Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
May 4
It’s Called “Choice”
To choose life is to love the LORD your God, obey him, and stay close to him.
Deuteronomy 30:20 (NCV)
He placed one scoop of clay upon another until a form lay lifeless on the ground. . . .
All were silent as the Creator reached in himself and removed something yet unseen. "It’s called 'choice.' The seed of choice."
Within the man, God had placed a divine seed. A seed of his self. The God of might had created earth's mightiest. The Creator had created, not a creature, but another creator. And the One who had chosen to love had created one who could love in return.
Now it's our choice.
Lamentations 3
1 [a] I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and sated me with gall.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, "My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the LORD."
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny a man his rights
before the Most High,
36 to deprive a man of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
39 Why should any living man complain
when punished for his sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the LORD.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
42 "We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.
43 "You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
you have slain without pity.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
45 You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations.
46 "All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide against us.
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
ruin and destruction."
48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes
because my people are destroyed.
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,
50 until the LORD looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.
53 They tried to end my life in a pit
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,
and I thought I was about to be cut off.
55 I called on your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief."
57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, "Do not fear."
58 O Lord, you took up my case;
you redeemed my life.
59 You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me.
Uphold my cause!
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
61 O LORD, you have heard their insults,
all their plots against me-
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, O LORD,
for what their hands have done.
65 Put a veil over their hearts,
and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the LORD.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 (New International Version)
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith
2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
May 4, 2009
Connectors
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READ: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. —1 Thessalonians 1:8
Marketing professionals have known for years that a product recommendation from a friend is among the most effective means of advertising. That’s why many large companies recruit consumers who receive free samples of their products along with the encouragement to recommend them to family and friends. One major US corporation regularly sends coupons and products to 725,000 selected people called “connectors,” who spread the word to others.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is more than a product. It is God’s great plan for bringing people into a living, vital relationship with Him. But the gospel is conveyed most effectively by example and by word of mouth. Paul commended the Christians at Thessalonica for their exemplary living and their effective witness: “From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth . . . . Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything” (1 Thess. 1:8). Because their lives had been radically changed (v.9), they found it impossible to keep silent about their faith.
A university professor who trains advertising professionals says, “It’s human nature to talk about things that excite us.” God’s grace is all the incentive we need to recommend our Savior to a friend. — David C. McCasland
I’ll tell the world how Jesus saved me
And how He gave me a life brand new;
And I know that if you trust Him
That all He gave me He’ll give to you. —Fox
© 1963, Fox Music Publications.
If you want others to know what Christ will do for them, tell them what He has done for you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 4, 2009
Vicarious Intercession
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READ:
. . having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . —Hebrews 10:19
Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have "boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus."
Spiritual stubbornness is the most effective hindrance to intercession, because it is based on a sympathetic "understanding" of things we see in ourselves and others that we think needs no atonement. We have the idea that there are certain good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the atonement by the Cross of Christ. Just the sluggishness and lack of interest produced by this kind of thinking makes us unable to intercede. We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others, and we get irritated with Him. Yet we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies. We have to realize that the identification of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.
Am I stubborn or substituted? Am I spoiled or complete in my relationship to God? Am I irritable or spiritual? Am I determined to have my own way or determined to be identified with Him?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Problem with Looking at Yourself - #5821
Monday, May 4, 2009
It was one of those early spring days when you look out the window and you see all kinds of beautiful birds. I saw this one that was actually pretty funny to watch. I'm not sure it was actually very funny for him. I think it was a bluebird and he was hovering near a window on our car - the rear window, and he was just fluttering back and forth, but he was running into the glass over and over again. Now, he was obviously confused and disoriented. He was going nowhere, just fluttering, chattering, and crashing into the window. My wife said, "You know, I'll bet he sees himself in the glass and that's what's got him acting crazy."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Problem with Looking at Yourself."
Poor bird. I mean, when he just kept looking at himself, he got confused and disoriented, and he kept running into things. Just like us when we get all focused on ourselves. And maybe that's where you are right now. Look, the stress, the hurt, the load has gotten you all focusing on yourself, maybe without you're even realizing it. And you may actually be fluttering around emotionally, feeling disoriented and discouraged, even crashing sometimes.
Well, God has given us a picture of what this looks like in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Kings 19, beginning with verse 3. The great prophet Elijah has just come off the most powerful spiritual victory of his life - his showdown with 450 prophets of the idol Baal, where God proved who is Lord by consuming the sacrifice on the altar with fire from heaven. But now the wicked Queen Jezebel has ordered a "hit" on the prophet, and man has he changed.
The Bible says, "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba...he went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die." How does such a strong spiritual leader get so low so fast? Here's a clue in what he says to God: "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too." You see, suddenly it's all about me.
This is in pretty sharp contrast to Elijah's focus when he prayed on the day of his showdown with the false prophets. There he said, "O Lord...let it be known today that You are God...that I am Your servant...so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God." See, when it's all about God, I'm on top of things. When it's all about me, things are on top of me.
Fear, discouragement, being all stressed out - those aren't signs of being focused on your Lord. That's a bird who's looking at himself or herself and fluttering all over the place, crashing into things. Isaiah 26:3 (great verse) says that God will keep in "perfect peace" the one who is "stayed" on Him.
Self-pity, self-centeredness, self-promoting, self-reliance - see, the harder it gets, the more that "self" stuff starts to take over and the more out of control we become. If you've been looking at yourself too much, it's time to fly to a higher place where you can get your perspective back, and that means refocusing your eyes away from your great load and back to your great Lord.