Max Lucado Daily: God Is In Charge
God Is In Charge
“Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Matthew 6:13 RSV
“Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” What protection this . . . phrase affords. As you confess that God is in charge, you admit that you aren’t. As you proclaim that God has power, you admit that you don’t. And as you give God all the applause, there is none left to dizzy your brain.
2 Kings 6
An Axhead Floats
1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."
And he said, "Go."
3 Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?"
"I will," Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
6 The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Elisha Traps Blinded Arameans
8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place."
9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there." 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?"
12 "None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom."
13 "Go, find out where he is," the king ordered, "so I can send men and capture him." The report came back: "He is in Dothan." 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
19 Elisha told them, "This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to Samaria.
20 After they entered the city, Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see." Then the LORD opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?"
22 "Do not kill them," he answered. "Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master." 23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory.
Famine in Besieged Samaria
24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels [a] of silver, and a quarter of a cab [b] of seed pods [c] for five shekels. [d]
26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, "Help me, my lord the king!"
27 The king replied, "If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?" 28 Then he asked her, "What's the matter?"
She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son.' 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give up your son so we may eat him,' but she had hidden him."
30 When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and there, underneath, he had sackcloth on his body. 31 He said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!"
32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?"
33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, "This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 11:1-10 (New International Version)
Hebrews 11
By Faith
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
February 9, 2010
God Incidents
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READ: Hebrews 11:1-10
In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. —Philippians 4:6
In the normal course of providence, God works in and through creation, not despite it. For this reason, some answers to prayer are difficult to prove with certainty.
“Only faith vouches for the connection,” C. S. Lewis writes. “No empirical proof could establish it.” We believe a prayer has been answered not because of any scientific criteria proving it, but because we have faith.
Most of the ways we encounter God—nature, the Bible, the Lord’s Supper, the church, other people—include things we can touch. God’s own state, though, is the realm of spirit. Prayer reflects that difference between us.
Although we may ask God to intervene directly, it should not surprise us if He responds in a more hidden way in cooperation with our own choices. An alcoholic prays, “Lord, keep me from drink today.” The answer to that prayer will likely come from the inside—from a stiffening resolve or a cry for help to a loyal friend—rather than from some marvel like the magical disappearance of liquor bottles from a cabinet.
Whether God supernaturally intervenes or is giving us the power to obey Him, we trust His character. We see a true partnership, intimate and intertwined. — Philip Yancey
Help me to walk aright,
More by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heavenly light—
Teach me Thy way. —Ramsey
An important part of praying is a willingness to be part of the answer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 9, 2010
Are You Exhausted Spiritually?
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READ:
The everlasting God . . . neither faints nor is weary —Isaiah 40:28
Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, "Feed My sheep," but He gave him nothing with which to feed them ( John 21:17 ). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people’s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely— to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.
Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. "All my springs are in you" ( Psalm 87:7 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The "Go To" God That's Got To Go - #6022
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Who has any idea when they're standing there at the altar looking all goo-goo eyed at each other what those vows really mean? But there's a reason for those vows. They anticipate what a marriage commitment to someone really means over a lifetime. I'm glad they video record and audio record weddings. As the years unfold, you need to listen again to what you promised. Our wedding was recorded. It was actually chiseled on stone tablets by a stenographer. It was a long time ago, but it wasn't that long. It was too soon for a video tape, but we did get an audio tape. We had the privilege of writing our wedding ceremony, so we got to make a very personal commitment to each other in our vows. But for all the words we said that day, three words capture the essence of what it means to totally commit the rest of your life to someone: "forsaking all others."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'Go To' God That's Got To Go."
The night I married the precious love of my life, I wasn't only committing myself to love her. I was abandoning any other love - past, present or future. I hadn't met all the other women I would meet in my life, but that didn't matter. Sight unseen, not knowing what would come up, I was forsaking any other partner and committing everything I had to one woman for my whole life.
Your marriage commitment, as important as that is, is the second most important commitment in your life. And it's far behind the most important one. The most important commitment of your life is the one you make to Jesus Christ, because He's the One who died for you. He is your only hope for now and forever. He's the One you were made by and made for. As the Bible says, "All things were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). That includes you. He's your reason for living; He's your destiny. If you don't belong to Him, you're missing the reason there's a you.
But here's the problem. Many people look at the incredible love Jesus showed for them by dying for them on the cross; the awesome power He has proven by His resurrection from the dead and they say, "I want to belong to Him." And they make a commitment to Jesus. But many miss the "forsaking all others" part of a lifetime commitment; the abandoning of all other gods. In other words, you can't have a one-hand Savior; a Savior you grab with just one hand while you keep your other hand on another god. I call it your "go to" god - whatever you go to when the pressure's on, when the feeling's gone, when you're hurting, when you're restless. It could be a guy or girl you hang onto or something you use to relieve the pain, old friends, old habits, pornography, a religion or spirituality that's not about Jesus being your only hope, things you do to feel loved or accepted or significant.
When you do that, you're slapping Jesus with the ultimate insult, "You're not enough, Jesus. I need this, too." "Jesus and..." just doesn't cut it anymore than my wife and someone else would cut it. When Jesus has sacrificed His life for you, when He has all the power and all the love in the universe, how could you need something or someone else to fall back on?
Not long ago, at a conference for young people, I asked them to write their "other gods" on a card; the things or people that they tend to go to when the going gets tough. There was a cross at the front of the auditorium. At the end of the meeting, I asked them to bring the card that represented their other gods and, if they were willing to do this before the Savior who would never forget what they did, to tear up that card and leave the fragments of their other gods at the foot of the cross. You don't have a card, but I'm asking you to make that same kind of surrender to Jesus where you are. To finally make Jesus your two-hand Savior - the One you're holding with both hands because you've abandoned what's always been in the other hand.
If you've never really put all your trust in Jesus to be the Savior and leader of your life, let this be the day you get it settled. If you're ready to grab Him with both hands and really begin a personal love relationship with Him, then go visit our website where there's a lot of great information about beginning this relationship - YoursForLife.net.
He surrendered it all for you. Can you do less for Him?
