The Reality of Faith, by Max Lucado
Monday, September 08, 2008
“Surely this was a righteous man.”
Luke 23:47 NIV
If it is true that a picture paints a thousand words, then there was a Roman centurion who got a dictionary full. All he did was see Jesus suffer. He never heard him preach or saw him heal or followed him through the crowds. He never witnessed him still the winds; he only witnessed the way he died. But that was all it took to cause this weather-worn soldier to take a giant step in faith. “Surely this was a righteous man.”
That says a lot, doesn’t it? It says the rubber of faith meets the road of reality under hardship. It says the trueness of one’s belief in revealed in pain. Genuineness and character are unveiled in misfortune. Faith is at its best, not in three-piece suits on Sunday mornings or at V.B.S on summer days, but at hospital bedsides, cancer wards, and cemeteries.
Hebrews 9
Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle
1Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.[a] But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
6When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. 9This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
The Blood of Christ
11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here,[b] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16In the case of a will,[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep."[e] 21In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Corinthians 4
Apostles of Christ
1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
6Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!
September 8, 2008
Compliments Given Here
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READ: 1 Corinthians 4:1-8
Each one’s praise will come from God. —1 Corinthians 4:5
Artist Tom Greaves knows how to give compliments. He designed a bright red-and-white-striped box for an art exhibit in Washington, DC, called “The Compliment Machine.” As people walk by, the machine dishes out compliments from an internal iPod. It says things like, “Your eyes are beautiful,” “You smell good,” and “People are drawn to your positive energy.”
Greaves won’t say what his motive is for the box, other than that it’s in response to a saccharine culture in which everyone is special and nobody is criticized, regardless of performance.
Everybody loves to hear a compliment now and then; that is, if it’s genuine. It makes us feel good about ourselves to have the approval or admiration of others—for a few minutes at least. The apostle Paul, though, looked at what others thought of him or even what he thought of himself as “a very small thing” (1 Cor. 4:3). He said, “He who judges me is the Lord” (v.4). He knew that one day our hearts will be revealed, and “then each one’s praise will come from God” (v.5).
Could there be any greater compliment than this from our heavenly Father when we meet Him: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:23). — Anne Cetas
What joy ’twill be to hear Him say,
“Rejoice, My child, well done!
You’ve fought the battles there on earth,
The victor’s crown you’ve won.” —Sherbert
Work well done for Christ will receive a “well done” from Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 8, 2008
Do It Yourself (1)
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READ:
. . . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to "stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . ." (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier "against the knowledge of God" is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers "against the knowledge of God." We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Knowing You're Safe - #5651 - September 8, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, September 8, 2008
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When our older son was little, he would sometimes wander into the living room, crawl into my lap, and snuggle up so close I wasn't sure how he could breathe. One night he looked up at me with those big blue eyes of his and he told me something I've never forgotten. He said, "Daddy, when I'm in your arms, I feel so safe."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knowing You're Safe."
No matter how old we get, we're still looking for arms where we can feel totally safe, especially when we think about eternity.
For many years, my wife has wanted to find her grandfather's grave. So recently when my work took me near the area where Bill Harrison was buried, she checked out all the local cemeteries hoping to find that grave. Granddad Harrison had been an alcoholic since he was 12, but on the night he was planning to kill himself, he was attracted into a rescue mission by a song his mother used to sing. And that night he committed himself to Jesus Christ, and he never touched alcohol again. He spent the rest of his life traveling the country telling about the power that had changed him.
My wife never got to meet him; he died before she was born. And no one is alive today who could tell her exactly where he was buried. Sadly, she couldn't find a grave with his name on it. But she finally called and told me a little tearfully, The last grave we looked at had no name on it, but the same words we had inscribed on my mother's grave were on that gravestone, 'In the arms of Jesus.'"
Whatever they put on our tombstone some day, I hope those words will accurately describe where you'll be the moment after you die - safe in Jesus' arms. The Bible lets us know that this hope is more than just a nice epitaph. It says of those who belong to Jesus Christ, that they will be "away from the body and at home with the Lord" (1 Corinthians 5:8). Or, to put it simply, safe forever.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Revelation 21 beginning at verse 3, the Lord gives us a peek at what heaven will be like. It says, "God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain ... The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it ... there will be no night there." Of course, the most important question for you and me is, "Who will be there in heaven? Who goes to be 'in the arms of Jesus' when they die?"
Well, Revelation 21:27 says, "Nothing impure will ever enter it ... but only those whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life." Earlier in the same book, God says, "If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
The Bible makes it clear that God gave His only Son for us that "whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). That's who's in that Book of Life. Bill Harrison, my wife's mom, you or me, we end up "in the arms of Jesus" not because God accepts what we have done, but because we accept what God has done when Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. Nobody will make it to heaven because of the good they've done. The Bible says, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). And no one with sin can enter heaven. That's why Jesus had to die to pay a death penalty we could never pay, to remove the only thing that will keep you out of heaven when you die - your sin.
To end up in the arms of Jesus the moment you die, you have to put yourself in His arms before you die. And that's what He's inviting you to do right now; to walk into His open arms and let Him rescue you from a sin penalty you could never rescue yourself from. If you do that, you can know from this day on what will happen when you die. You will be in heaven with your Savior. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I hope you'll visit our website, because there's a lot of practical help there in knowing that you have actually given your life to Jesus Christ and how to begin that relationship. It's YoursForLife.net.
There is one safe place, today and forever. It is in the arms of Jesus.