Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
August 18
Anger Does No Good
An angry person causes trouble.
Proverbs 29:22 (NCV)
Anger. It’s a peculiar yet predictable emotion. It begins as a drop of water. An irritant. A frustration. Nothing big, just an aggravation. Someone gets your parking place. Someone pulls in front of you on the freeway. A waitress is slow and you are in a hurry. The toast burns. Drops of water. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Yet, get enough of these seemingly innocent drops of anger and before long you’ve got a bucket full of rage. Walking revenge. Blind bitterness….
Now, is that any way to live? What good has hatred ever brought? What hope has anger ever created? What problems have ever been resolved by revenge?
Colossians 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2To the holy and faithful[a] brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[b]
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[c] behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption,[e] the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of Christ
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[f] your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul's Labor for the Church
24Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
2 Corinthians 11:12-15
12And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
August 18, 2009
Beware The Rupert
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READ: 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 12-15
Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. —2 Corinthians 11:14
In the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Europe, an armada of Allied ships assaulted the beaches of Normandy, France. Simultaneously, thousands of airplanes dropped paratroopers into the action. Along with the paratroopers, the Allies also dropped hundreds of rubber dummies behind the enemy lines. Called “Ruperts,” these dummies were intended to simulate an attack to confuse the enemy. As the Ruperts landed, some German outposts were tricked into fighting the “paradummies,” creating a vital crack in the walls of Fortress Europe.
We accept that kind of deception as part of a legitimate military operation designed to thwart oppressive forces. What we should not accept is the deception Satan throws our way. Paul explained that the devil “transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), and his servants appear to be people who are promoting righteousness (v.15).
We must be alert! Our spiritual enemy would love to have followers of Christ distracted by false teaching and faulty doctrine. But as we keep our eyes on Jesus and the clear teachings of Scripture, our Lord can keep us aimed in the right direction.
Don’t be tricked by Satan’s Ruperts. — Bill Crowder
Each day amid life’s noisy throng
We’re bound to hear this world’s case,
And if we’re not alert to wrong,
The Savior’s name we may disgrace. —D. De Haan
God’s truth uncovers Satan’s lies.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 18, 2009
Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?
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READ:
When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:23
The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, "If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions."
"Sell all that you have . . ." ( Luke 18:22 ). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.
I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Missing Birthday - #5897
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
We just finished celebrating our grandson's tenth birthday. We didn't forget it. Well, he wouldn't let us forget it! This boy knew his birthday when he was two years old. It's a big deal to him, and to us. My wife and I will never forget the day he was born, because we were there! We waited outside that birthing room, then we got the word that he was in the process of arriving, and then we got the summons to come in and see him. One of life's ultimate "Kodak moments." And suddenly a day that had been just another number on the calendar before became one of the most special days in our life from then on!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Missing Birthday."
Our grandson knows when he was born. You know when you were born, even if you've got so many candles on your cake now that it sets off the smoke detector. Basic fact of life: your life had a definite beginning. There was a point in time at which you were born into your family.
It's the same in God's family. If you belong to Him, there was a definite beginning to that relationship; a time when you were born into His family. You may or may not remember the specific date, but you need to know there was one. Listen to how Jesus describes our entrance into God's family. It's in John 1:12, our word for today from the Word of God. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." Born, into the family of God, at the point where you consciously welcome Jesus Christ into your life.
You'll hear people say, "We're all God's children." Not according to the Bible. We're all God's creation, but you're only His child if you've been born into His family. And that happens at the point where you recognize your desperate need of Jesus and you throw open the door of your life, you let Him in, and you "receive" Him as it says. And obviously, if you've done that, you know you've done it. If you don't know that you have, you probably haven't. If you asked me if I'm married and I say, "Well, I'm not sure" or "I think we must have gotten hitched somewhere along the way," you'd say, "Man, if you're married, you know you're married! It's a conscious decision!"
So is turning over your life to Jesus Christ. It happens when you realize that you are away from God because you've done your life your way instead of God's way, and you decide it can't be that way anymore. You recognize that your only hope of being forgiven, your only hope of heaven is Jesus and the dying that He did for your sins on the cross and His coming back from death. And you reach out and you grab Him like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard and you say, "You are my only hope Jesus!" Has there been a time when you did that with Him? If you don't know, you probably don't belong to Him yet. You could today.
This could be the day when you do what maybe you've somehow missed all these years. You agree with Jesus. You've gone to Jesus' meetings. You believe Jesus' beliefs. You try to live Jesus' way, but somehow you've never consciously given yourself to the one who gave His life for you. But once again, He's knocking on the door of your heart, and He's giving you one more chance to belong to Him. Why don't you get this settled once and for all today! Get it done! Tell Him, "Jesus, I am Yours beginning today! I am putting all my trust in what You did on the cross for me. And the fact that You came out of Your grave, You are alive. And I want to move from just believing about You to belonging to You. Let this be the day I am born into God's family."
Once you do that, you will finally experience the unspeakable joy of knowing Him for real. I hope you'll visit our website today. Because if you're at this point, so many people have found the kind of help they needed to kind of cross the line and be sure that they really belong to Jesus Christ. We'll spell it out for you there at our website, and that website is YoursForYours.net.
This can be your Jesus-day!
