Max Lucado Daily:He Calls Your Name
“The Son of Man came to find lost people and to save them.” Luke 19:10 NCV
God will do what it takes—whatever it takes—to bring his children home.
He is the shepherd in search of His lamb. His legs are scratched, His feet are sore, and His eyes are burning. He scales the cliffs and traverses the fields. He explores the caves. He cups His hands to His mouth and calls into the canyon.
And the name He calls is yours.
Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version, ©2010)
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 13:33-38
John 13:33-38 (NIV)Jn 33 "My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." 36 Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later." 37 Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." 38 Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Why Not Now?
January 11, 2011 — by David H. Roper
David, after he had served his own generation . . . fell asleep. —Acts 13:36
I have a dear friend who served as a missionary in Suriname for many years, but in his final years he was stricken with an illness that paralyzed him. At times he wondered why God allowed him to linger. He longed to depart and to be with his Lord.
Perhaps life is very hard for you or a loved one, and you are wondering why God has allowed you or your loved one to linger. When Jesus said He was going to heaven, Peter asked, “Lord, why can I not follow You now?” (John 13:37). You, like Peter, may wonder why entry into heaven has been postponed: “Why not now?”
God has a wise and loving purpose in leaving us behind. There is work to be done in us that can only be accomplished here on earth. Our afflictions, which are for the moment, are working for us “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). And there is work to be done for others—if only to love and to pray. Our presence may also be for the purpose of giving others an opportunity to learn love and compassion.
So, though you may desire release for yourself or a loved one, to live on in the flesh can mean fruitfulness (Phil. 1:21). And there is comfort in waiting: Though heaven may be delayed, God has His reasons. No doubt about it!
Not so in haste, my heart!
Have faith in God, and wait;
Although He seems to linger long
He never comes too late. —Torrey
Our greatest comfort is to know that God is in control.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 11th, 2011
What My Obedience to God Costs Other People
As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon . . . , and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus —Luke 23:26
If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, “I will never accept anything from anyone.” But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationships we have with others should be any different from those the Lord Himself had (see Luke 8:1-3).
A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, “I will not cause other people to suffer”? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
I'll Watch Your Back - #6262
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
I really hate to be viewed as a typical tourist. But when I went to South Africa a few years ago, I was Tommy Tourist, I have to admit. I had my camera clicking everywhere. My friend, Ted, was kind enough to take me between the conferences where I was speaking to Kruger National Park; probably the finest natural game park in all the world. Of course, I was seeing things I'd never seen before. I'd see a giraffe, or a rhinoceros out in the wild or my dream. I just wanted to see wild elephants, and I did. And I'd yell at Ted like Tommy Tourist, "Stop! Pull over the car!" And I'd promptly jump out and start shooting pictures. And Ted patiently said to me, "Ron, move quickly, and I'll watch your back." I said, "Why?" I didn't think my back was that much fun to watch. He said, "Ron, you have to understand that in this tall grass, there may be lions." He went on to tell me about the tourist that had been mauled while taking pictures in Kruger National Park. It's amazing how fast I could get back in the car, and what great pictures you can take out the window. I learned to take a lot of pictures from the car. You know it's great to know, though, that there's someone watching your back when there might be a lion ready to pounce on you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I'll Watch Your Back."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from perhaps one of the most beloved chapters in all the Bible, the great love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 . Let me read a little of it to you beginning at verse 5. "Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth." Now, pay particular attention to verse 7, "Love always protect, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Can I focus on three words today? Love always protects. You see, we live in a world where people pounce on other people, like those lions in South Africa we pounce on each other all the time. There's so much vicious talk in school about other kids; a lot of vicious talk on the phone or over the Internet late at night. When you run out of things to talk about, you start talking about other people, maybe office gossip or church gossip. You know about it. It spreads bad news quickly. It spreads good news about people very slowly.
Even in your family, there could be some pretty destructive things said about another family member. And this kind of pouncing on each other is largely accepted. It's largely unchallenged. We tear people down, we spread rumors, we call names, we attack weaknesses. But Jesus proposes a radical kind of love that changes all that. Instead of, "I'll talk behind your back." He's calling for some people who will say, "I'll watch your back and make sure you're not attacked," people who are committed to the protection of other people's dignity and reputation.
Think of how naturally, maybe you've gone with the flow when someone else is being criticized. Maybe you've started the flow. This is a call to commitment to the lifestyle of Jesus; a commitment to protecting lives. Just look what happens when you start to build a reputation of interrupting the bad talk about people. You start to say, "Hey, wait a minute! I don't want to be a part of this." Or, "Have you told him that? Have you told her that?" Watch what happens when you become the person who turns the conversation from undermining the person to trying to understand why they're acting as they're acting; for helping people see needs, not just deeds; for insisting that they go straight to the person. You'll become known as one of that rare breed; one of those people who makes other people feel safe.
Love always protects. Don't be one of those attackers in the underbrush. Commit yourself to the people in your world as a loving protector, and be remembered as the one who lived out love with this commitment, "I'll watch your back."
