Max Lucado Daily: Keeping Unity
Keeping Unity
Posted: 25 Feb 2010 10:01 PM PST
“All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.” John 13:35
Stop and think about that verse for a minute. Could it be that unity is the key to reaching the world for Christ? . . .
Nowhere, by the way, are we told to build unity. We are told simply to keep unity. From God’s perspective there is but “one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Unity does not need to be created; it simply needs to be protected.
Hosea 3
In Time They'll Come Back
1 Then God ordered me, "Start all over: Love your wife again, your wife who's in bed with her latest boyfriend, your cheating wife.
Love her the way I, God, love the Israelite people,
even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy."
2-3I did it. I paid good money to get her back.
It cost me the price of a slave.
Then I told her, "From now on you're living with me.
No more whoring, no more sleeping around.
You're living with me and I'm living with you."
4-5 The people of Israel are going to live a long time
stripped of security and protection,
without religion and comfort,
godless and prayerless.
But in time they'll come back, these Israelites,
come back looking for their God and their David-King.
They'll come back chastened to reverence
before God and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 6
1-2 This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you're about to cross into to possess. This is so that you'll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I'm commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.
3 Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you're told so that you'll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.
4 Attention, Israel!
God, our God! God the one and only!
5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!
6-9 Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
February 26, 2010
Under New Orders
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READ: Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. —Matthew 22:37
Herman Wouk’s thrilling World War II novel The Caine Mutiny contains an excellent illustration of what happens when someone becomes a follower of God.
In the novel, a young man from an influential family has enlisted in the Navy. On the day of his induction, his mother drops him off in her fancy car and then kisses him goodbye. He shakes hands with the guard as he enters the building, and the door closes behind him.
His mother, suddenly worried that he might not have enough money, rushes up to the door. But the guard politely stops her. When she demands entrance, he refuses to let her in. She can see her son standing inside the door, so she reaches for the doorknob. “He’s my son!” she cries. The guard gently removes her hand from the knob and says softly, “I know, Ma’am, but he belongs to Uncle Sam now. He’s a sailor.”
When we believe in Jesus Christ and become His followers, we are under new authority. We are subject to new commands. Now we belong to Him. What was once important to us loses its significance. We evaluate things differently. Our new desire is to love and serve the Lord with all our heart (Deut. 6:5-6). Have you joined His ranks? — David C. Egner
Jesus my Lord will love me forever,
From Him no power of evil can sever;
He gave His life to ransom my soul—
Now I belong to Him! —Clayton
Followers of Christ get their marching orders from Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 26, 2010
Our Misgivings About Jesus
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READ:
The woman said to Him, ’Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep’ —John 4:11
Have you ever said to yourself, "I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!" When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, "Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?" Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, "It’s easy to say, ’Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things." And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, "Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself." If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t.
My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— "Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it."
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Avoiding Shark Attacks - #6035
Friday, February 26, 2010
They advertised a special on "flying sharks." And the TV channel didn't disappoint the people who tuned in. They showed an island just off the coast of South Africa where great white sharks jump as much as 15 feet in the air with their prey, and seals are their meal du jour. The area around this island is called the "Ring of Death"...and a whole lot of seals would agree. No one knows exactly why the sharks there get airborne as they do. It's apparently the only place on earth where they behave like this. But the TV special showed real footage of a shark suddenly coming up underneath an unsuspecting seal, grabbing it in his jaws, and soaring into the air with his catch. Now the seals have learned something about these jumping jaws. The sharks seldom attack when the seals are traveling together. So they tend to stay in groups of seven or eight. Smart! But occasionally a stubborn seal will just go off on his own. And the scientists say when a seal goes off by itself, he is just asking to be shark food.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Avoiding Shark Attacks."
There's a powerful lesson to be learned from those seals who live in the "Ring of Death." If you want to avoid being your enemy's prey, stay with the pack!
We know from 1 Peter 5:8 that you and I have an enemy, the devil, who is "looking for someone to devour." And I'm convinced that he operates much like those sharks - he looks for someone who's off on their own and pounces on them. You're a lot less vulnerable as long as you're sticking close to your spiritual brothers and sisters, to your family. The problem is that right now maybe you're allowing yourself to be isolated, distant, and even cut off from people who love you and people you love. The shark from hell loves that.
The first followers of Christ were living in a "ring of death" in Jerusalem after Jesus' death, resurrection, and return to heaven. But they knew one of the great secrets of safety and strength. In our word for today from the Word of God, Acts 2, beginning with verse 42, the Bible says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts." Okay, what's the key word here: together. Right? They stayed together, and it was very difficult for any predator to get them.
The question is, have you allowed some walls, some distance, some resistance to develop between you and the people you've been close to? Maybe you've been wounded, maybe there's been misunderstanding, poor communication, careless words, a lot of frustration, or you didn't get your way. Or maybe you're just hurting or struggling and you don't want people to see you like this.
For whatever reason, you're like one of those seals. You're away from the protection of your brothers and sisters. Remember, God said way back in the Garden of Eden, "It is not good for man to be alone." That's still true. And you're allowing yourself to be way too alone. Shark bait! Out there by yourself, Satan can get you to believe all kinds of lies, fall for all kinds of temptations, and do all kinds of things you thought you'd never do.
Please, whatever your reasons for isolating yourself, get back to your family, get back to God's fellowship, get back to the church, get back to those you were serving the Lord with. You just can't afford to be swimming out there all by yourself. The sharks of hell love it when they can get you alone. Don't give them that opportunity to strike.
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