Max Lucado Daily: Love Bears All Things
Wouldn't it be great if love were like a cafeteria line? It would be easier. It would be neater. It would be painless and peaceful. But you know what? It wouldn't be love. Love doesn't accept just a few things. Love is willing to accept all things!
In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Paul says, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." I envision the leathery-faced saint pausing in his dictation. Checking off his fingers, he reviews his list. Let's see…patience, kindness, envy, arrogance. We've mentioned rudeness, selfishness, and anger; forgiveness, evil, and truth. Have I covered all things? Ah, that's it-all things! Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Every single one!
From A Love Worth Giving
Psalm 1
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 22, 2016
Read: Psalm 46
For the choir director: A song of the descendants of Korah, to be sung by soprano voices.[a]
1 God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude
4 A river brings joy to the city of our God,
the sacred home of the Most High.
5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
From the very break of day, God will protect it.
6 The nations are in chaos,
and their kingdoms crumble!
God’s voice thunders,
and the earth melts!
7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel[b] is our fortress. Interlude
8 Come, see the glorious works of the Lord:
See how he brings destruction upon the world.
9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth.
He breaks the bow and snaps the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”
11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude
Footnotes:
46:Title Hebrew according to alamoth.
46:7 Hebrew of Jacob; also in 46:11. See note on 44:4.
INSIGHT:
Today’s Scripture passage ends with one of the most well-known and beloved phrases in the Bible: “Be still, and know that I am God” (v. 10). The Hebrew word translated “be still” can also be translated “become helpless,” “collapse,” “cease,” “fall limp,” and “relax.” The sense is to stop striving. So Psalm 46 could be translated, “Relax, and know that I am God.” Transformation, deliverance, and resurrection are all works of God; we just need to relax and acknowledge who He is.
Be Still
By Philip Yancey
Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
Years ago I responded to letters within a couple of weeks and kept my correspondents happy. Then came the fax machine, and they seemed content with receiving a response within a couple of days. Today, with email, instant messaging, and mobile phones, a response is expected the same day!
“Be still, and know that I am God.” In this familiar verse from Psalm 46 I read two commands of equal importance. First, we must be still, something that modern life conspires against. In this hectic, buzzing world, even a few moments of quiet do not come naturally to us. And stillness prepares us for the second command: “Know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” In the midst of a world that colludes to suppress, not exalt, God, how do I carve out time and allow Him to nourish my inner life?
In prayer, God can quiet our minds.
“Prayer,” writes Patricia Hampl, “is a habit of attention brought to bear on all that is.” Ah, prayer . . . a habit of attention. Be still and know. The first step in prayer is to acknowledge or to “know” that God is God. And in that attention, that focus, all else comes into focus. Prayer allows us to admit our failures, weaknesses, and limitations to the One who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy.
Dear Lord, help me to be still. Nourish my soul as I spend time with You in prayer.
In prayer, God can quiet our minds.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 22, 2016
The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance
Be still, and know that I am God… —Psalm 46:10
Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.
If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, “because you have kept My command to persevere…” (Revelation 3:10).
Continue to persevere spiritually.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham. The Highest Good, 548 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 22, 2016
Three Questions to Ask When the News is Ugly - #7596
I can't let my grandchildren watch the news. It's too gruesome: another brutal execution, the slaughter of captured soldiers, an act of terrorism, more bloody battles in more places than the news can possibly cover. It used to be that there were intelligence reports of an increased terror chatter, for example, when any major holiday or when the September 11th anniversary approaches. Now we get those reports it seems like every day. Some months ago, the Secretary of Defense said, "The world is exploding all over."
I guess we could run around like Chicken Little, clucking that "the sky is falling". Or we can play the proverbial ostrich with our head in the sand. I don't think either one of those is a good idea. Yes, I do need to know that the world is getting more dangerous and the future less secure. No, I don't need to live in fear. When I see ominous clouds in the sky, I know I can't stop the storm, but I can get ready in case it turns nasty.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Three Questions to Ask When the News is Ugly."
There are three questions about the world that I have some control over; my personal world. Number one, does my family feel safe in my love? Years ago, I realized that I needed to give each member of my family all of me at least once a day. We're talking focused love here. Sometimes it just takes two minutes of laser focus attention. Other times it takes two hours. But knowing I'm the family thermostat, I know they need daily evidence that they are secure in my love.
And these days we live in are a great time to do whatever it takes to make each one feel safe and valued, heard, and understood. So everybody knows that once they come in this house, they are safe; this is not another battlefield.
Number two, am I living to make a difference? I saw it a lot after the wake-up call of 9/11. And again in '08 when the economy collapsed, seemingly overnight. Suddenly, lots of folks were asking questions they didn't usually ask about what really matters and what really doesn't.
Many concluded that it's not making money or making a nest or making an impression that matters – it's making a difference. Investing in what will last, like people. Finding a need we can do something about and doing it, from the homeless to the hungry, to that hurting person at work or school, children without dads, wounded warriors, lonely seniors, exploited women, kids in need of mentors. I can't change the world. But I might be able to change a life.
Number three, am I safe, no matter what happens? See, we live with regular reminders of how quickly things can change, how suddenly it can all be gone. But it's not a time for fear or anxiety. It's time for hope. Time to be sure I'm anchored to a hope that is disaster-proof, terror-proof, tragedy-proof, and death-proof.
Three days after the 9/11 attacks shook us all, the President of the United States spoke at a national prayer service, and he concluded by quoting a statement from the Bible. It's our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:38-39, "Neither death nor life...neither anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Listen, that's my anchor. That's my unloseable; a love that would not turn His back on me even when He was dying on a cross to pay for all the garbage of my life, of my sin. I found what for me is the one safe place in a world that is "falling apart." It's Jesus. The only One who ever walked out of His grave under His own power. I've found Him to be what the Bible says He will be – "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19).
Don't you need that anchor? In a world of so much uncertainty, this is your day to grab His outstretched hand with nail prints in them because He died for you and say, "Jesus, I'm yours." Go to our website and be sure that you belong to Him by the information you'll find there. It's ANewStory.com.
Belonging to Him; that's my safe harbor, whatever the storm.
