Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
January 12
A Home for Your Heart
Those who go to God Most High for safety will be protected by the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1 (NCV)
Chances are you've given little thought to housing your soul. We create elaborate houses for our bodies, but our souls are relegated to a hillside shanty where the night winds chill us and the rain soaks us. Is it any wonder the world is so full of cold hearts?
Doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to live outside. It's not God's plan for your heart to roam as a Bedouin. God wants you to move in out of the cold and live . . . with him. Under his roof there is space available. At his table a plate is set. In his living room a wingback chair is reserved just for you. And he'd like you to take up residence in his house. Why would he want you to share his home?
Simple, he's your Father.
2 Samuel 5
David Becomes King Over Israel
1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.' "
3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
David Conquers Jerusalem
6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, "You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off." They thought, "David cannot get in here." 7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David.
8 On that day, David said, "Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft [a] to reach those 'lame and blind' who are David's enemies. [b] " That is why they say, "The 'blind and lame' will not enter the palace."
9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the supporting terraces [c] inward. 10 And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him.
11 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. 12 And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
13 After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.
David Defeats the Philistines
17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 19 so David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?"
The LORD answered him, "Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you."
20 So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, "As waters break out, the LORD has broken out against my enemies before me." So that place was called Baal Perazim. [d] 21 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.
22 Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 23 so David inquired of the LORD, and he answered, "Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. 24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." 25 So David did as the LORD commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon [e] to Gezer.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 23:33-43 (New International Version)
33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."[a] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
38There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[b]"
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
January 12, 2009
Beyond Help?
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READ: Luke 23:33-43
Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” —Luke 23:43
A 110-year-old Israeli Bedouin shepherd was admitted to a Beersheba hospital while experiencing a heart attack. In spite of his age, doctors worked hard to save him. The man was thought to be the oldest heart patient ever to be treated successfully with anticlotting drugs. A hospital spokesperson reported that the Bedouin returned to his tent in the Negev Desert to tend his goats.
The care given to this 110-year-old man faintly echoes the way Jesus responded to those people we consider beyond help. His ability and willingness to go beyond social barriers to help lepers and social outcasts went far beyond the normal expectations of what a good person would do.
Even in the agony of His own suffering, Jesus reached out to a dying man everyone else regarded as beyond help. The man was a criminal, condemned to die, and only hours from entering a lost eternity. In that moment, Jesus responded to the man’s cry for help and said, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Do you know someone who seems beyond help today? Perhaps you think you are without hope. The God of the Bible specializes in giving help to those regarded as so old, so guilty, or so weak as to be beyond help. — Mart De Haan
Jesus seeks the lowly ones
When others do not care;
His lovingkindness and His help
He longs with them to share. —D. De Haan
God’s strength is best seen in our weakness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 12, 2009
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)
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READ:
When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples —Mark 4:34
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, "Oh, I’m so unworthy." We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Every Scar Has a Story - #5741 - January 12, 2009
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, January 12, 2009
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I was really moved by Lincoln's story. He's a respected African-American pastor that I had the privilege to get to know recently. He told me a little of his personal history. His father was a sharecropper, his grandfather was a slave. At the age of 11, Lincoln's grandfather had been taken from his mother and sold on the auction block, never to see his mother again. Amazingly, his grandfather conveyed no bitterness, no anger as he told his grandson about his childhood as a slave. But he did show his grandson his scars; the ones inflicted on him by his slave master. And my friend has never forgotten what Grandpa said about those scars, "Every scar has a story." I'm sure it did.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Every Scar Has a Story."
When God's Son left heaven and came here to earth, He was beaten, too. He got scars, too. And every scar tells a story. You and I are that story. It's about how very, very much He loves you.
God talks about it in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 53, beginning with verse 3. It's a description of what Jesus Christ went through for you and me. It says, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering...He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows...He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him." Remember who this is. This is the sinless Son of God, the one the Bible calls the "Prince of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8). And He's pierced, punished, and crushed. Not for anything He did. All for things you and I did. Because He had come to absorb the punishment for every wrong thing we've ever done.
There's only one thing Jesus took back to heaven from earth - the scars. The nail prints in His hands and feet; the ones that are there because of how very much He loves you. Every scar has a story. The wounds of Jesus tell us, "Your sins require an awful death penalty. I've paid that price so you can be forgiven. I don't want to lose you."
I guess you can see why God will never forget what you do with His Son. And why it is fatal to try to depend on anything other than Jesus to get right with God and go to heaven. You may be counting on your Christian knowledge, your Christian background, your Christian connections, or some Christian ritual. You may be hoping to make it because of how religious you are or how good you've been. But if any of those things could have gotten you to heaven, there's no way Jesus would have gone through what He did for you. His death is your only hope of heaven, of being forgiven.
He's been waiting for you to respond to His love for you maybe for a long time, by giving yourself to the One who gave Himself completely for you. You know you could do that right where you are. Just tell Him, "Jesus, thank You for what You went through to pay for all the wrong things that I have done. You are my only hope. And beginning right now, I am Yours."
Finally, you can belong to Jesus, not just believe things about Jesus. If you want to make sure that you have begun a personal relationship with Him. If you want more information on how to get started in a relationship with Him and to know that you have what He died to give you, I'd invite you to go where a lot of people have gone. It's our website. It's really designed to help you know how to get started with Him. The website is YoursForLife.net. I'd encourage you to go there at your first opportunity today. Or I could send you my little booklet Yours For Life. It has much of the same information in it. It's no cost; toll free number is 877-741-1200.
The scars of Jesus tell the story of how very much He loves you. There's an old hymn that says it pretty well, "I shall know Him, I shall know Him, as redeemed by His side I shall stand. I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side by the print of the nails in His hand."
