Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
March 27
Entering His Presence
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21 (NIV)
Just as a parent needs to know that his or her child is safe at school, we long to know that our loved ones are safe in death. We long for the reassurance that the soul goes immediately to be with God. But dare we believe it? Can we believe it? According to the Bible we can.
Scripture is surprisingly quiet about this phase of our lives. When speaking about the period between the death of the body and the resurrection of the body, the Bible doesn't shout; it just whispers. But at the confluence of these whispers, a firm voice is heard. This authoritative voice assures us that, at death, the Christian immediately enters into the presence of God and enjoys conscious fellowship with the Father and with those who have gone before.
Isaiah 2
The Mountain of the Lord
1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
The Day of the Lord
6 You have abandoned your people,
the house of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
they practice divination like the Philistines
and clasp hands with pagans.
7 Their land is full of silver and gold;
there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is full of idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their fingers have made.
9 So man will be brought low
and mankind humbled—
do not forgive them. [b]
10 Go into the rocks,
hide in the ground
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty!
11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled
and the pride of men brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
12 The LORD Almighty has a day in store
for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
(and they will be humbled),
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 for all the towering mountains
and all the high hills,
15 for every lofty tower
and every fortified wall,
16 for every trading ship [c]
and every stately vessel.
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low
and the pride of men humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
18 and the idols will totally disappear.
19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks
and to holes in the ground
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.
20 In that day men will throw away
to the rodents and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made to worship.
21 They will flee to caverns in the rocks
and to the overhanging crags
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.
22 Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
James 1:19-25 (New International Version)
Listening and Doing
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
March 27, 2009
I’m Innocent!
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READ: James 1:19-25
Be doers of the Word. —James 1:22
All of the students at a school in Florida—2,550 in total—were in trouble. A message system notified every parent that their child (or children) had detention that weekend for bad behavior. Many kids pleaded their innocence, yet some parents meted out punishment anyway. One mother, Amy, admitted that she yelled at her son and made sure he showed up for his detention on Saturday.
To the relief of 2,534 kids, and to the embarrassment of some parents, they discovered that the automated message was sent in error to the entire student body when only 16 kids actually deserved detention! Amy felt so bad about not listening to and believing her son that she took him out for breakfast that Saturday morning.
We all have stories to tell about circumstances that have shown us our need to listen before we speak. We’re naturally tempted to come to quick judgments and react angrily. The book of James gives us these three practical exhortations to deal with life’s stressful situations: “Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19).
In life’s stresses, let’s be “doers of the Word” (v.22), and take the time to listen and show restraint with our words and anger today. — Anne Cetas
A judgment made without the facts
Is sure to be unfair,
So always listen to both sides—
You’ll find the answer there. —Branon
Listen to understand, then speak with love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 27, 2009
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity (2)
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READ:
Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place . . . —Revelation 4:1
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, "Friend, come up even higher." There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, "Come up higher," not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
"Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing . . . ?" (Genesis 18:17 ). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Eye-Opener - #5795
Friday, March 27, 2009
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When you live around New York City like I did for 30 years, you take people on lots of tours. We've had friends visit us from all over the country - all over the world - and, of course, they all want to see the sights of New York that they've heard so much about. We've gotten to take many of them to the Statue of Liberty, the late great World Trade Center, Times Square, Broadway, the United Nations, Central Park. And something interesting happened to me as I introduced others to the place I knew so much about and I'd seen many times. In a sense, I discovered those places for myself in a new way, and I was actually energized by watching their reactions to seeing it all for the first time.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Eye-Opener."
Those places that I knew so well became more special to me when I introduced others to them. Just kind of like what happens when you or I introduce someone to the Savior we've known for so long. That's why Paul prayed what he did in Philemon, verse 6, our word for today from the Word of God. He said, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
Now there are many reasons to tell people about the life and love that you have found in Jesus Christ; not the least of which is that their eternity depends on them understanding what Jesus did on the cross for them. But here Paul gives a reason we may not think much about or we don't hear much about; that it is in sharing your relationship with Christ you begin to really understand your relationship with Christ as you never did before.
If you remain silent about Jesus, you can just coast along in a comfortable but really shallow spiritual rut. But once you step up to your responsibility to get this life-saving message to the people around you, something awakens in your own soul. You have to find ways to explain what Jesus did without all that religious vocabulary which I call "Christianese." And that vocabulary allows us to believe without thinking much about it. We just kind of agree with the words. But as you struggle to explain a relationship with Christ to someone else who doesn't know all those words, you actually start to better understand that relationship yourself. It's like me taking tours of where I lived; it becomes more special to me as I tell someone else about it. As I see the wonder of someone else discovering what I discovered a long time ago. When you tell others about Jesus, He starts to mean even more to you.
And if you're like most believers, you're actually missing this life-changing, faith-expanding experience. Surveys shows that 90% of Christians never talk about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Which means 90% are missing what Paul calls "a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." And the lost folks in their circle of influence are likely to go into a Christless eternity, an unthinkable eternity because of the silence of the Christian they knew. Please don't let that be you.
It's time to start blowing a lid off your relationship with Jesus by telling people about that relationship; about explaining it to others! Because when you show someone else this Jesus that you know, He'll mean more to you than He's ever meant before!
