Max Lucado Daily: Thank God—For Everything
A person never runs out of reasons to say “thanks.” Just the word lifts the spirit! To say, “thanks” is to celebrate a gift. Something. Anything. In Scripture the idea of giving thanks is not a suggestion or a recommendation. It’s a command. It carries the same weight as “love your neighbor” and “give to the poor.” More than a hundred times, either by imperative or example, the Bible commands us to be thankful.
If quantity implies gravity, God takes thanksgiving seriously. Ingratitude is the original sin. Adam and Eve had a million reasons to give thanks. They lived in a perfect world. Then Satan slithered into the garden and, just like that, Eden wasn’t enough. Oh, the hissing we hear. “Don’t you want more?”
So thank God. Moment by moment. Day by day. Thank him…for everything!
From Before Amen
Mark 15:26-47
A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 Two revolutionaries[a] were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.[b]
29 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. 30 Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31 The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
The Death of Jesus
33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34 Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”[c]
35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”
37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
39 When the Roman officer[d] who stood facing him[e] saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph[f]), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.
The Burial of Jesus
42 This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation,[g] the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45 The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.
Footnotes:
15:27a Or Two criminals.
15:27b Some manuscripts add verse 28, And the Scripture was fulfilled that said, “He was counted among those who were rebels.” See Isa 53:12; also compare Luke 22:37.
15:34 Ps 22:1.
15:39a Greek the centurion; similarly in 15:44, 45.
15:39b Some manuscripts add heard his cry and.
15:40 Greek Joses; also in 15:47. See Matt 27:56.
15:42 Greek It was the day of preparation.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Read: Luke 5:1-10
The First Disciples
One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,[a] great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon,[b] its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”
Footnotes:
5:1 Greek Lake Gennesaret, another name for the Sea of Galilee.
5:3 Simon is called “Peter” in 6:14 and thereafter.
Insight
Luke 5:1-10, where Jesus called Simon Peter to be a disciple, was probably the third time the two had met. The first time was in John 1:40-42, where Andrew, himself a new follower of Christ, brought Simon to Jesus. The second seems to be in Mark 1:29-31, when Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law.
God Whispers “Fish”
By David H. Roper
From now on you will catch men. —Luke 5:10
A number of years ago our sons and I enjoyed some days together drifting and fishing the Madison River in Montana with two fishing guides who also served as our boatmen.
The guide I drew was a man who had lived on the river all his life and knew where the big trout held. He was a quiet man who spoke scarcely two dozen words in all the time he was with us, but his few words enlivened my days.
We were fishing with small flies in choppy water. My eyesight was not what it once was, and I was missing most of the takes. My guide—who was also a soul of patience—began to alert me by murmuring “fish” when he saw a trout rising under the fly. When I heard his cue, I lifted the tip of my rod and . . . voilà! A trout on the end of my line!
I’ve often thought of that guide and Jesus’ declaration to His fishermen-disciples, “From now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10). There are great opportunities that come our way every day—people circling around us, searching for that elusive “something” for which their souls crave—occasions to show the love of Christ and speak of the hope that is in us. These are opportunities we might miss if not alerted.
May the Great Angler, who knows every heart, whisper “fish” in our ears and may we have ears to hear.
All through this day, O Lord, let me touch as
many lives as possible for You—through the words
I speak, the prayers I breathe, the letters I write,
and the life I live.
When the Spirit prompts, take action.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
…except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me…” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
RENEWING FIRE - #7273
Smokey the Bear, I've always liked that guy. And he's taught me there's one thing you're supposed to do with forest fires - prevent them. So it bothered me a little when I read about a fire that happened in the boundary waters area of Northern Minnesota. It was a slow-moving fire and it burned through about 3,000 acres of canoe country. Now, here's what was unsettling: the rangers did nothing to fight it. They didn't even try. In fact, they called it friendly fire. Someone said in the paper, "The fire is doing its job. This is a prescribed natural fire."
Actually, I've learned that's done quite a bit. See the fire, this planned burn, well it releases nutrients into the soil, and the deer and the moose, the wildlife, thrive on that new growth that comes after the blaze. It's good for the birds and their food supply. A lot of good comes from it. See, that's kind of interesting, I thought. There is a fire that destroys things so it can make things live.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Renewing Fire."
Which brings us to our word for today from the Word of God; Acts 19:17-20. We're in the city of Ephesus, the power of Jesus there has been dramatically displayed. Satan has taken a visible beating, and it says, "The name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publically. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power."
Now, there is a renewing fire. A fire that burns up your sin and all the props that helped you do that sin. The result? It says, "the word grew in power." You see, powerful Christianity always makes repentance a key issue. Ordinary people can release extraordinary power when they abandon the sin that's been holding them back for so long. Now, maybe this explains some of your frustration in your life with Christ lately. Why there doesn't seem to be much spiritual passion or power or results. See there's sin that you've not brought to the fire.
We tend to be sort of casual about our sin sometimes. We excuse it, we minimize it, we resign ourselves to it, we blame somebody else for it, we tolerate it, we cover it up. Well I'll tell you this; Jesus doesn't take our sin casually. It killed Him! If you love Him, you've got to destroy the things that destroyed your Savior.
1 Peter 2:24 says, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness." God calls us to deal with sin surgically to abandon it. Oh, we want the forgiveness, but we don't want the fire? Genuine repentance burns your bridges to the influences that have fed that sin. It makes things right with the people who have been affected by that sin. It finds someone to be accountable to so you won't do that sin again. True repentance sets up your life so you aren't going to do that again.
There is so much more power available for your life. But it's on the other side of true repentance. Yes, there's a fire that renews, that brings new life. And God may be calling you right now, maybe even through this time together, to come to that fire where you abandon that sin once and for all. You burn things up so you can't go back. Hasn't it held you back long enough? You know, the fire of repentance is friendly fire. And the same fire that cleanses you also has the power to take your life where it has never gone before.
