Max Lucado Daily: All Things
"You answer us in amazing ways, God our Savior.” Psalm 65:5
God never turns his back on those who ask honest questions. He never did in the Old Testament; he never did in the New Testament. So if you are asking honest questions of God, he will not turn away from you . . .
In learning to depend on God, we must accept that we may not know all the answers, but we know who knows the answers.
Job 10
1 "I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me,
but tell me what charges you have against me.
3 Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?
5 Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a man,
6 that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin-
7 though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
8 "Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?
9 Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,
11 clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.
13 "But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.
15 If I am guilty—woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in [e] my affliction.
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.
17 You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.
18 "Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
19 If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
20 Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy
21 before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and deep shadow, [f]
22 to the land of deepest night,
of deep shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 3:13-19
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.
14 He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach
15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder);
18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Discipleship 101
October 1, 2010 — by Marvin Williams
[Jesus] appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach. —Mark 3:14
Because I am not a “fix it” kind of guy, I had to call a friend who is a great handyman to make some repairs in my home recently. He came over, and I gave him my list. But to my surprise, he told me I would be doing the repairs myself! He modeled for me how to do it, instructed me along the way, and stayed with me. I followed his example and successfully made the repairs. This modeling seems close to what Jesus did when He called His first disciples.
When Jesus called those men to follow Him, He wanted them to be with Him and to teach the good news of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14,39; 6:12). The first job would require being under the immediate super-vision of Jesus—learning His words and interpretation of the Scriptures and watching His behavior. For the second task, Jesus sent them out to preach (Mark 3:14-15)—saying what He said and doing what He did. As they carried out these tasks, they were to be dependent on Jesus.
Today, Jesus is still calling His followers to this simple, yet powerful process of discipleship—being with Him, following His instructions, and living His example. Are you one who is dependent on Him as you’re following Him today?
For Further Study
For help in drawing near to the Lord to learn from Him,
read the online resource Keeping Our Appointments
With God at www.discoveryseries.org/q0718
Discipleship is relational and experiential.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 1st, 2010
The Place of Exaltation
. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Making Sure The Family's There - #6190
Friday, October 1, 2010
The military has roll call - reading out the names to see if everybody's there. When our family has a get-together - like Mom, Dad, Grandma, Granddad, and grandchildren - we don't have roll call. But we do have one three-year-old grandson who takes roll in his own little way. While we're all busy in the usual chatter and bustle of everyone catching up, our grandson is obviously evaluating who's there and who isn't. You can tell. Before very long, he pipes up, "Where's Grandma?" or "Where's Daddy?" or whoever happens to be the MIA at the moment. And he wants answers about where they are and why they aren't there. He wants every person in the family to be there!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making Sure The Family's There."
If you belong to Jesus Christ, and you know your sins are forgiven, when all of God's family gets together in heaven, you know you'll be there. But what about your family on earth? Will they be there, and are you doing what you need to do to help them be there?
It's easier to tell almost anyone else about Jesus isn't it, than it is to tell someone from your family? You can go to Mexico on a missions trip and tell people there about what Jesus did for them...you can say a word to someone at work or in a restaurant or in your neighborhood. You can be real involved in Christian activities that are aimed at helping people be in heaven with us and seldom if ever explain to your family members what Christ has done for you and what Christ did on the cross for them. Probably because it's just plain hard.
The priority of Jesus for us as His ambassadors shows up in a story recorded in Mark 5 , beginning in verse 18. It's our word for today from the Word of God. The Bible says, "As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with Him." Jesus had just set this man free from years of spiritual bondage. "Jesus did not let Him, but said, 'Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.' So the man went away and began to tell in all the Decapolis (which was his home area) how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."
It would have been easier for this man to go with Jesus and run around serving Him everywhere but home. Just like some of us. And we should be spreading the Good News about Jesus to people that God brings into our life and we should be a part of His mission to reach every lost person. But it should start at home. It may be that Jesus is saying to you today, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you."
How do you do that? First, pray by name every day for the lost members of your family. Second, evaluate what about you is making them think less of Jesus - could be your temper, your selfishness, your mouth - whatever it is, take some time to let Jesus change it. Let them see a difference in you that will mean something to them. Thirdly, let them know how much they mean to you. Sometimes a letter may be the best way to do that - a letter with four main parts: "I love you," "Thank you for," "I'm sorry for," and "I wish we could." In that last part, talk about how you hope your relationship can be from now on. And let them know how much you want them in heaven with you. Sometimes, our family members think we're condemning them, but you may need to say, "If being good could get anybody to heaven, you'd probably be on the list. But I found out that our only hope is what Jesus did and what we do with what He did for us."
Don't nag them. Don't argue religion with them. It's not about religion. It's all about Jesus and His cross. So stick to that. Pray for an open door to their heart and for then for God's courage and words to go in when He opens the door. God rescued you so the people you love could have Jesus within their reach, living in someone they know. Do all God wants you to do to help everyone you love be in heaven with you.
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