Max Lucado Daily: He Will Come For Us
He Will Come For Us
Posted: 12 Jan 2010 10:01 PM PST
“I will come back and take you to be with me.” John 14: 3
We don’t know when Christ will come for us. We don’t know how he will come for us. And we really don’t know why he would come for us . . . Most of what we have is faith. Faith that he has ample space and a prepared place, and at the right time, he will come so that we can be where he is.
He will do the taking. It’s up to us to do the trusting.
Song of Solomon 2
Beloved [a]
1 I am a rose [b] of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
Lover
2 Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the maidens.
Beloved
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
8 Listen! My lover!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me."
Lover
14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch for us the foxes,
the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
our vineyards that are in bloom.
Beloved
16 My lover is mine and I am his;
he browses among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn, my lover,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the rugged hills. [c]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Peter 2:11-21 (New International Version)
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submission to Rulers and Masters
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
January 13, 2010
Credibility
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READ: 1 Peter 2:11-21
[Have] your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that . . . they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God. —1 Peter 2:12
The recent global financial crisis caused people to pay closer attention to their credit report. When credit was easy to get, some people became careless about how they used it. They didn’t bother to save for what they wanted; they just borrowed. Being in debt was no big deal. But in a crisis, that is no longer the case. Having good credit is suddenly very important.
After an advertisement for a credit repair service, a local newscaster said, “Credit repair isn’t something you can buy; it’s something you have to work for.”
The same principle applies to the credibility of our lives. We can’t buy it; it’s something we have to work for. We may be able to “borrow” credibility for a while by associating ourselves with credible people, but sooner or later we will need our own.
Credibility has to do with the ability to elicit belief. The reason it’s essential for Christians is that our lives affect God’s reputation (1 Peter 2:12). When we call ourselves by Christ’s name, His reputation is tied to ours. If people have reason not to believe us, they may not believe God.
The way to earn credibility is to live honorably. Then others will believe and glorify God. — Julie Ackerman Link
For Further Study
Look at these Scriptures about Christ’s life: Matthew 9:10-13; 20:28; Luke 6:12. How can you live the way He did?
If we take care of our character, our reputation will take care of itself.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 13, 2010
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)
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READ:
When He was alone . . . the twelve asked Him about the parable —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Child In Your Inbox - #6003
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
It was one of those days when I hadn't spent much time at my desk, and I had to be all over the building. I was working with different staff to finish several projects, and someone said, "Ron, have you checked your inbox lately?" Well, I hadn't looked at anything in my top bin of incoming work all day, and I figured whatever had appeared there in the last few hours, well it's going to self-destruct soon, right? Well, what roused my curiosity was this strange announcement: "There's a boy in your inbox." I checked, and sure enough, there was a boy in my inbox. Actually, it was a big, new, irresistible picture of my grandson, just standing there in my inbox, smiling at me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Child In Your Inbox."
Now, an inbox is where you find things that need your attention, right? Well, in a sense, there may be a boy or a girl in your inbox right now needing your attention.
The problem may be that a lot of other things are demanding your attention right now, too. You've got pressures, and deadlines, and problems. There's your career, your finances, people you work with, people you work for, and they all want a piece of you, right? But no one needs you more than that child of yours. You are the only mommy or daddy they have. And though they may not demand your attention like other things and other people do, they really need your attention more than they do. They deserve your attention.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 27:23-24. In that book that is such a blueprint for living wisely, here's God's warning: "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks; give careful attention to your herds." In other words, stay up-to-date on what belongs to you. And if a person is supposed to give careful attention to their animals, well, surely it's your responsibility to always "know the condition" of the child God has entrusted to you. Do you? Are you taking daily time to listen to that child, to make that child feel loved? Do you give that child all of you for a little while each day? If you don't, you'll lose track of who they are, what they need, and who they're becoming.
God goes on to point out some of the consequences of not paying attention to what's yours: "For riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations." In other words, what you neglect...you start to lose. If that's a son or daughter, well that is way too high a price to pay.
God is so serious about our relationship with our children that He even makes it a qualifying standard for anyone who wants to be a spiritual leader. In the requirements for leaders in 1 Timothy 3:4-5, God says, "He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?"
Right now you may be seeing in a son or daughter of yours, the effects of...I guess I'd call it a form of Attention Deficit Disorder. Now in this case, they're showing signs of a deficit in your attention. So it might be a good day to check your inbox. There might be a boy in your inbox or a girl in your inbox, desperately needing your priority attention.
And you know, no matter what else you have to do, you just don't have anything more important to do than give them the attention that they need.