Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
May 12
The Author of Life
He who was dead sat up and began to speak. And [Jesus] presented him to his mother.
Luke 7:15 (NKJV)
The mourners didn't cause him to stop. Nor did the large crowd, or even the body of the dead man on the stretcher. It was the woman--the look on her face and the redness in her eyes. He knew immediately what was happening. It was her son who was being carried out, her only son. And if anyone knows the pain that comes from losing your only son, God does.
So he did it; he went into action. "Don't cry" he told the mother. "Arise!" he told the boy. The dead man spoke, the devil ran, and the people were reminded of this truth: For those who know the Author of Life, death is nothing more than Satan's dead-man's-bluff.
Ezra 6
The Decree of Darius
1 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:
Memorandum:
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:
Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be ninety feet [a] high and ninety feet wide, 4 with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.
6 Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you, their fellow officials of that province, stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:
The expenses of these men are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.
11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house and he is to be lifted up and impaled on it. And for this crime his house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.
I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.
Completion and Dedication of the Temple
13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
The Passover
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Philippians 1:19-26 (New International Version)
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.[a] 20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
May 12, 2009
Getting Better
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READ: Philippians 1:19-26
I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. —Philippians 1:23
A popular song from the 1960s was titled “Getting Better.” In it, the singer considers his young life and happily declares that he sees things “getting better all the time.” It is a song of optimism but, unfortunately, without any real basis for that hope.
By contrast, the Bible warns us that we live in a world that in many ways is actually getting worse (2 Tim. 3:13). Daily we’re faced with increasing evidence to support that contention. So how do we respond to the realities of life in such a badly marred world? With empty optimism? With hopeless discouragement? The apostle Paul shows us how.
While imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote to the church at Philippi to offer them genuine hope in a broken world. He encouraged his readers by telling them that though life in this world is often hard and painful, for the Christian things will get better. He wrote, “I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Phil. 1:23). It is a reminder to us that we can face the difficulties of living for Christ now because one day we will be with Him in an eternal home of splendor and fullness.
Life can be hard, but one day when we see Christ it will truly get better! — Bill Crowder
To see His face, this is my goal,
The deepest longing of my soul;
Through storm and stress my path I’ll trace
Till, satisfied, I see His face! —Chisholm
To be with Jesus forever is the sum of all happiness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 12, 2009
The Habit of Having No Habits
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READ:
If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful . . . —2 Peter 1:8
When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them. Our spiritual life continually causes us to focus our attention inwardly for the determined purpose of self-examination, because each of us has some qualities we have not yet added to our lives.
Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. We say, "I can’t do that right now; this is my time alone with God." No, this is your time alone with your habit. There is a quality that is still lacking in you. Identify your shortcoming and then look for opportunities to work into your life that missing quality.
Love means that there are no visible habits— that your habits are so immersed in the Lord that you practice them without realizing it. If you are consciously aware of your own holiness, you place limitations on yourself from doing certain things— things God is not restricting you from at all. This means there is a missing quality that needs to be added to your life. The only supernatural life is the life the Lord Jesus lived, and He was at home with God anywhere. Is there someplace where you are not at home with God? Then allow God to work through whatever that particular circumstance may be until you increase in Him, adding His qualities. Your life will then become the simple life of a child.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Security Checks for Families - #5827
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
In recent years, commercial flying has become even more of an adventure, especially with the closer scrutiny you get going through airline security. They x-ray, they wand passengers, they search passengers, they do more hand searches of your bag, they check for explosive residues, and they confiscate lots of things: knives, fingernail files, tools, box cutters, clippers. And very few passengers are objecting. I mean, we know that if you want to avoid tragedy, you have to not let on anyone or anything that could do something damaging.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Security Checks for Families."
Families need to follow a similar security procedure. Not making everyone go through a metal detector and a wand search before they come in the house. I mean each member of your family needs to be sure that they don't bring anything into the life of your family that can cause damage or even tragedy. And there are things we each can bring into our home that hurt. We just have to stop letting them in.
Ephesians 5, beginning with verse 21, our word for today from the Word of God, suggests four ways a family member can make things crash at your house. And no matter what your role in your family, there's something for you in these verses. The basic principle of a family that works is this: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." In other words, a family works when each person is doing his or her part to put the other people first. With that in mind, let's look at four ways - actually four people - who can sabotage a family. Listen for the one that applies to you.
For the husband, this "submitting to one another" goes like this: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, to make her holy...and to present her to Himself as a radiant church." God's kind of husband is daily sacrificing his self-interest for his wife's best, and as a result, helping her become more radiant than she's ever been before. You can tell a woman who's married to a man who makes her feel that special. So, the first person who can sabotage a happy family is a selfish husband. If you're a husband, don't bring that kind of "bomb" on board.
If you're a wife, it's supposed to look like this: "Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord." God's kind of wife is loyal, supportive, respecting her husband's God-given responsibility as leader of the home. So, the second person who can sabotage a family is a defiant wife.
OK, let's move on to a son or daughter. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." God goes on to promise unique blessings to a child who respects Him by obeying his parents. Saboteur #3 - a rebellious child.
And if you're a parent, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." You can exasperate your child with crushing expectations, with hypocritical living, with a lot of criticism, with little encouragement. So, a frustrating parent can also bring damage to what otherwise could have been a great flight.
A selfish husband, a defiant wife, a rebellious child, a frustrating parent: they each bring things onto your family's flight that can bring it down. But we each can do our part to make our home a safe place to be, where people are built up, not torn down. We each have a position to play to bring love and encouragement and respect to the other members of our family whether they're doing it or not. Be sure you're not bringing things aboard that can hijack your family's happiness.
