Max Lucado Daily: God is for You
God is for You
Posted: 28 Apr 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“God is the strength of my heart.” Psalm 73:26, NKJV
God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for Him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you.
Numbers 17
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
1 [a]The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you. 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the covenant law.
8 The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff.
10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” 11 Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Job 38:1-11,31-33
Job 38
The LORD Speaks
1 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
Star Power
April 29, 2011 — by Dave Branon
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? —Job 38:33
For all of us who, like Job, have suffered through tragedy and then dared to aim our questions at God, chapter 38 of Job’s book should give us plenty to think about. Imagine what it must have felt like for the great man of the East when “out of the whirlwind” he heard God say, “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me” (vv.1-3). Gulp!
Job must have felt as puny as an ant. As God unveiled His questions in the verses that follow, what He said was as unexpected as it was powerful. He didn’t really answer Job’s “why” questions. Instead, God seemed to be telling him to notice the power and might with which He created this world and to observe His ability to control every element of it. Isn’t that reason enough to trust God? Job should have been asking himself.
As one example of His awesome power, God pointed to the sky and told Job to observe two of His awe-inspiring creations: Pleiades and Orion (v.31). Highlighting His grandeur and man’s relative insignificance, God mentioned two constellations that demonstrate power beyond our understanding.
This is Someone we can trust. If He has the stars in His hands, surely He can take care of us as well.
Creator of the universe
Who reigns in awesome majesty:
How can it be You love and care
For such a one as me? —Sper
He who holds the stars in space holds His people in His hands.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 29th, 2011
Gracious Uncertainty
. . . it has not yet been revealed what we shall be . . . —1 John 3:2
Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life—gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “. . . believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in—but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
That Wonder-Working Word - #6340
Friday, April 29, 2011
You know, you can learn something from a cab driver; even if his vocabulary is R-rated - or in this case maybe even X-rated. See, I was on a trip to an airport in a cab a while back. And well, without even knowing it, I must have hit some trigger in this cab driver. All of a sudden I couldn't believe what started to come out of his mouth. I didn't even know what I did. He started to pour out all kinds of racial hatred, and he said, "I don't care about anything in the world or anybody but myself, and let those starving people starve, let those poor people be poor."
And then he started to cuss out just about everybody in the world. When he finished with most people, he turned his attention to the church, and he said, "All the church cares about is money, and they've got all this wealth, and they could help solve the problems." I want to tell you, the atmosphere in that cab was tense, profane, and angry. This was a very bitter, cynical man. To tell you the truth, I felt like sitting back and reading my magazine or getting out. But I mentioned one thing to him as we neared the airport, and suddenly the cab got calm and the cabby was smiling. And that moment reminded me of a focus that is just too easy to forget.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "That Wonder-Working Word."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul begins to talk about that wonder-working word. It is, in fact, the word that calms an angry, tense atmosphere in a taxi cab to the airport. "When I came to you, brothers," Paul said, "I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
Well, as I chatted with this cab driver and he let me get a word in, he had been attacking the church. And I said, "You know, I remember a sign that a demonstrator waved back in the '70s out in California. It said, "Jesus, yes; Christianity, no." I said, "You know, I can understand why you might be cynical about the church, about Christianity, about Christians. But you know what? That's why I stake my life on Jesus Christ. There's no cause for cynicism there." You know there is something about that name, like the song says. Because beginning to talk about Jesus calmed this man down, seemed lighten his load, and actually brought a smile to his face.
Let me remind you that as you try to represent Christ in your family, in your school, at your job, among your circle of friends, your message is not Christianity, it is not church, it is not a religion. Paul said, "I came to you with a person - Jesus Christ." Your message is a person. Keep bringing folks back to Him. It's all about Jesus!
So many objections to being a Christian melt away when you turn the attention to Jesus. "Oh, Christians are hypocrites!" Well, is Jesus? "Christians are inconsistent." Is Jesus? "All the church cares about is money." Does Jesus? What is it about Jesus you don't like? He's the issue. We tend to get off on detours about doctrine, and church, or things we're against. This is a relationship with Jesus Christ - no more/no less. I'm so glad Jesus didn't say, "Follow my church." Or, "Follow my followers." Or, "Follow my leaders." What did He say? "Follow Me."
Every time you have an opportunity, even with an X-rated enemy of the Gospel, turn the attention to Jesus. By the way, it may be that you are the one who has had all the bad experiences; all the bad ideas about Christians and Christianity, and maybe for good reason. Can I direct your attention today to Jesus the man who loved you enough to die on the cross for you, and was powerful enough to walk out of His grave, and is ready to enter your life today? Listen to the name: Jesus. I hope you know Him. If you don't, would you visit our website and let me explain to you there how you can. It's YoursForLife.net.
And if you do belong to Him, don't be ashamed of His name. You'll discover when you speak His name, what angels and demons already know so well. There really is something about that name.
