Max Lucado Daily: He Follows
He Follows
Posted: 05 Aug 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“God, we thank you; we thank you because you are near.” Psalm 75:1
God is the God who follows. I wonder . . . have you sensed him following you? We often miss him . . . We don’t know our Helper when he is near. But he comes.
Through the kindness of a stranger. The majesty of a sunset . . . Through a word well spoken or a touch well timed, have you sensed his presence?
Hebrews 13
Jesus Doesn't Change
1-4Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it's needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.
5-6Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help;
I'm fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?
7-8Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn't change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself.
9Don't be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life. Products named after Christ don't seem to do much for those who buy them.
10-12The altar from which God gives us the gift of himself is not for exploitation by insiders who grab and loot. In the old system, the animals are killed and the bodies disposed of outside the camp. The blood is then brought inside to the altar as a sacrifice for sin. It's the same with Jesus. He was crucified outside the city gates—that is where he poured out the sacrificial blood that was brought to God's altar to cleanse his people.
13-15So let's go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This "insider world" is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name.
16Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
17Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?
18-21Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we're doing or why, but it's hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon.
May God, who puts all things together,
makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together, provide you
with everything you need to please him,
Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
22-23Friends, please take what I've written most seriously. I've kept this as brief as possible; I haven't piled on a lot of extras. You'll be glad to know that Timothy has been let out of prison. If he leaves soon, I'll come with him and get to see you myself.
24Say hello to your pastoral leaders and all the congregations. Everyone here in Italy wants to be remembered to you.
25Grace be with you, every one.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 4:7-14
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Suffering for Being a Christian
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
The Best Room
August 6, 2010 — by David C. McCasland
Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. —1 Peter 4:9
During a January research trip to Germany, I was dismayed to learn that we would be staying at a monastery. I pictured an austere place with no heat, cold stone floors, and hard beds. Instead, I found a warm, welcoming, comfortable room. My colleague said, “The monks believe in treating their guests as they would treat Christ.” Though they don’t live in such comfort themselves, they are content.
Robert Herrick, a 17th-century English poet, wrote:
Christ, He requires still, wheresoe’er He comes,
To feed, or lodge, to have the best of rooms:
Give Him the choice; grant Him the nobler part
Of all the house: the best of all’s the heart.
It may seem easier to welcome Christ into our heart than to open our life to others. Whether it’s a room in our home or time in our schedule, too often we treat people as intruders rather than guests.
The apostle Peter wrote: “Above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:8-9).
We honor Christ by giving Him the best room, our hearts, and by offering willing hospitality to others.
I am Yours, Lord, yet teach me all it means,
All it involves of love and loyalty,
Holy service, full and glad surrender,
And unreserved obedience unto Thee! —Bennett
To know love, open your heart to Jesus. To show love, open your heart to others.
Share The Best Room with your friends:
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 6th , 2010
The Cross in Prayer
In that day you will ask in My name . . . —John 16:26
We too often think of the Cross of Christ as something we have to get through, yet we get through for the purpose of getting into it. The Cross represents only one thing for us— complete, entire, absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ— and there is nothing in which this identification is more real to us than in prayer.
“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” ( Matthew 6:8 ). Then why should we ask? The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him. If we pray only because we want answers, we will become irritated and angry with God. We receive an answer every time we pray, but it does not always come in the way we expect, and our spiritual irritation shows our refusal to identify ourselves truly with our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove that God answers prayer, but to be living trophies of God’s grace.
“. . . I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you . . .” ( John 16:26-27 ). Have you reached such a level of intimacy with God that the only thing that can account for your prayer life is that it has become one with the prayer life of Jesus Christ? Has our Lord exchanged your life with His vital life? If so, then “in that day” you will be so closely identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.
When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to place the blame on someone else. That is always a trap of Satan. When you seem to have no answer, there is always a reason— God uses these times to give you deep personal instruction, and it is not for anyone else but you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Line in the Sand - #6150
Friday, August 6, 2010
Some say it's legend. Some say it's history, but it's one of the most inspiring stories from America's past. The scene: a tiny mission near San Antonio, Texas. A small band of Texas Freedom Fighters is taking their stand against the invading Mexican Army, and they're vastly outnumbered. There's a brief window during which the men of the Alamo have a choice between leaving or staying to fight. Col. William Travis is in command of the garrison and, according to some accounts; he gathered the defenders in the courtyard of the Alamo. With his sword, he drew a line in the sand and he called his men to a destiny choice: cross the line as your pledge to fight or stay where you are as an announcement that you are leaving. They all crossed the line to heroism, to immortality, and to honor that has endured nearly 200 years.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Line in the Sand."
Two thousand years ago, a spiritual line was drawn in the sand and it's still there. And every person who belongs to Jesus Christ has to make their choice.
To understand that choice, let's go back those 20 centuries to the first Christians who had to make it. Their story is found in Acts 4, beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God. The scene is Jerusalem - the city where Jesus had been put to death only weeks before. Peter and John have just been proclaiming Jesus in the temple area. Now, facing a hostile crowd of powerful rulers, they make this bombshell announcement: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved."
At that point, some of the same people who had arranged for Jesus' crucifixion "called them in again," the Bible says, "and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." There's the line in the sand. Talk about whatever you want, but don't talk about Jesus! The Christians' answer? "We cannot help but speaking about what we have seen and heard." Later, the Bible says, "With great power the apostles continued to testify to resurrection of the Lord Jesus." They made their choice. They would talk about Jesus, whatever it cost.
What about you and me? We face the same choice in situation after situation. Will we talk about Jesus at a time and in a culture where it's okay to talk about anything you want except Jesus? Actress Patricia Heaton, one of the stars of the hit TV series, "Everybody Loves Raymond," has publicly professed her faith in Christ. Recently, in People Magazine, she said: "Most people have some kind of faith. However, I think Jesus is a scary subject. 'God' you can make into anything you want. But confronted with Jesus you have to say I believe that or I don't, and that's very powerful."
Yes, it is. And the devil knows it. That's why he's made you and me choke so often when we get to that name - Jesus. We'll talk about God, family values, our church, our faith, but when it comes to Jesus, we unwittingly obey the 2,000-year-old order from hell, "Do not mention Jesus." But there is no other name by which people can be rescued from an awful eternity. Of course, Satan does everything to have us chicken out on talking that name.
So the line is in the sand. Are you going to stay where it's "safe," hiding Jesus behind you. Or are you going to cross the line and join the heroes who say, "I'll tell them about Jesus, whatever it costs." The people who think nothing of Jesus aren't ashamed to freely speak His name in disrespect. What about you; someone whose life, whose eternity has been changed by Jesus? Will you talk about Him because you love Him and because they need Him? Or will you be ashamed of Jesus? On that brutal cross, Jesus was not ashamed of you.
