Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 1
The Wages of Deceit
No one who is dishonest will live in my house; no liars will stay around me.
Psalm 101:7 (NCV)
More than once I've heard people refer to the story [of Ananias and Sapphira] with a nervous chuckle and say, "I'm glad God doesn't still strike people dead for lying." I'm not so sure he doesn't. It seems to me that the wages of deceit is still death. Not death of the body, perhaps, but the death of:
a marriage--Falsehoods are termites in the trunk of the family tree.
a conscience--The tragedy of the second lie is that it is always easier to tell
than the first.
a career-- Just ask the student who got booted out for cheating or the employee
who got fired for embezzlement if the lie wasn't fatal....
We could also list the deaths of intimacy, trust, peace, credibility and self-respect. But perhaps the most tragic death that occurs from deceit is our [Christian] witness. The court won't listen to the testimony of a perjured witness. Neither will the world.
From: Just Like Jesus
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1998)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 19
Saul Tries to Kill David
1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David 2 and warned him, "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out."
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?"
6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: "As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death."
7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
8 Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.
9 But an evil [s] spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, 10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.
11 Saul sent men to David's house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't run for your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be killed." 12 So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. 13 Then Michal took an idol [t] and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats' hair at the head.
14 When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, "He is ill."
15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, "Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him." 16 But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats' hair.
17 Saul said to Michal, "Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?"
Michal told him, "He said to me, 'Let me get away. Why should I kill you?' "
18 When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19 Word came to Saul: "David is in Naioth at Ramah"; 20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they also prophesied. 21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?"
"Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said.
23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
John 1:10-13 (New International Version)
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent,[a] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
December 1, 2009
The Best Of Gifts
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: John 1:10-13
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! —2 Corinthians 9:15
Having trouble selecting that perfect gift for someone? A friend shared with me a few suggestions:
• The gift of listening. No interrupting, no planning your response. Just listening.
• The gift of affection. Being generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, and pats on the back.
• The gift of laughter. Sharing funny stories and jokes. Your gift will say, “I love to laugh with you.”
• The gift of a written note. Expressing in a brief, handwritten note your appreciation or affection.
• The gift of a compliment. Sincerely saying, “You look great today” or “You are special” can bring a smile.
But as we begin this special month of celebration, why not pass on the best gift you’ve ever received? Share the fact that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:23). Or share this verse from John 1:12, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Remind others that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
The best gift of all is Jesus Christ. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15). — Cindy Hess Kasper
The greatest Gift that has ever been given
Is Jesus Christ who was sent down from heaven.
This Gift can be yours if you will believe;
Trust Him as Savior, and new life receive. —Hess
The best gift was found in a manger.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 1, 2009
The Law and the Gospel
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READ:
Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all —James 2:10
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. "I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died" ( Romans 7:9 ). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— ". . . sold under sin" ( Romans 7:14 ). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Long Journey and A Happy Ending - #5972
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Every wedding has its special challenges. Our friend Candace's was no exception, like getting the people in the wedding to the wedding, for example. The groom's family, including the best man, had to come from Sweden. And it just so happened that the week of the wedding was part of the longest stretch of winter cold and a deadly covering of ice in a hundred years. Literally, our whole region was glazed over with three layers of freeze, and it made even taking a step treacherous, let alone driving a vehicle. And there wasn't a trace of thawing. Well, it was a battle. Storms closed the major airports around us, but after many hours of travel and waiting, the groom's family finally got a flight to an airport about four hours away from us. Then came a long and treacherous drive for the groom, to and from the airport. Oh, and the fun was only beginning when they arrived in town, because then just walking to or from your car was risking life and limb. But Friday night, right on schedule, with the entire starting cast, according to plan, the wedding happened.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Long Journey and A Happy Ending."
For the bride and groom, for two families, the journey was a lot harder than they thought it would be. The process took a lot longer than they thought it would, but the goal came together right on schedule! Which may be exactly what's going on in your life right now related to God's great plans for you and something you've been trusting Him for over a long time.
There's so much security and reassurance in our word for today from the Word of God as He describes His activity in our lives. Ephesians 1:11-12 step back with God's telephoto lens to give us the really big picture: "In Christ, we were also chosen, having been predestined, according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will." In other words, God's plan for you is going to work out, right on schedule, with all the right cast, according to plans He made for you before there was a you!
Now it may not feel like that right now. Given what's going on right now - or what's not going on right now - it may be hard to imagine a happy ending. If you look at the human possibilities, there's not much hope of things coming together. But since when is a child of Almighty God supposed to just look at the human possibilities. The harder it is, the longer it takes, the more everyone is going to know it had to be God.
That's how it was when those two families watched their carefully laid plans unravel, and then God pull together what only He could pull together. It provided a powerful witness to family members who weren't believers, and even supporting each other on the ice bonded two families that had never even met before. God often takes a while to accomplish His purposes, because He's doing so much more than we could ever plan for or anticipate.
So your Plan A may have gone up in smoke; maybe your Plan B, C, and D are on the scrap heap, too. But God's Plan A is right on schedule, it's right on track. And that's the one you were made for, the one that was made for you. And He's not just working out a plan that will be good for a little while. He's carrying out plans that will be good forever! He's working out "everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" for you the Bible says.
So it may be harder than you thought it was going to be, it may taking longer than you thought it would it would take. But it's going to happen! And everyone is going to be amazed!
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