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Max Lucado Daily:You Have Hope
For many, hope is in short supply. Hopelessness is an odd bag. Unlike others, it isn’t full. It’s empty, and its emptiness creates the burden. Unzip the top and examine all the pockets. Turn it upside down and shake it hard. The bag of hopelessness is painfully empty! Not a very pretty picture, is it? What would it take to restore your hope? One comes quickly to mind…a person. Not just any person. You need someone to look you in the face and say, “This isn’t the end. Don’t give up. There’s a better place than this. And I’ll lead you there.”
David, in Psalm 23, used these words, “He restores my soul.” God majors in restoring hope to the soul. Please note that you always have hope! Psalm 121:7 says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life.” He’s the perfect one to do so!
From Traveling Light
Acts 26
New International Version (NIV)
26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”
So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. 6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.
12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”
25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
30 The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31 After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”
32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 16:25-33
New International Version (NIV)
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Flight Simulator
June 24, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. —John 16:33
When airplane pilots are training, they spend many hours in flight simulators. These simulators give the students a chance to experience the challenges and dangers of flying an aircraft—but without the risk. The pilots don’t have to leave the ground, and if they crash in the simulation, they can calmly walk away.
Simulators are tremendous teaching tools—helpful in preparing the aspiring pilot to take command of an actual aircraft. The devices, however, have a shortcoming. They create an artificial experience in which the full-blown pressures of handling a real cockpit cannot be fully replicated.
Real life is like that, isn’t it? It cannot be simulated. There is no safe, risk-free environment in which we can experience life’s ups and downs unharmed. The risks and dangers of living in a broken world are inescapable. That’s why the words of Jesus are so reassuring. He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Although we can’t avoid the dangers of life in a fallen world, we can have peace through a relationship with Jesus. He has secured our ultimate victory.
Outward troubles may not cease,
But this your joy will be:
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
Whose mind is stayed on Thee.” —Anon.
No life is more secure than a life surrendered to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 24, 2013
Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin
This is your hour, and the power of darkness —Luke 22:53
Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.” The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship— it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.
Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious, because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Sunday Grins or Sunday Grouches - #6901
Monday, June 24, 2013
You know, people in certain jobs end up being treated kind of like vending machines it seems like. Now, the state that I lived in for many years, we still had full service gas and we had gas station attendants. People just sort of drive up and grunt a couple of words to him, and then he would dispense his service, and people would drive off. Oh, of course, we did give him a little money. Waitresses--there's another one. And the checkout people at a grocery store. Well, you know what? I've got a little personal crusade to help these service people feel human again; to get them to talk. Now brace yourself...even to get them to smile sometimes. I feel like I've succeeded if they'll smile.
I was at the grocery store late one week night, and I said to the woman who was checking out our groceries, "Well, I'll bet you've had a long day today, huh? You almost done?" She said, "Oh yeah, I'm almost out of here, but it's been a long day." She said, "I've had a lot of crabby people! I thought it was Sunday today." That raised a question. I said, "Wait a minute. What did you mean you thought it was Sunday today?" She said, "Oh, we all hate to work Sundays. There are more grouches on Sunday here than any other day." And then came the observation that cut the most deeply. She said, "Yeah, most of them just came from church; they're the grouchiest of all." Ouch!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sunday Grins or Sunday Grouches."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 25. "Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. But let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching." Well, that verse is often applied to us getting together in our Christian meetings or Bible studies in church, and that's good.
The verse before it says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Okay. These verses seem to be saying there's a certain kind of result you can expect from Christians having been together. They're going to come out more loving, more encouraged, more encouraging, and doing more good deeds.
Unfortunately, there are too many arguments on the way home from church. There's too much selfishness on Sunday afternoon about "Hey, it's my day off! I want to do what I want to do." There are just too many grouches on Sunday.
I said to that checkout girl who had pointed that out to me, "You know, if you've just spent time with the Creator of the universe, you should feel pretty good don't you think?" She said, "Well, I guess a lot of them just don't look at it that way." I wonder if we don't get in a religious rut on Sunday and miss the purpose of the exercise? Maybe we even begin to resent the routine.
Some questions for coming out with grins instead of grouches on Sunday. Number one, "Did I touch the Lord while I was there?" Ask yourself that every time you're together in a Christian meeting. Did I touch the Lord? And that should not be dependant on how good the sermon was, or who preached, or whether the music was on key, or whether you liked the environment that morning. It's dependant on the attitude of your heart if you went in looking for the Lord.
Second question: "Did I leave with a mission or did I even go looking for one?" I mean, did you ask the Lord for something to do obediently as a result of something you're going to hear or feel during that service - a mission. Thirdly, "Did I encourage someone today?" Church can become very mechanical and almost useless unless we go looking for three things: go in looking for the Lord, determined to get more of Him. Go in looking for a mission - I'm going to leave here with something I need to do. And looking for someone to encourage; Lord, help me be a ministry to someone here today. Then everything afterwards: the trip home, the afternoon's activities, our treatment of the checkout girl. They all grow out of these discoveries.
After all, time in the Lord's house on the Lord's Day should at least produce the Lord's attitude.
