Max Lucado Daily: You Have A Choice
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You Have A Choice
Posted: 16 Jan 2010 10:01 PM PST
“I expect and hope . . . to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth, whether I live or die.” Philippians 1:20
It would have been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal. I’ll take good health and a high IQ. I’ll pass on the music skills but give me a fast metabolism . . . Would’ve been nice. But it didn’t happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren’t given a voice or a vote.
But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book, that seems like a good deal. Wouldn’t you agree?
Song of Solomon 6
Friends
1Where has your lover gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way did your lover turn,
that we may look for him with you?
Beloved
2 My lover has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my lover's and my lover is mine;
he browses among the lilies.
Lover
4 You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem,
majestic as troops with banners.
5 Turn your eyes from me;
they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
not one of them is alone.
7 Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
8 Sixty queens there may be,
and eighty concubines,
and virgins beyond number;
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
the only daughter of her mother,
the favorite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines praised her.
Friends
10 Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?
Lover
11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it,
my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people. [a]
Friends
13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!
Lover
Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
as on the dance of Mahanaim?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 139:13-16 (New International Version)
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
January 17, 2010
Respect For Life
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READ: Psalm 139:13-16
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. —Psalm 139:14
In Psalm 139, David describes God as fashioning his tiny body together in the darkness of his mother’s womb. God loved David before he ever existed.
God designed the person David was to be, and He brought that person into being according to His predetermined plan. In this psalm, David used the intriguing metaphor of a journal in which God first wrote His plan and then brought that plan into fruition through His handiwork in the womb: “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written” (v.16).
Put another way, David was shaped by his heavenly Father’s love into a unique creation. He came from the inventive heart and hand of God. What was true of David is true of you. You are special—along with everyone else in the world.
This being true, we must be pro-life in the purest sense of the word. We are to respect and cherish all human life: the born and those still in the womb; winsome children and weary seniors; the wealthy executive and the financially destitute. All persons are unique productions of our Creator’s genius. With David, let’s exclaim: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (139:14). — David H. Roper
By God’s wise designing
We are wonderfully made,
Every part essential
And in perfect balance laid. —Anon.
All life is created by God and bears His autograph.
All life is created by God and bears His autograph.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 17, 2010
The Call of the Natural Life
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READ:
When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me . . . —Galatians 1:15-16
The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the natural life was stated by the apostle Paul— "When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is, purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles . . . ."
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life.