Max Lucado Daily: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne came home heartbroken. He'd just been fired from his job in the customhouse. His wife, rather than responding with anxiety, surprised him with joy. "Now you can write your book!" she said. He wasn't so positive. "And what shall we live on while I'm writing it?" he asked. To his amazement she opened a drawer and revealed a wad of money she'd saved out of her housekeeping budget. "I always knew you were a man of genius," she told him, and "I always knew you'd write a masterpiece."
She believed in her husband. And because she did, he wrote. And because he wrote, every library in America has a copy of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." You have the power to change someone's life simply by the words you speak.
From A Love Worth Giving
Psalm 66
For the director of music. A song. A psalm.
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
2 Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.
4 All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”[a]
5 Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!
6 He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.
8 Praise our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.
10 For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.
13 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you—
14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!
Footnotes:
Psalm 66:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 7 and 15.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 29, 2016
Read: Hebrews 9:19-28
For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats,[a] along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. 20 Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.”[b] 21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. 22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.
24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. 25 And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. 26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age[c] to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Footnotes:
9:19 Some manuscripts do not include and goats.
9:20 Exod 24:8.
9:26 Greek the ages.
INSIGHT:
The writer of Hebrews compares the old covenant initiated by Moses (9:1–23) with the new covenant initiated by Jesus (9:24–10:18). As High Priest and “mediator of a new covenant” (9:15), Christ did not offer the blood of animals (v. 19) that could not take away sins; He sacrificed Himself “once for all . . . to do away with sin” (v. 26).
Lifeblood
By Keila Ochoa
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22
Mary Ann believed in God and His Son Jesus, but she struggled with why Jesus had to shed His blood to bring salvation. Who would think of cleansing something with blood? Yet the Bible says, “The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood” (Heb. 9:22). That, in Mary Ann’s opinion, was disgusting!
Then one day she had to go to a hospital. A genetic condition had altered her immune system, and doctors became alarmed when the illness started attacking her blood. As she was in the emergency room she thought, If I lose my blood, I will die. But Jesus shed His blood so I can live!
Jesus made His sacrifice our sacrifice, His life our life, and His Father our Father.
Suddenly everything made sense. In the midst of her pain, Mary Ann felt joy and peace. She understood that blood is life, and a holy life was needed to make peace with God for us. Today she is alive and well, thanking God for her health and for Jesus’ sacrifice on her behalf.
Hebrews 9 explains the meaning of the Old Testament blood ritual (vv. 16-22) and the once and for all offering of Jesus that brought animal sacrifice to an end (vv. 23-26). Bearing our sin, He willingly died and shed His blood to become our sacrifice. We now have confidence to enter God’s presence. How could we ever thank Jesus enough for making His sacrifice our sacrifice, His life our life, and His Father our Father?
Lord, I thank You for Jesus and for the shedding of His blood for me. I want to live my life in gratitude to You.
The blood of Christ washes away our sins.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 29, 2016
What Do You Want The Lord to Do for You?
"What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." —Luke 18:41
Is there something in your life that not only disturbs you, but makes you a disturbance to others? If so, it is always something you cannot handle yourself. “Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more…” (Luke 18:39). Be persistent with your disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord Himself. Don’t deify common sense. To sit calmly by, instead of creating a disturbance, serves only to deify our common sense. When Jesus asks what we want Him to do for us about the incredible problem that is confronting us, remember that He doesn’t work in commonsense ways, but only in supernatural ways.
Look at how we limit the Lord by only remembering what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past. We say, “I always failed there, and I always will.” Consequently, we don’t ask for what we want. Instead, we think, “It is ridiculous to ask God to do this.” If it is an impossibility, it is the very thing for which we have to ask. If it is not an impossible thing, it is not a real disturbance. And God will do what is absolutely impossible.
This man received his sight. But the most impossible thing for you is to be so closely identified with the Lord that there is literally nothing of your old life remaining. God will do it if you will ask Him. But you have to come to the point of believing Him to be almighty. We find faith by not only believing what Jesus says, but, even more, by trusting Jesus Himself. If we only look at what He says, we will never believe. Once we see Jesus, the impossible things He does in our lives become as natural as breathing. The agony we suffer is only the result of the deliberate shallowness of our own heart. We won’t believe; we won’t let go by severing the line that secures the boat to the shore— we prefer to worry.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. Approved Unto God, 10 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 29, 2016
Five Pitfalls in a Passionate Election - #7601
Okay, spoiler alert. I am not talking about politics.
But, I can't remember an election where emotions have run this high. And the flood of passion is swamping the pundits. And that flood is sometimes carrying people where they never should go.
I have to confess I've always enjoyed following politics. But this year, I'm really hitting the brakes a little because there are some dangerous pitfalls in this high-voltage election. A follower of Jesus has a responsibility to "render to Caesar" and to "seek the welfare of the city" by being an informed voter. But, also, to avoid the hurtful pitfalls.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Five Pitfalls in a Passionate Election."
1. Unbalanced passion
As a follower of Jesus, I'm called to keep Him the central passion of my heart. But without knowing, I can let passion for a political cause or candidate dampen my fire for Jesus.
Thus defying the "Great Commandment" to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). When I let political frustration or fire make me act less like Jesus, I've lost my way.
2. Unrealistic hope
"They always let us down." That's a mantra we hear again and again about leaders we elect. They promise so much and often deliver much less.
That's because there's only one Messiah. And He's not running for office. This year or any year. He's already King of kings. No contest.
Yes, politicians should not overpromise. Yes, they should be honest about the reasons they end up breaking their promise. But, yes, we should not expect any human to be the one who fixes everything. That can only be the all-powerful, all-loving Messiah Jesus. The Bible says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). It's all about Jesus.
3. Unrighteous anger
We can't let the heat of our political passions become a fire that burns people around us. Sadly, that's happening this year. Politics coming between friends, family members, even brothers and sisters in Christ. Clearly disregarding God's blueprint for our relationships. Ephesians 4 says, "Don't sin by letting your anger control you...make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace".
4. Undermining baggage
I'll bet Jesus is wishing some of us would be as passionate about getting people to heaven as we are about getting some candidate to the White House. Because eternities matter so much more than elections. The Apostle Paul had it right: "We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:12). No baggage with the Gospel. I'll keep my mouth shut about politics so they'll listen with an open heart when I talk about Jesus.
5. Unclaimed peace - peace we could have
So much seems up for grabs in this turbulent year and these troubled times. One thing isn't. The Main Thing. And our word for today from the Word of God talks about it in Psalm 11:3-4. "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" I love the answer. "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne." That's never moved and it isn't going to. If my hopes are anywhere else though, I'll miss the peace of living in that unshakeable security that God is on His throne and God is in charge.
My Father in heaven will decide the outcomes. My Father in heaven is still in charge. After all, He is sovereign over the affairs of men. Psalm 75:7 says, "it is God alone who judges; He decides who will rise and who will fall."
So before I watch the news - and after - I think I'll keep saying those three game-changing words out loud.
"Jesus is Lord."
