Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
July 5
The day of the Lord will come like a thief.
2 Peter 3:10 (NCV)
Paul says "we are hoping for something we do not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently" (Rom. 8:25).
Peter tells us: "You should live holy lives and serve God, as you wait for
and look forward to the coming of the day of God" (2 Pet. 3:11-12).
Hope of the future is not a license for irresponsibility in the present. Let us wait forwardly, but let us wait.
Mark 16
Jesus Rises From the Dead
1 The Sabbath day ended. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices. They were going to apply them to Jesus' body.
2 Very early on the first day of the week, they were on their way to the tomb. It was just after sunrise. 3 They asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb?"
4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. The stone was very large.
5 They entered the tomb. As they did, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe. He was sitting on the right side. They were alarmed.
6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. But he has risen! He is not here! See the place where they had put him. 7 Go! Tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. It will be just as he told you.' "
8 The women were shaking and confused. They went out and ran away from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
9 Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. He had driven seven demons out of her. 10 She went and told those who had been with him. She found them crying. They were very sad. 11 They heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him. But they did not believe it.
12 After that, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them. This happened while they were walking out in the country. 13 The two returned and told the others about it. But the others did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating. He spoke firmly to them because they had no faith. They would not believe those who had seen him after he rose from the dead.
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world. Preach the good news to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who does not believe will be punished. 17 Here are the miraculous signs that those who believe will do. In my name they will drive out demons. They will speak in languages they had not known before. 18 They will pick up snakes with their hands. And when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all. They will place their hands on sick people. And the people will get well."
19 When the Lord Jesus finished speaking to them, he was taken up into heaven. He sat down at the right hand of God.
20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere. The Lord worked with them. And he backed up his word by the signs that went with it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 103
A psalm of David.
1 I will praise the Lord.
Deep down inside me, I will praise him.
I will praise him, because his name is holy.
2 I will praise the Lord.
I won't forget anything he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins.
He heals all my sicknesses.
4 He saves my life from going down into the grave.
His faithful and tender love makes me feel like a king.
5 He satisfies me with the good things I long for.
Then I feel young and strong again, just like an eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are beaten down.
7 He told Moses all about his plans.
He let the people of Israel see his mighty acts.
8 The Lord is tender and kind. He is gracious.
He is slow to get angry. He is full of love.
9 He won't keep bringing charges against us.
He won't stay angry with us forever.
10 He doesn't punish us for our sins as much as we should be punished.
He doesn't pay us back in keeping with the evil things we've done.
11 His love for those who have respect for him
is as high as the heavens are above the earth.
12 He has removed our lawless acts from us
as far as the east is from the west.
13 A father is tender and kind to his children.
In the same way, the Lord is tender and kind
to those who have respect for him.
14 He knows what we are made of.
He remembers that we are dust.
July 5, 2009
Hopeful Praise
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READ: Psalm 103:1-14
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. —Psalm 103:2
One of my friends was in tears on a beautiful summer day, unable to deal with life’s difficulties. Another could not look beyond the life-altering sadnesses of her past. Still another struggled with the closing of the small church he had pastored faithfully. A fourth friend had lost his job at a local ministry.
What can our struggling friends—or any of us—do to find hope? Where do we turn when tomorrow offers no happy promises?
We can praise or “bless” the Lord, as David said in Psalm 103. In the middle of trouble, acknowledging God’s role in our lives can redirect our thinking from the hurts of our hearts and force us to dwell instead on the greatness of our God. David knew trouble. He faced the threat of enemies, the consequences of his own sin, and the challenges of sorrow. Yet he also recognized the healing power of praise.
That’s why in Psalm 103 he can list reasons to turn our attention to God, who gives us many benefits: He forgives us, heals us, redeems us, crowns us with love and compassion, satisfies our desires, and renews us. David reminds us that God provides justice and righteousness, and He is gracious and loving.
Take it from David: Praising God’s greatness puts hope in our troubled hearts. — Dave Branon
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
To His feet thy tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing! —Lyte
Praise can lighten your heaviest burden.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 5, 2009
Don’t Plan Without God
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READ:
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass —Psalm 37:5
Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.
In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our "spiritual face" before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.
Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? "Love . . . thinks no evil" ( 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.
Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled . . ." (John 14:1 ). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— "Let not. . . ." To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.
