Max Lucado Daily: A Prayer of Confession
Confession isn't a punishment for sin; it's an isolation of sin so it can be exposed and extracted. Exactly what is it that you need forgiveness for? For being a bad person? That's too general. For losing your patience in the business meeting and calling your coworker a creep? There, you can confess that.
Be firm in a prayer of confession. Satan traffics in guilt and will not give up an addict without a fight. Exercise your authority as a child of God. Tell guilt where to get off. "I left you at the cross, you evil spirit. Stay there!"
Then for heaven's sake, stop tormenting yourself. Jesus is strong enough to carry your sin. Psalm 103:12 says, "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west."
Before you say amen-comes the power of a simple prayer.
From Before Amen
Mark 14:54-72
Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.
55 Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council[a] were trying to find evidence against Jesus, so they could put him to death. But they couldn’t find any. 56 Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they contradicted each other. 57 Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.’” 59 But even then they didn’t get their stories straight!
60 Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” 61 But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62 Jesus said, “I am.[b] And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand[c] and coming on the clouds of heaven.[d]”
63 Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? 64 You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?”
“Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!”
65 Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.
Peter Denies Jesus
66 Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by 67 and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire. She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth.[e]”
68 But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed.[f]
69 When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others, “This man is definitely one of them!” 70 But Peter denied it again.
A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.”
71 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” 72 And immediately the rooster crowed the second time.
Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept.
Footnotes:
14:55 Greek the Sanhedrin.
14:62a Or The ‘I am’ is here; or I am the Lord. See Exod 3:14.
14:62b Greek seated at the right hand of the power. See Ps 110:1.
14:62c See Dan 7:13.
14:67 Or Jesus the Nazarene.
14:68 Some manuscripts do not include Just then, a rooster crowed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Read: Hebrews 13:15-25
Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
18 Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. 19 And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.
20 Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21 may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will.
May he produce in you,[a]
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
22 I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,[b] to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the believers there.[c] The believers from Italy send you their greetings.
25 May God’s grace be with you all.
Footnotes:
13:21 Some manuscripts read in us.
13:22 Greek brothers.
13:24 Greek all of God’s holy people.
Insight
If we were left to our own devices and determination, even the brief instructions in today’s passage would be more than we could live up to. Fortunately, we are not left to ourselves. God works in us to make us complete (vv.20-21).
Rooted Love
By Joe Stowell
Do not forget to do good and to share. —Hebrews 13:16
When I think of all the wonders of God’s magnificent creation, I am especially awed by the giant sequoia tree. These amazing behemoths of the forest can grow to around 300 feet tall with a diameter that exceeds 20 feet. They can live over 3,000 years and are even fire resistant. In fact, forest fires pop the sequoia cones open, distributing their seeds on the forest floor that has been fertilized by the ashes. Perhaps the most amazing fact is that these trees can grow in just 3 feet of soil and withstand high winds. Their strength lies in the fact that their roots intertwine with other sequoias, providing mutual strength and shared resources.
God’s plan for us is like that. Our ability to stand tall in spite of the buffeting winds of life is directly related to the love and support we receive from God and one another. And then, as the writer of Hebrews says, we are to “do good and to share” (13:16). Think of how tough it would be to withstand adversity if someone were not sharing the roots of their strength with us.
There is great power in the entwining gifts of words of encouragement, prayers of intercession, weeping together, holding each other, and sometimes just sitting with one another sharing the presence of our love.
Lord, thank You for entwining Your strength
into my life. Lead me today to someone
who needs the love of shared strength from
resources that You have given to me.
Let the roots of God’s love in your life be entwined with others who need your support.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Winning into Freedom
If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. —John 8:36
If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.
God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments…and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.
“If the Son makes you free….” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “…you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
The Boss Is the Issue - #7267
You know, flying commercial airlines isn't as much fun as it used to be. I mean it's more of a hassle. A lot of people who have to fly seem to agree with that. There are overbooked flights, and long lines at security, and cancelled flights, and crowded flights, and equipment problems, and all kinds of frustrating delays. Now if you don't like something about the way the airline is performing, guess who usually gets all the grief? I've seen it happen in the airport over and over again. That poor ticket agent.
See, the ticket agent usually has nothing to do with causing the problem, but you can go to almost any airport, go to some desk and find an agent being besieged by people yelling, waving their arms, threatening, using various forms of unpleasant language. I want to say, "Hey, don't blame the agent! Take your complaints to someone in charge." The representative isn't the issue. You need to deal with the person in charge.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Boss Is the Issue."
Alright, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 16, beginning at verse 13. "Jesus asked His disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But what about you,' He asked. 'Who do you say I am?' Then Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"
Now Jesus says here the issue is "Who do you say I am? See, the issue is Me." Well you know, the issue still is Jesus. The disciples kind of give the answer in the local Gallop Survey, "35% say You are John the Baptist, 22% say You are Elijah..." Well, finally Jesus closes in and says, "Who do you say I am?" See that's the real issue. A lot of people are dealing with the representative of Jesus rather than dealing with the boss.
Jim is the son of some friends of ours, and they said that he has been really wandering from the Lord. He said to them other day, "What if I had grown up in a different family? Maybe I'd be another religion. I'm not sure I believe any of this any more." And I said, "Would you tell him that Jesus would still be who He claims He is, wherever that guy grew up. You guys get out of the middle! Don't make your faith the issue with your son. Don't make parent's religion the issue. Don't let church be the issue. Let Jim know the issue isn't his parent's beliefs. It's a Savior who's been there for 2,000 years before His parents were born, before that church existed. Jesus is the issue and He's saying, 'Who do you say I am?'"
Some other friends came to us about their son, and he had said to them, "I don't know if I believe it any more." And I said, "Well don't let him get away with that. The 'It' in Christianity is a Him-it's Jesus. I don't believe Him any more. Don't look at Christians, don't look at the church, don't look at Christian leaders, or your background, or your friends. They're just His representatives. Jesus is the issue. He said "follow Me." The only reason not to be with Jesus is something about Jesus. I remember talking to a cabbie from another religion. He said to me, "If you could only study our book with our greatest scholars, you would believe." And I said to him, "But at the end of my life, I would still not have a Savior from my sin, and I would end my life at the grave of a dead prophet instead of a risen Savior."
Listen, don't let people become the issue. Don't let religion become the issue. Go back 2,000 years before all of these things existed and there on the middle cross is the Son of God paying the price for every sin you ever committed. If you're rejecting Christianity or rebelling in some way, don't deal with smoke screens. It's God's Son, who gave His life for you, who blew the doors off of death when He walked out of the grave, He's the issue. Not His representatives, not His agent. Would you go directly to the person in charge? The issue is Jesus.
This day, in spite of a back turned to Him for many years, He waits with open arms, to welcome you into His love, expressed and proven by the price He paid on a cross for you. I want you to know this Jesus. Not His religion, Jesus. If you want to belong to Him then I would love to point you in that direction. Would you go to our website ANewStory.com and find for yourself, this Jesus who's been transforming lives for 2,000 years, and who walked out of His grave, so He could walk into your life today?
