Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 5
Grace Teaches Us
He gave himself for us so he might pay the price to free us from all evil and to make us pure people who belong only to him.
Titus 2:14 (NCV)
Do we ever compromise tonight, knowing we'll confess tomorrow?
It's easy to be like the fellow visiting Las Vegas who called the preacher, wanting to know the hours of the Sunday service. The preacher was impressed. "Most people who come to Las Vegas don't do so to go to church."
"Oh, I'm not coming for the church. I'm coming for the gambling and parties and wild women. If I have half as much fun as I intend to, I'll need a church come Sunday morning."
Is that the intent of grace? Is God's goal to promote disobedience? Hardly. "Grace... teaches us not to live against God nor to do the evil things the world wants us to do. Instead, that grace teaches us to live now in a wise and right way and in a way that shows we serve God" (Titus 2:11-12). God's grace has released us from selfishness. Why return?
Job 39
1 "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 "Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied his ropes?
6 I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat.
7 He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver's shout.
8 He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 "Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him?
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 "Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?
21 He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, 'Aha!'
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high?
28 He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold.
29 From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar.
30 His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 4:11-16
11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
November 5, 2008
Exploratory Procedure
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READ: Hebrews 4:11-16
The Word of God is living and powerful, . . . a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. —Hebrews 4:12
I have a friend who recently underwent a laryngoscopy. I winced as he explained how his doctor took a camera with a light on the end and stuck it down his throat to try to find the cause of his pain.
It reminded me that God’s Word is like a laryngoscopy. It invades the unseen areas of our lives, exposing the diseased and damaged spiritual tissue that troubles us. If you’re wincing at the thought of how uncomfortable this divine procedure might be, consider Jesus’ words: “Everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20). Internal intrusions may be uncomfortable, but do you really want the disease?
Welcoming God’s Word to penetrate the deep, dark places of our hearts is the only way to find true healing and the spiritual health we long for. Believe me, the procedure will be thorough. As the writer of Hebrews assures, God’s Word is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (4:12)—piercing all the way through the external stuff of our lives, all the way down to our thoughts, intentions, and motives.
So what are you waiting for? With God’s Word you don’t need an appointment. The divine Surgeon is ready when you are! — Joe Stowell
Ever present, truest Friend,
Ever near Thine aid to lend,
Guide us as we search the Word,
Make it both our shield and sword. —Anon.
Let God’s Word explore your inner being.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 5, 2008
Partakers of His Suffering
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READ:
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings . . . —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, "Oh, I can’t deal with that person." Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered "according to the will of God" ( 1 Peter 4:19 ), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the "long road home."
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— "God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Attacking the Acid That's Attacking You - #5693
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
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You ate something your tummy didn't like. I love that phrase, "It didn't agree with me." Now your stomach gets its revenge as it puts out an overdose of stomach acid. You experience the distress of "heartburn" which has nothing to do with your heart, but...anyway. What's that miserable sufferer to do? Well, maybe it's a Maalox moment...or time for a "tum-ta-tum-tum"...or Pepsid-AC, or I don't know - dozens of remedies out there. The idea is the same. You've got acid eating away your insides; you take a remedy that will neutralize the acid.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Attacking the Acid That's Attacking You."
There is no simple pill to take for the acid that does the most damage inside you. It's called bitterness - unforgiveness. It could be that you have been genuinely wronged; you've been deeply wounded. And the most natural thing in the world is for that wound to turn to bitterness toward the one who hurt you. It's the most natural thing, and the most damaging thing. Someone listening today is being eaten up on the inside by bitter feelings, by smoldering anger.
But that acid of bitterness isn't hurting the person that hurt you. You're emotionally chained to that person, you think about them a lot. In fact, your bitterness may even be turning you hard on the inside. The acid may even be spilling on people who don't deserve it, people you love. God says in Hebrews 12:15 that a bitter root "grows up to cause trouble and defile many."
There is no pill that can neutralize the acid of bitterness. But there is a remedy. There's a picture of it in our word for today from the Word of God from Exodus 15, beginning in verse 23. The Israelites have traveled three days without finding water. Here's what it says, "When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter" (Marah means "bitter"). "So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet."
Bitter water. God's remedy? A tree. God used a tree to do what would otherwise be impossible - make sweet what had been bitter for so long. He wants to do the same inside you with a tree of wood. The tree where God forgave you of all you had done against Him. It is the cross of Jesus.
God's word to us is to "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." You and I certainly weren't forgiven based on deserving it. Certainly, the people who nailed Jesus to that tree didn't deserve to have Him say, "Father, forgive them." But He did. And at the foot of Jesus' cross - the Forgiving Place - you can find the grace to finally release that person who has hurt you so deeply.
You have to tell the Lord that you can't forgive that person, but that you want Jesus to give you His forgiving grace. Tell Him you're tired of drinking the water of bitterness, that you want to leave all your dark feelings toward that person at the foot of the cross - God's tree for bitterness. Ask Him for the ability to see the person who hurt you through His eyes. Release that person to God's justice. He'll make things right far better than you ever could. And commit right there at the cross where you have been forgiven that you will not treat that person as they have treated you; you will treat them as Jesus has treated you.
And you will finally be on your way to emotional freedom and emotional healing. The acid of bitterness has done enough damage. Jesus stands ready to neutralize that bitterness with a heavy dose of His forgiving love and grace. You'll find it at the cross where you were forgiven.
