Max Lucado Daily: God Loves What Is Right
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God Loves What Is Right
Posted: 18 Jan 2010 10:01 PM PST
“Love . . . does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.” I Corinthians 13:6 NASB
Isn’t it good to know that even when we don’t love with a perfect love, God does? He always nourishes what is right. He always applauds what is right. He has never done wrong, led one person to do wrong, or rejoiced when anyone did wrong. For he is love, and love “does not rejoice with unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.
Song of Solomon 8
1 If only you were to me like a brother,
who was nursed at my mother's breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
and bring you to my mother's house—
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Friends
5 Who is this coming up from the desert
leaning on her lover?
Beloved
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who was in labor gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy [a] unyielding as the grave. [b]
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame. [c]
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it [d] would be utterly scorned.
Friends
8 We have a young sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
for the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
Beloved
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;
he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
a thousand shekels [e] of silver.
12 But my own vineyard is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon,
and two hundred [f] are for those who tend its fruit.
Lover
13 You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
Beloved
14 Come away, my lover,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the spice-laden mountains.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Philippians 3:7-14 (New International Version)
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing on Toward the Goal
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
January 19, 2010
Never Satisfied But Always Content
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READ: Philippians 3:7-14
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:14
Tiger Woods is clearly the greatest golfer of his generation. His ability to perform under pressure and win is becoming legendary. Yet what motivates Woods is not just winning, it’s his passion for excellence. Despite his great success, Tiger has repeatedly refined his swing in an ongoing effort to improve his game and be a better golfer. His desire for excellence leaves him never satisfied.
The apostle Paul was also driven by a desire for excellence—but in his relationship with Christ. Paul, however, taught that we’re to have balance. While we’re never to be satisfied with our spiritual progress, we’re always to be content in Christ.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul expressed both realities. While writing from prison, he declared his contentment with life’s circumstances, entrusting them to God’s care (Phil. 4:11). Nevertheless, he refused to be satisfied with his own spiritual progress. He did not count himself to have “apprehended” (to have arrived and achieved it all). Instead, he was committed to pressing on toward the goal (3:13-14).
Learning to balance contentment with a desire for excellence may be the forgotten key to our ongoing spiritual growth and advancement. — Bill Crowder
I give my life to You, O Lord,
To follow and obey;
Grant me contentment as I strive
For excellence each day. —Sper
Godliness with contentment is great gain. —1 Timothy 6:6
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 19, 2010
Vision and Darkness
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READ:
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him —Genesis 15:12
Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in "the shadow of His hand" (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a "darkness" that comes from too much light-that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11 ).
Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? "I am Almighty God . . ."— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Life That Matters - #6007
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
She was one of the most admired women in the world - Mother Teresa, that angelic woman who devoted her life to the least of the least in the slums of Calcutta, India. The world's greatest leaders wanted to meet her and to experience her love and her moral authority; just a diminutive woman who made such a difference in the world. Some years ago, a young man wrote a letter to Mother Teresa, asking her how he could make his life count as she had with hers. He waited six months for a reply from this very busy lady. When it came, it was just a postcard with four words on it - four very powerful words - "Find your own Calcutta."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Life That Matters."
If you do just what comes naturally, you'll live the kind of life most people do - self-focused, self-centered, self-serving. But a life that's only as big as you are is too small to live in. And you may be feeling that emotional and spiritual claustrophobia right now. Business as usual just isn't satisfying that restlessness in your heart. Your life is full, but not really fulfilling. Find your own Calcutta. Find some people who need you and start pouring your life out for them. The lid will come off your life.
Jesus gave us an immortal, indelible picture of the two ways to live life in His classic story of the Good Samaritan. It's in Luke 10, beginning in verse 30, our word for today from the Word of God. "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side" - as, by the way, did another religious leader who came by next.
Jesus goes on: "But a Samaritan...came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds...He put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him." Jesus went on to say that the Samaritan paid all the expenses of the beaten man's recovery; and that this Samaritan was the kind of neighbor that He expects all of us to be.
And there in that simple story is a picture of your lifestyle - all about yourself, ignoring the needs of people in your path...or all about yourself, stopping for people's needs, bearing the burdens of a bleeding world. I was really touched by a news report about a man whose choice may help you step up to a life that makes a far greater difference.
I'm quoting from USA Today: "David Townsend's perspective changed profoundly on September 11th. That's in 2001 at the World Trade Center, altering the direction of his life. 'From that moment forward, I realized that we are not going to live forever,' says Townsend, 37, of Indianapolis. 'I felt an even greater sense of urgency, felt compelled to leave my mark on the world. It has changed my outlook totally and shaken me to the core.' Townsend has left his job to work in social services, with the homeless and with urban churches... 'September 11th reinforced in me (he said) the need to live a life that matters."
I believe that's the kind of life you want. So learn to wake up each morning asking, "Who needs me today?" not "Who can meet my needs today?" There are people in your personal circle - people in your community - who desperately need someone to care. Be there for them. And remember, there is no greater difference you can make in someone's life than to introduce them to Jesus Christ and to take them to heaven with you!
With however many or few years you have left, live to make the greatest possible difference with the rest of your life!
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