Max Lucado Daily: All Things
“By Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” Colossians 1:16 NASB
What a phenomenal list! Heavens and earth. Visible and invisible. Thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities. No thing, place, or person omitted. The scale on the sea urchin. The hair on the elephant hide.
The hurricane that wrecks the coast, the rain that nourishes the desert, the infant’s first heartbeat, the elderly person’s final breath -– all can be traced back to the hand of Christ, the firstborn of creation.
Jeremiah 5
Sins Are Piled Sky-High
1-2 "Patrol Jerusalem's streets. Look around. Take note.
Search the market squares.
See if you can find one man, one woman,
A single soul who does what is right
and tries to live a true life.
I want to forgive that person."
God's Decree.
"But if all they do is say, 'As sure as God lives...'
they're nothing but a bunch of liars."
3-6But you, God,
you have an eye for truth, don't you?
You hit them hard, but it didn't faze them.
You disciplined them, but they refused correction.
Hardheaded, harder than rock,
they wouldn't change.
Then I said to myself, "Well, these are just poor people.
They don't know any better.
They were never taught anything about God.
They never went to prayer meetings.
I'll find some people from the best families.
I'll talk to them.
They'll know what's going on, the way God works.
They'll know the score."
But they were no better! Rebels all!
Off doing their own thing.
The invaders are ready to pounce and kill,
like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf,
Panthers on the prowl.
The streets aren't safe anymore.
And why? Because the people's sins are piled sky-high;
their betrayals are past counting.
7-9"Why should I even bother with you any longer?
Your children wander off, leaving me,
Taking up with gods
that aren't even gods.
I satisfied their deepest needs, and then they went off with the 'sacred' whores,
left me for orgies in sex shrines!
A bunch of well-groomed, lusty stallions,
each one pawing and snorting for his neighbor's wife.
Do you think I'm going to stand around and do nothing?"
God's Decree.
"Don't you think I'll take serious measures
against a people like this?
Eyes That Don't Really Look,
Ears That Don't Really Listen
10-11"Go down the rows of vineyards and rip out the vines,
but not all of them. Leave a few.
Prune back those vines!
That growth didn't come from God!
They've betrayed me over and over again,
Judah and Israel both."
God's Decree.
12-13"They've spread lies about God.
They've said, 'There's nothing to him.
Nothing bad will happen to us,
neither famine nor war will come our way.
The prophets are all windbags.
They speak nothing but nonsense.'"
14Therefore, this is what God said to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
"Because they have talked this way,
they are going to eat those words.
Watch now! I'm putting my words
as fire in your mouth.
And the people are a pile of kindling
ready to go up in flames.
15-17"Attention! I'm bringing a far-off nation
against you, O house of Israel."
God's Decree.
"A solid nation,
an ancient nation,
A nation that speaks another language.
You won't understand a word they say.
When they aim their arrows, you're as good as dead.
They're a nation of real fighters!
They'll clean you out of house and home,
rob you of crops and children alike.
They'll feast on your sheep and cattle,
strip your vines and fig trees.
And the fortresses that made you feel so safe—
leveled with a stroke of the sword!
18-19"Even then, as bad as it will be"—God's Decree!—"it will not be the end of the world for you. And when people ask, 'Why did our God do all this to us?' you must say to them, 'It's tit for tat. Just as you left me and served foreign gods in your own country, so now you must serve foreigners in their own country.'
20-25"Tell the house of Jacob this,
put out this bulletin in Judah:
Listen to this,
you scatterbrains, airheads,
With eyes that see but don't really look,
and ears that hear but don't really listen.
Why don't you honor me?
Why aren't you in awe before me?
Yes, me, who made the shorelines
to contain the ocean waters.
I drew a line in the sand
that cannot be crossed.
Waves roll in but cannot get through;
breakers crash but that's the end of them.
But this people—what a people!
Uncontrollable, untameable runaways.
It never occurs to them to say,
'How can we honor our God with our lives,
The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn
and maintains the rhythm of the seasons,
Who sets aside time each year for harvest
and keeps everything running smoothly for us?'
Of course you don't! Your bad behavior blinds you to all this.
Your sins keep my blessings at a distance.
To Stand for Nothing and Stand Up for No One
26-29"My people are infiltrated by wicked men,
unscrupulous men on the hunt.
They set traps for the unsuspecting.
Their victims are innocent men and women.
Their houses are stuffed with ill-gotten gain,
like a hunter's bag full of birds.
Pretentious and powerful and rich,
hugely obese, oily with rolls of fat.
Worse, they have no conscience.
Right and wrong mean nothing to them.
They stand for nothing, stand up for no one,
throw orphans to the wolves, exploit the poor.
Do you think I'll stand by and do nothing about this?"
God's Decree.
"Don't you think I'll take serious measures
against a people like this?
30-31"Unspeakable! Sickening!
What's happened in this country?
Prophets preach lies
and priests hire on as their assistants.
