Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
July 30
When Love Is Real
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15 (NASB)
The summer before my eighth-grade year I made friends with a guy named Larry. He was new to town, so I encouraged him to go out for our school football team….
The result was a good news—bad news scenario. The good news? He made the cut. The bad news? He won my position. I tried to be happy for him, but it was tough.
A few weeks into the season Larry fell off a motorcycle and broke a finger. I remember the day he stood at my front door holding up his bandaged hand. “Looks like you’re going to have to play.”
I tried to feel sorry for him, but it was hard. The passage was a lot easier for Paul to write than it was for me to practice. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
You want to plumb the depths of your love for someone? How do you feel when that person succeeds?
1 Thessalonians 2
Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica
1You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.
As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
13And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. 14For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, 15who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men 16in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.[a]
Paul's Longing to See the Thessalonians
17But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us. 19For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 10:30-37 (New International Version)
30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
July 30, 2009
Getting Involved
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Luke 10:30-37
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. —Psalm 111:4
Isn’t anybody going to help that poor guy?” Fred exclaimed as he and my husband, Tom, realized what had been causing traffic to creep down the busy five-lane road. A man lay sprawled between the lanes, bicycle on top of him, as vehicles simply drove around him. Fred turned on the warning flashers and blocked traffic with his car. Then both guys jumped out to help the shaken man.
Fred and Tom got involved, as did the Samaritan man in Jesus’ story in Luke 10. Like him, they overcame any reluctance they might have had to reach out to a man in distress. The Samaritan also had to overcome racial and cultural prejudice. The people we would have expected to help showed indifference to the injured man’s plight.
It’s easy to find reasons not to get involved. Busyness, indifference, and fear often top the list. Yet as we seek to follow our Lord faithfully, we will become more aware of opportunities to show the kind of compassion He showed (Matt. 14:14; 15:32; Mark 6:34).
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus commended the man who had acted out of compassion even though it was inconvenient, difficult, and costly to do so. Then, to us He says, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). — Cindy Hess Kasper
When we share another’s burden,
We display God’s love and care,
Offering relief and comfort
When life seems too much to bear. —Sper
True compassion puts love into action.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 30, 2009
The Teaching of Disillusionment
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . . , for He knew what was in man —John 2:24-25
Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions. However, though no longer deceived, our experience of disillusionment may actually leave us cynical and overly critical in our judgment of others. But the disillusionment that comes from God brings us to the point where we see people as they really are, yet without any cynicism or any stinging and bitter criticism. Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts, seeing each other as we really are; we are only true to our misconceived ideas of one another. According to our thinking, everything is either delightful and good, or it is evil, malicious, and cowardly.
Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens— if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give. There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is so obviously uncompromising with regard to every human relationship because He knows that every relationship that is not based on faithfulness to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no one, and never placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God, and in what God’s grace could do for anyone, was so perfect that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Peace In Daddy's Arms - #5884
Thursday, July 30, 2009
It was chaos in our living room. Most of the family was there, and we are not a quiet bunch. Everyone's a communicator and so everyone was communicating. The adults were involved in several conversations at once. Our two young grandsons were playing with, well let's call it enthusiasm - maybe hoping to command a little attention. Surveying the uproar in our living room, I suddenly noticed a precious scene in the corner. It was our son with his dark-haired infant daughter, sprawled peacefully in her Daddy's arms. First they had been cheek to cheek, then she just simply fell asleep, oblivious to the storm going on around her, and safe in her Daddy's arms.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace In Daddy's Arms."
Our granddaughter felt safe, not because she wasn't in the middle of chaos, because believe me she was, but because of the security she has being in her Father's arms. It's a kind of security maybe you can only wish for right now because everything around you is up for grabs. Divorce can do that. A bad report from the doctor can do that, losing your job can, losing someone you love, facing some frightening unknowns; so many upheavals that can stress us, scare us, or sink us. They remind us of a search that we've been on all our life - the search for a safe place, no matter how out of control things around us may become. It's the search for peace.
That search will not end until you are safe in your Father's arms; that's your Heavenly Father. You weren't made to navigate life's white water alone. You were made for an intimate, trusting love relationship with the God who created you. The peace we need so badly is exactly what Jesus Christ promised to every person who belongs to Him. In John 14:27, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Let those words sink into your storm-battered soul. "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you." That peace is within your reach this very day.
I've seen that peace - peace that has nothing to do with what's swirling around you. I saw it in my friend John the day his largest account walked out the door and forced him to shut down this thriving business he had built. But he had that peace. I saw it in my friend Cindy as she stood by her husband's gray casket with her three young children. We went to comfort her. She comforted us. She had that peace. The day the plane I was on prepared for an emergency crash landing, the frightened lady next to me asked how I could be so peaceful. I said, "When your peace comes from a personal relationship with Jesus, you can have peace, no matter how frightening what's happening around you is." I could have died that day, but the peace held. It's my little granddaughter resting peacefully in her Daddy's arms.
That is the kind of relationship with God that Jesus is offering you. Only He can offer it because only He died to pay the price for the sin that keeps us from a sinless God. Because the peace we really need - the peace we've been looking for - is peace with God. Which the Bible says is "through our Lord Jesus Christ," who this very moment may be working in your heart, urging you to give yourself to Him. If you're not sure you belong to Jesus, the One the Bible calls the Prince of Peace, well tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours beginning today. My life is Yours to lead from this moment on."
If you want to be sure you belong to Jesus; if you want more information about how to begin a relationship with Him and be sure you have, I want to invite you to check out our website where a lot of people have found those kinds of answers. It doesn't represent any particular religion; it's all about Jesus. That website is YoursForLife.net. Or I'd be glad to send you my booklet called Yours For Life if you'll just call for it. There's a toll free number where you can do that. It's 877-741-1200.
The peace that may have eluded you your whole life is within your reach today. It's peace that can only be found in your Daddy's arms.
