Max Lucado Daily: I’ll Give You Eternity
I’ll Give You Eternity
Posted: 23 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:22
Even if you’ve fallen, even if you’ve failed, even if everyone else has rejected you, Christ will not turn away from you. He came first and foremost to those who have no hope. He goes to those no one else would go to and says, “I’ll give you eternity.”
John 13
Washing His Disciples' Feet
1-2 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.
3-6Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, "Master, you wash my feet?"
7Jesus answered, "You don't understand now what I'm doing, but it will be clear enough to you later."
8Peter persisted, "You're not going to wash my feet—ever!"
Jesus said, "If I don't wash you, you can't be part of what I'm doing."
9"Master!" said Peter. "Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!"
10-12Jesus said, "If you've had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you're clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you're clean. But not every one of you." (He knew who was betraying him. That's why he said, "Not every one of you.") After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
12-17Then he said, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as 'Teacher' and 'Master,' and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do. I'm only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to the employer. If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.
The One Who Ate Bread at My Table
18-20"I'm not including all of you in this. I know precisely whom I've selected, so as not to interfere with the fulfillment of this Scripture:
The one who ate bread at my table
Turned on his heel against me.
"I'm telling you all this ahead of time so that when it happens you will believe that I am who I say I am. Make sure you get this right: Receiving someone I send is the same as receiving me, just as receiving me is the same as receiving the One who sent me."
21After he said these things, Jesus became visibly upset, and then he told them why. "One of you is going to betray me."
22-25The disciples looked around at one another, wondering who on earth he was talking about. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved dearly, was reclining against him, his head on his shoulder. Peter motioned to him to ask who Jesus might be talking about. So, being the closest, he said, "Master, who?"
26-27Jesus said, "The one to whom I give this crust of bread after I've dipped it." Then he dipped the crust and gave it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. As soon as the bread was in his hand, Satan entered him.
"What you must do," said Jesus, "do. Do it and get it over with."
28-29No one around the supper table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas was their treasurer, Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the Feast, or that he should give something to the poor.
30Judas, with the piece of bread, left. It was night.
A New Command
31-32When he had left, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is seen for who he is, and God seen for who he is in him. The moment God is seen in him, God's glory will be on display. In glorifying him, he himself is glorified—glory all around!
33"Children, I am with you for only a short time longer. You are going to look high and low for me. But just as I told the Jews, I'm telling you: 'Where I go, you are not able to come.'
34-35"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."
36Simon Peter asked, "Master, just where are you going?"
Jesus answered, "You can't now follow me where I'm going. You will follow later."
37"Master," said Peter, "why can't I follow now? I'll lay down my life for you!"
38"Really? You'll lay down your life for me? The truth is that before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 18:15-17
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Bring Them To Jesus
May 24, 2010 — by Anne Cetas
Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. —Mark 10:14
The Scripture reading from Luke 18 about children seemed unusual at the memorial service for David Holquist. After all, he was 77 when he died.
Yet the pastor said the verses fit David, a long-time college professor, perfectly. Part of his legacy was that he took time for children—his own and others’. He made balloon animals and puppets, and helped in a puppet ministry at church. When planning worship services with others, he frequently asked, “What about the children?” He was concerned about what would help the children—not just the adults—to worship God.
Luke 18 shows us the concern Jesus had for children. When people brought little ones to Him, the disciples wanted to protect Jesus, a busy man, from the bothersome children. But it seems that Jesus was not at all bothered by them. Just the opposite. The Bible says that Jesus was “greatly displeased” at the disciples, and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them” (v.16). Mark adds that Jesus took them in His arms and blessed them (10:14-16).
Let’s examine our own attitude about children and then follow the example of David Holquist. Find some ways to help them come to Jesus.
To those who are teaching the gospel,
With love in their hearts for its truth,
Comes the gentle reminder from heaven,
“Forget not the children and youth.” —Anon.
God has great concern for little children.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 24, 2010
The Delight of Despair
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead —Revelation 1:17
It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.
“He laid His right hand on me . . .” ( Revelation 1:17 ). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” ( Deuteronomy 33:27 ), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” ( Revelation 1:17 ). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?
Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells . . .” ( Romans 7:18 ). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When the Lid Comes Off Your Life - #6096
Monday, May 24, 2010
She was only days old when she was abandoned by her parents. The lady who found her took her to an orphanage where she spent the first year of her life. It was a caring place, but of necessity, it was unheated. So she was too bundled up most of the time to fully develop her motor skills, and she was one of some 20 infants in tiny cribs in a small room. She got to play sometimes in their playroom, but it was also pretty small. Small is the word, I guess, that would really describe her whole world. Then one day a couple from America came and her caregiver placed her in their arms. That day, she had her first ever ride in a motorized vehicle and her first view of the world beyond the orphanage. Since then, there's not a day that goes by that she doesn't have some new experiences that just keep blowing the walls off her world. She's not an orphan anymore. She's home!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When the Lid Comes Off Your Life."
This is not just the story of one little girl. Spiritually speaking, it's the story of millions of people across this world - including me. Something happened. Actually, someone happened that has blown the walls off our world. For someone listening right now whose world has felt pretty small and pretty empty, you may be minutes away from the step that will blow the lid off your life.
For that little girl from the orphanage, her life could pretty well be divided up into "B.F." and "A.F." - before she had a family and after she got a family. For me - and for so many others it's "B.C." and "A.D." - before Christ and after Christ; before we began a personal relationship with Jesus and after we did. In fact, once you belong to Him and see how life was supposed to be all along, you tend to see all the years without Him the way the famous British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge saw his 50-plus years without Christ. His autobiography is entitled, "Chronicles of Wasted Years."
There are some folks who think that giving themselves to Jesus will actually limit their life. How wrong they are. Jesus made this awesome promise in our word for today from the Word of God in John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The opposite of full is empty. And that's how so many people feel inside, and how they feel when they think about what their life really means. It just seems empty.
Jesus said He came to make it full. And better yet, He came so that, as the Bible says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36)...a full life on earth - eternal life in heaven. Because when you find Jesus, you find what and who you were made for. The Bible says about Jesus, we were "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Without Him, it just doesn't work.
To make this God-life available to you, it cost Jesus His life. The sin that separates you and me from God could only be removed by God's Son paying the death penalty for it - the penalty that we deserve. Then He walked out of His grave to prove that He really is the Life-Giver. When you get Jesus, you plug into the plan you were made for; you get heaven's direction for your decisions; you get inexhaustible, "unloseable" love; you get God's grace to help you weather every crisis; you have someone who's bigger than every challenge that's bigger than you are.
In short, the lid comes off your life. But not until you place your life in His hands; hands that still bear the nail prints that prove how much He loves you. Maybe you're not sure you've ever done that. This could be your day to begin your personal relationship with Jesus by telling Him that you're ready to turn from the sin that He died for and put all your trust in Him.
If that's what you're ready to do; if you're ready to begin life as it was meant to be - centered on the One who made you for Himself, then I would encourage you to go to our website today. Because there is some helpful information there that has been a real encouragement to people at this crossroads moment that you're at right now. The website is YoursForLife.net.
Jesus came a long way. He paid a high price to hold you in His arms and make you one of His family. He's the home that your heart's been needing, and it's time to find your home.
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