Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
July 9
Facing Fear
“Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering.”
Luke 22:42 (NCV)
Jesus was more than anxious; he was afraid….
How remarkable that Jesus felt such fear. But how kind that he told us about it. We tend to do the opposite. Gloss over our fears. Cover them up. Keep our sweaty palms in our pockets, our nausea and dry mouths a secret. Not so with Jesus. We see no mask of strength. But we do hear a request for strength.
“Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering.” The first one to hear his fear is his Father. He could have gone to his mother. He could have confided in his disciples. He could have assembled a prayer meeting. All would have been appropriate, but none were his priority. He went first to his Father.
John 19
Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified
1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.
4Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"
6As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!"
But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."
7The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."
8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."
13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.
"Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.
15But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"
"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.
"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.
16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read:|sc JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
22Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
"They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing."[a] So this is what the soldiers did.
25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
The Death of Jesus
28Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"[b] 37and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."[c]
The Burial of Jesus
38Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.[d] 40Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 John 3:16-23 (New International Version)
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
July 9, 2009
Life, Love, Chocolate
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READ: 1 John 3:16-23
Be imitators of God . . . . And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us. —Ephesians 5:1-2
An entry I read on a favorite blog caught my eye. It was the morning of his ninth wedding anniversary. Not having a lot of money, the writer ran out to get his wife, Heidi, their favorite French pastry—pain au chocolat. After sprinting several miles, he arrived home, exhausted, to find her in the kitchen just pulling a chocolate-filled croissant out of the oven. It was pain au chocolat.
That husband, Jeff, compared his life with Heidi to the lives of the people in O. Henry’s short story “Gift of the Magi.” It tells of a man who sold his lone possession of value—a pocket watch—to buy hair combs for his wife, who had sold her long, beautiful hair to buy a gold chain for his watch.
Having no money concerns would be great—but realizing the immeasurable value of the people we care about is more important. We sometimes need a reminder that acquiring “things” is not nearly as important as appreciating the people God has placed in our lives. When we practice putting others’ interests before our own (Phil. 2:3-4), we learn what it means to love, serve, and sacrifice. In fact, that’s how we pattern Christ in our relationships (Eph. 5:1-2).
Life, love, and chocolate taste better when shared with others. — Cindy Hess Kasper
I want to share with those I love
The highest joy I’m thinking of,
Not just what brightens all their days
But what will give God highest praise. —Hess
Love is never afraid of giving too much.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 9, 2009
Will You Examine Yourself?
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READ:
Joshua said to the people, ’You cannot serve the Lord . . .’ —Joshua 24:19
Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, "I cannot live a holy life," but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. "You cannot serve the Lord . . ."— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?
"The people said to Joshua, ’No, but we will serve the Lord!" ( Joshua 24:21 ). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, "But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me." It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, "I will serve the Lord."
We say, "Oh, if only I really could believe!" The question is, "Will I believe?" No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. "He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" ( Matthew 13:58 ). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
An Open Door for Locked-Out People - #5869
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Our daughter and son-in-law and grandsons were visiting some out-of-state family members. Our favorite four-year-old had gone outside to play. When he tried to come back in the house, he found the door had locked behind him. He tried other doors, but he was locked out, no matter where he went. So he yelled loudly, but it was a big house and no one was close by. No one heard the little guy. The longer he was locked out without anyone responding to his cries, you can guess, the more desperate he became. And even though he eventually got in, the awful feelings that went with being locked out left a pretty deep impression.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Open Door for Locked-Out People."
Unfortunately, that locked-out feeling isn't unique to a child who can't get in. Many of us grownup children know that feeling all too well. Maybe you have felt locked out much of your life, excluded, abandoned, unheard, unnoticed. You've been hurting, but no one seems to respond.
Maybe you've found a lot of doors locked for you. But there is a door that stands not only unlocked to you, but wide open. Inside that door is love and acceptance and worth greater than you could have ever hoped for. At that door stands the very Creator who made you, wanting to welcome you into a personal relationship with Him.
The very first book of the Bible tells the story of a woman who had been locked out by those among whom she had once belonged. Hagar was maidservant to Abram's wife, Sarai. God had promised Abram and Sarai a miracle child in their old age, but when God didn't do it fast enough for Sarai, she suggested Abram sleep with her servant Hagar to conceive a child through this surrogate mother. Hagar became pregnant, but the ensuing tension between her and Sarai is described in the Bible this way, "Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her."
Now this expectant mother is all alone in the desert, essentially locked out of the family she had been a part of. In Genesis 16, beginning with verse 6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Bible says, "The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert...the angel of the Lord said to her, '...the Lord has heard of your misery.'" Experiencing the love and help of the Lord, it says, "she gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'"
That's the same Lord who knows your misery, who sees you in your situation, even if you've never given yourself to Him. He loves you. So much so, that He sent His one and only Son to die on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin. He's had His eye on you since before you were born. You matter so much to Him that He paid the ultimate price so you could get rid of the sin that keeps you from having a relationship with Him. This could be the day that you finally "see the One" who's seen you all along. You see your Creator for yourself, you experience Him for yourself beginning the moment that you reach out to Jesus in total faith as the only One who can forgive your sin. The only One who can bring you into a right relationship with God and take you to heaven with Him. If you're ready to experience this incredible love for yourself, you want to begin your relationship with this One who sees you, loves you, and wants you to belong to Him.
Just stop wherever you can as soon as you can and say, "Jesus, I believe when you died, you died for the sinning that I have done so I could be with you now and forever. And I am yours starting today." A lot of people are at the point of wanting to get started with Jesus in this personal relationship have gone to our website and found some help and some answers there - some encouragement. I want to encourage you to visit us there today. It's yoursforlife.net.
You're on the edge of the love you've needed and you've yearned for all your life. Jesus died to unlock the door to that love. Don't go one more day without Him.