And my people love it. They eat it up!
But what will you do when it's time to pick up the pieces?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Revelation 21
Everything New
1I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. 2I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. 3-5I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate."
March 25, 2010
Far Better
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READ: Revelation 21:1-4
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. —Revelation 21:4
Having suffered greatly—first from cancer, and then from the grueling medical regimen—pastor Dan Cummings was tired. After 2 weeks of treatment in Texas, he was looking forward to going back home to Michigan. In a post on his blog, he wrote: “Today is far better . . . amazing what some hydration will do. . . . Will fly home on the weekend to continue treatment at home.”
Dan did return to Michigan, but several days later, his journey on earth ended. He went home to be with his God—whom he loved with every bit of his weakened body but mighty spirit.
When I viewed his blog a few days later, his words “Today is far better” jumped out at me. I smiled through my tears in the knowledge that Dan was now experiencing a life that is truly “far better” (Phil. 1:23).
Someday we who claim the name of Jesus will also go to that place where there is “no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.” It’s a place where there is no more pain and where a loving Father promises to “wipe away every tear from [our] eyes” (Rev. 21:4).
The life we have here isn’t all there is. There is a far, far better place that Jesus is preparing for those who love Him (John 14:2-3). — Cindy Hess Kasper
When our life on earth has ended
We will feel God’s warm embrace;
There will be no pain or sorrow
In that far, far better place. —Sper
Heaven—no pain, no night, no death, no tears.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 25, 2010
Maintaining the Proper Relationship
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READ:
. . . the friend of the bridegroom . . . —John 3:29
Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— "What a fine person that man is!" That is not being a true "friend of the bridegroom"— I am increasing all the time; He is not.
To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the "friend of the bridegroom." Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends "of the bridegroom," we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Cost of Putting Off the Repairs - #6054
Thursday, March 25, 2010
A storm that roared through our area got so intense that a tree as big around as a car came crashing down on a house in our community. It went all the way through the roof and the house. We're talking major damage here. It didn't take long for the insurance adjuster to come by and give the owner a check to get the damage repaired. She called a contractor to come over for an estimate, and when he asked if she wanted him to do the work, she told him she wanted another estimate first. He warned her that there was more rain in the forecast, but she was determined. She had a similar conversation with a second contractor. Then the big rain came - and, of course, poured into her house. That's when she called a third and fourth contractor; both of whom gave her much higher estimates than the first two. Finally, she called in that first contractor who gave her a new estimate as high as the others. He said, "Ma'am, you waited so long that the rain came and did a lot more damage. So getting things fixed is going to cost a lot more."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cost of Putting Off the Repairs."
It's amazing how we have a tendency to do that - to put off repairs that need to be made in our marriage, with our child, with our parents, in a broken relationship, or in dealing with a problem that we don't want to confront. We keep thinking about how much it's going to cost to try to fix things. And we put it off - a little bit longer.
Problem: the longer you wait to repair what's broken, the more expensive it's going to be. This is the easiest and cheapest it's ever going to be to make it right. One day it's going to get so bad it's un-livable that way. But the price of repairs may be more expensive than you ever dreamed.
In the Bible, God is constantly urging us to get things fixed now. He says about our anger, for example, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:27). Translation: fix it now. Putting it off will only make it more expensive to fix.
Jesus told the story of the son who insisted on getting his inheritance while his father was still alive. Then he went to another country and squandered it all on partying. Did he face the damage and start repairs at that point? Oh, no! Postpone the repairs; too hard to go home and admit you're wrong. Did he give in when his friends all abandoned him? No. When the only job he could find was feeding some farmer's pigs? He still postponed the repairs. Finally, as he was reduced to eating pig slop, he said, "I will go to my father." And that's when he finally got a real relationship with his father - when he least deserved the love and forgiveness his father gave him.
We all need to go home to God that same way, because the most broken thing in our life is our relationship with God. The Bible says we're "far away" from God because our sin has cut us off from the one person we can't afford to live without - or die without. Our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 55:6 warns us to "...seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." One day you won't be able to find Him. If you feel His moving in your heart today, you can still find Him...for today, that is.
Postponing the Christ who died for your sin gets more and more expensive; more and more days wasted without the love and the meaning you were made for. Until one day the days run out, and you will have to pay, forever, the bill for your sin that Jesus already paid for you on the cross because you put it off one time too many. Which is why I urge you (why I pray for you) that you will not postpone repairing your relationship with God one more day.
Talk to Him. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours. No more putting this off. You died for me. You've got me." Getting this settled brings the greatest peace in the world. If you'd be interested in some information that I've put together on just how to get started with Jesus, visit our website today. It's YoursForLife.net. Or you can call toll free for my free booklet about it. It's called Yours For Life and the toll free number is 877-741-1200.
If Jesus is working in your heart, please don't tell Him "later" again. The price you're risking is a price you don't want to pay.
