Max Lucado Daily: No More
No More
Posted: 05 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, NIV
Have you ever wondered what that command will be? It will be the inaugural word of heaven.
I could very well be wrong, but I think the command that puts an end to the pains of the earth and initiates the joys of heaven will be two words: “No more.”
No more loneliness. No more tears. No more death. No more sadness. No more crying. No more pain.
John 4
The Woman at the Well
1-3 Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4-6To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
7-8A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
11-12The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
13-14Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
15The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
16He said, "Go call your husband and then come back."
17-18"I have no husband," she said.
"That's nicely put: 'I have no husband.' You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough."
19-20"Oh, so you're a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"
21-23"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
23-24"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
25The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story."
26"I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."
27Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.
28-30The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, "Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" And they went out to see for themselves.
It's Harvest Time
31In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, "Rabbi, eat. Aren't you going to eat?"
32He told them, "I have food to eat you know nothing about."
33The disciples were puzzled. "Who could have brought him food?"
34-35Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time!
36-38"The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That's the truth of the saying, 'This one sows, that one harvests.' I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others."
39-42Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman's witness: "He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!" They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, "We're no longer taking this on your say-so. We've heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He's the Savior of the world!"
43-45After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.
46-48Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe."
49But the court official wouldn't be put off. "Come down! It's life or death for my son."
50-51Jesus simply replied, "Go home. Your son lives."
The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, "Your son lives!"
52-53He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, "The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o'clock." The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, "Your son lives."
53-54That clinched it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 34:4-18
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
God Has Time For You
May 6, 2010 — by David C. McCasland
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. —Psalm 34:6
Historian Cassius Dio recorded a revealing event from the life of Hadrian, the Roman Emperor from ad 117–138: “Once, when a woman made a request of [Hadrian] as he passed by on a journey, he at first said to her, ‘I haven’t time,’ but afterwards, when she cried out, ‘Cease, then, being emperor,’ he turned about and granted her a hearing.”
How often we say or hear, “Not now, I’m busy” or “I’m sorry, but I just don’t have time.” Yet, our heavenly Father, the Master and Creator of everything, always has time for us. The psalmist wrote: “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. . . . The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Ps. 34:15-17).
God is not like the emperor or a busy executive who tries to avoid interruption. Instead, the Father’s joy is to listen and respond to His children. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (v.18).
Hadrian’s afterthought was, “I must take time for my subjects.” God’s first thought is, “I always have time for those who come to Me.” Whenever we need to talk, the Lord is ready to listen.
I love to dwell upon the thought
That Jesus cares for me;
It matters not what life may bring—
He loves me tenderly. —Adams
God is never too busy to listen to His children.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 6 2010
Liberty and the Standards of Jesus
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free . . . —Galatians 5:1
A spiritually-minded person will never come to you with the demand— “Believe this and that”; a spiritually-minded person will demand that you align your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39-40 ). We are called to present liberty for the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and opinions. And if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty— the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.
Always measure your life solely by the standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one true liberty— the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.
Don’t get impatient with others. Remember how God dealt with you— with patience and with gentleness. But never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, “Go . . . and make disciples. . .” ( Matthew 28:19 ), not, “Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Looking For a Love You'll Never Find - #6084
A Word With You - Your Most Important Relationship
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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Our son had just finished his first day of high school and he thought he had found the "happy hunting ground." For girls, that is. He regaled his sister, then a junior in high school, with stories about all the incredible girls he'd seen that day. The more he talked, the more disgusted she became. Finally, she blurted, "You are so superficial!" To which he immediately replied, "Well, of course. I'm a freshman! We're into superficial!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking For a Love You'll Never Find."
Most of us aren't into superficial - not anymore. We've experienced enough superficial in our relationships for a lifetime. Now we just want something real. But there's more superficial and less real than ever.
A Newsweek writer said, "The greatest challenge of this century is going to be to avoid becoming a faceless society." She went on to describe our modern online relationships with acquaintances or friends that we've never really met, or who may not be at all like the person they say they are. We're more connected to more people than ever before, but in many ways, we're more lonely than we've ever been.
Anna Quindlen, the Newsweek columnist, tells about a memoir entitled, "The Autobiography of a Face," in which the author describes her childhood after cancer left her with much of her lower jaw gone or distorted. The author said there was one night of the year when she felt the happiest and the most free: Halloween, when she could wear a mask. Quindlen says, "This is the age of the mask." Our superficial world has become a place where, in her words, so many are "looking for something more, someone who will see them across a field of restaurant tables, really see them...looking for that one face in the crowd. Maybe everyone is."
Once there was a woman with incurable medical problems who was desperate for someone who would care - someone who could cure her. With her money and her medical options all used up, she pushed her way through a crushing crowd to get to a man called Jesus. In faith, she touched the hem of His robe, sure that Jesus would never know in the middle of so many people pressing on Him. But He said, "I know power has gone out from Me." The Bible says she found out that "she could not go unnoticed" by Jesus (Luke 8:43-48 ). Neither can you. Jesus is the face in the crowd who offers you the authentic love you've been looking for your whole life.
1 Samuel 16:7 , our word for today from the Word of God tells us that "man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." Jesus doesn't care about the superficial stuff that's so important to everyone else. He cares about your heart. And because He's God, He knows all the hurt, and the darkness, and the sin that's there. And He loves you. How can you know that? He's offered living proof - actually, dying proof. The Bible says, "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 ).
We didn't care about Him, but He died for us - for the sin that separates us from Him. That's how much He loves you. That's how much He desires to have a relationship with you. His love is the only one you can never lose, because it's not based on your performance. It's based on His promise, "I will never leave you." (Hebrews 13:5 ). The One who knows you best loves you most! He's the one person the real you can finally be safe with.
He doesn't force His love on you. You have to choose it; you have to respond to it. In the Bible's words, "We love Him because He loved us first" (1 John 4:19 ). Your relationship with Him begins as an act of total trust in the One who loved you enough to die for you. You tell Him, "Jesus, I'm sorry for hijacking my life from God and running it my way. You're my only hope of being forgiven - of going to heaven - because You died for me, You rose again for Me, and beginning today, I am Yours, Jesus."
If that's what you want, I want to encourage you to visit our website today. You'll find a brief explanation there from the Bible of how to be sure you actually belong to Jesus. Just go to YoursForLife.net.
No one on earth has the love to fill that hole in your heart. It's a God-shaped hole, and only He's big enough to fill it. You don't have to do anything to impress Him or to get Him to love you. He already does. Jesus...He's the end of your search.
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