take us down the right road. Fear-based parenting usually backfires. If you’re a parent today, there are a lot of things you could be afraid of for your children. They could be physically hurt, they could be spiritually hurt, or they can be infected by the moral pollution that’s everywhere. They could lose their faith, they could rebel, or they could mess up sexually. Our kids can choose the wrong friends; they can make a romantic mistake. They can believe a sophisticated lie. Raising children in this kind of world, you could find yourself letting fear take over; especially if you see a warning sign in your son or daughter. But God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear. He wants you to parent with a spirit of power and love and a sound mind. He wants you to parent positively, not with criticism and nagging and worrying and put downs or being overly possessive or protective. Those approaches usually help produce the very rebellion we were afraid of. When we parent out of fear, our alarm keeps going off all the time. Every incident, every negative comment from our child becomes a battleground. Maybe you see signs that you’re becoming like that smoke detector; you’re going off on everything. If you do, eventually you won’t be taken seriously anymore, probably at just the point in your child’s life when you really need to be taken seriously. You just can’t afford to have your son or daughter saying, “The alarm, again?” Parents whose fear or negativism or perfectionism makes them sound off all the time tend to create rebels, because we create an immunity to a parental voice. And a child who is immune to mom or dad’s voice is like an unguided missile. If you sense that your alarm’s been going off too often, it’s time to turn that around. It begins with an apology - asking your child to forgive you because of the nagging and the negative. Be honest with them about some of your fears for them. Tell them how much you believe in their potential and in their gifts and that you hate anything that might keep them from becoming all they were created to be. Be willing to be vulnerable with them. Be willing to need forgiving. You might be amazed how many walls that can bring down. Then choose your battlegrounds. Learn to analyze a conflict or a concern, and put them in one of two categories: major battle or minor battle. And then save your ammunition for the battles that really matter. Bite your tongue on the others. Before you talk to your child, talk to God about your child. Bring your fear and your anger and your frustration to God so you don’t always have to dump it on your son or daughter. Give God time to work it out, and then jump in only as He prompts you to. Because of Christ in your life, you can parent with confidence, with authority and restraint. And then when your parent alarm goes off, your kids will respond. Just wait until there’s real smoke from a real fire.

  8. Jun 24

    A Leader’s Real Assignment - #10293

    Before D. L. Moody became the greatest evangelist of the 19th Century, he ran a storefront Sunday School to reach some of the street kids of Chicago. The story is told of one tough little guy who was seen on Sunday after Sunday. He lived a long way from his destination. Well, on one brutally cold and snowy Chicago day, one man saw the boy walking into the wind, making his usual Sunday morning journey to Moody’s Sunday School. He asked the boy why he would make that effort every Sunday, even on a day when no one else was out, especially when he passed by a lot of churches that were a lot closer to his home. The boy’s explanation was pretty clear and pretty simple, “I go there Mister, because they really make a fellow feel loved there.” I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “A Leader’s Real Assignment.” The first portrait of Jesus I can ever remember seeing as a child was one that portrays Him as the Good Shepherd, with His sheep following Him closely and this one little lamb cuddled in His arms. Interestingly enough, now that I’m in Christian leadership, I realize that picture is also what I’m supposed to be about. And you, too, if God has entrusted you with any kind of influence or direction in people’s lives. Your template is supposed to be that of a shepherd of whom people say, “He or she sure makes a person feel loved.” Listen to 1 Peter 5, beginning with verse 2. It’s our word for today from the Word of God, and it’s a picture of leadership worth planting deeply in your heart. Writing to those in leadership God says, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers...” OK, quick timeout here! Notice whose sheep your people are—your children are. They’re God’s; they’re not yours. Don’t ever start acting like they’re yours. And notice, too, that they are given to you to be under your care, not under your thumb. Peter goes on: “Not because you must, but because you are willing…not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” OK, what’s the Biblical picture of being a leader? Right, shepherding. Leading the sheep, not lording it over them. Loving the sheep, not using them for your own ends. Modeling more than demanding. So if you’re a shepherd, what should you be doing? Well, a shepherd always leads the sheep to what they need. If you’ve been entrusted with people to lead, it’s your job to gently direct them to what they need emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, and to know when they need encouraging, and when they need correcting, and when they just need loving. Christian leadership is all about you meeting their needs, not them meeting yours. Shepherding also means keeping your sheep from wandering—establishing clear boundaries and pulling them back at the first sign of wandering. Being a shepherd also means protecting your sheep from the enemy. A few verses later in this passage, Peter talks about resisting the roaring lion who’s looking for someone to devour. It is the Christian leader’s job to keep his eyes open for where Satan might get in and then to defend his flock from the stalking of the lion. And Jesus taught us one other thing the “good shepherd” does. He said, “He calls His own sheep by name” (John 10:3). I love that! In other words, if you’re a good shepherd, you will give each of His sheep individual attention, the kind that street kid in Chicago must have felt at D. L. Moody’s Sunday School. Make each one feel like the most important person in the world when they’re with you. There’s nobody else for you right now, than them. Don’t treat them just like another nameless face in the flock. Jesus was a shepherd, and now He’s called you to be one, trusting you with some of the sheep that He died for. Your children, your grandchildren, your church, your Bible study. All those people under your leadership. Is leadership worth the price you pay? Is it worth the sacrifices you make? Listen to the bottom line in 1 Peter 5:4 - “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory, that will never fade away.”

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