Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 3
Radical Reconstruction
Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven.
Matthew 5:12 (NCV)
In the Sermon on the mount,...what Jesus promises is not a gimmick to give you goose bumps nor a mental attitude that has to be pumped up at pep rallies. No, Matthew 5 describes God's radical reconstruction of the heart.
Observe the sequence. First, we recognize we are in need (we're poor in spirit). Next, we repent of our self-sufficiency (we mourn). We quit calling the shots and surrender control to God (we're meek). So grateful are we for his presence that we yearn for more of him (we hunger and thirst). As we grow closer to him, we become more like him. We forgive others (we're merciful). We change our outlook (we're pure in heart). We love others (we're peacemakers). We endure injustice (we're persecuted).
It's no casual shift of attitude. It is a demolition of the old structure and a creation of the new. The more radical the change, the greater the joy. And it's worth every effort, for this is the joy of God.
Jude 1
1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by[a] Jesus Christ:
2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
The sin and doom of Godless men
3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4For certain men whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[c] delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.
11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.
12These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
A call to persevere
17But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Doxology
24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Jeremiah 36
Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's Scroll
1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. 3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin."
4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll. 5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, "I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD's temple. 6 So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. 7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each will turn from his wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great."
8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the LORD's temple he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.
Jeremiah 36:21-26
21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. 22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. 25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
October 3, 2008
Read A Banned Book
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READ: Jeremiah 36:1-8,21-26
Write . . . all the words that I have spoken to you . . . that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. —Jeremiah 36:2-3
The American Library Association has designated this week as Banned Books Week in celebration of the freedom to read and to express one’s opinion “even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular.”
The Bible is the all-time bestselling book, but in some parts of the world it is banned because it’s considered dangerous. The Bible is dangerous, however, only to those who fear finding out that they are wrong. It’s dangerous to those who exploit the weak and the innocent, who use force to keep others enslaved in poverty and ignorance, who don’t want to give up their favorite sin, who believe that salvation can be found apart from Christ.
No one wants to be told they are wrong. No one wants to hear that their behavior is putting themselves and those they love in danger or that God’s patience will eventually wear out. Yet that was the message God told Jeremiah to write (Jer. 36:2). When His message was read to King Jehoiakim, the king cut up the scroll and threw it into the fire (v.23).
The only way to know we are right is to be willing to discover where we are wrong. Read the all-time bestselling banned book, and let it reveal to you the truth about God—and about yourself. — Julie Ackerman Link
Lord Jesus, show Thyself to me
In very truth and deed;
Help me to find, O Christ, in Thee,
More than my deepest need. —Clarkson
The Bible shows us a picture of who we really are.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 3, 2008
The Place of Ministry
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READ:
He said to them, ’This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’ —Mark 9:29
His disciples asked Him privately, ’Why could we not cast it out?’ " ( Mark 9:28 ). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. "This kind can come out by nothing but" concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him.
When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face.
We must be able to "mount up with wings like eagles" ( Isaiah 40:31 ), but we must also know how to come down. The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" ( Philippians 4:13 ) and what he was referring to were mostly humiliating things. And yet it is in our power to refuse to be humiliated and to say, "No, thank you, I much prefer to be on the mountaintop with God." Can I face things as they actually are in the light of the reality of Jesus Christ, or do things as they really are destroy my faith in Him, and put me into a panic?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Father's Greatest Gift - #5670 - October 3, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, October 3, 2008
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When our kids do something crazy, my wife loves to repeat one of her favorite sayings, "The apple falls not far from the tree." I've never heard her say that when they do something good. Actually, I do get credited or blamed for a number of things as their father. Supposedly, my daughter has her father's nose, and some people think she got some writing ability from me. My sons have been accused of having my sense of humor, which is totally scary. I wish I could find out who has their father's hair; more and more of it is missing. If you're a father, your children do have a lot of you in them. I hope they've inherited what really matters from you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Father's Greatest Gift."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus 3:6. Moses is at the crossroads of his life. He is about to be directed by God to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt - it's huge. God is making this awesome personal appearance to him, and He tells Moses how to approach this holy ground. And then, in a sense, He introduces Himself to this overwhelmed servant of God. Here's what the Bible says, "Then He said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'" Now that last part of God's signature was a title He used often in Old Testament times. But what's distinctive was that God begins by telling Moses he was the God of his father.
Deep inside Moses was a buried treasure that God was opening at the burning bush - a lifetime of knowing Jehovah God. Moses had lived in pagan affluence, in a wilderness, but no matter where he went, he carried this spiritual treasure. And who put it there? His father!
But then, a lot of our attitude toward God comes from the kind of man Dad is. After all, God has asked us to call Him Father. And when we hear about God, we tend to call up our feelings about our earthly father. Sadly, those feelings are pretty painful and negative in some young people. I have often had to remind them that God is not the father you had on earth, but the father you always wished you had.
As a father, you have a lot of important roles, but none so cosmic, so eternal as planting God in your son or daughter. Our culture has this idea that the spiritual stuff is a mother's business, but that's dead wrong. God didn't introduce Himself as the God of your mother, even though she was a godly woman. In Ephesians 6:4, when God gives the New Testament instruction to raise your children in the Lord, it is introduced to fathers! The spiritual buck stops with the man!
Your child is learning how important this Heavenly Father is from your teaching or how unimportant He seems to be from your silence. Your son or daughter is learning about God from how you treat them. Is "father" forgiving or unforgiving; attentive or inattentive; affectionate or detached; pure or profane; truthful or untrustworthy; fair or arbitrary; there for you or not there for you?
What if God were to appear to your child in their moment of crisis and say, "I am the God of your father." What kind of God would they think He is? There was a five-year-old boy in a New York hospital who was dying of leukemia. One night his father was getting ready to leave, and the boy said, "Daddy, what is God like?" The father cleared his throat a couple of times and fumbled around for an answer. The little guy could tell his dad was uncomfortable, so he just said, "Daddy, that's OK. If God's like you, then I'm not afraid."
Dad, show them that kind of God. And if you can't because you don't know Him yourself, maybe it's time to make God your Father by trusting Jesus to be your Savior. If you want to know how to be sure you have that relationship, a lot of people have found help in beginning with Jesus just by going to our website. It's YoursForLife.net. Let me urge you to go there right away today as soon as you can.
And make sure daily you give your precious son or daughter more of God. Because of all a child can get from a father; that is His greatest gift of all.
