Max Lucado Daily: Next Door Savior
Next Door Savior
Posted: 02 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. ” Philippians 3:8, RSV
He was the single most significant person who ever lived . . . The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street. Who comes close? Humanity’s best and brightest fade like dime-store rubies next to him . . .
A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust.
John 1
The Life-Light
1-2 The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.
3-5Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn't put it out.
6-8There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.
9-13The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn't even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn't want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.
14The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
15John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word."
16-18We all live off his generous bounty,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.
Thunder in the Desert
19-20When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn't evade the question. He told the plain truth: "I am not the Messiah."
21They pressed him, "Who, then? Elijah?"
"I am not."
"The Prophet?"
"No."
22Exasperated, they said, "Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself."
23"I'm thunder in the desert: 'Make the road straight for God!' I'm doing what the prophet Isaiah preached."
24-25Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: "If you're neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?"
26-27John answered, "I only baptize using water. A person you don't recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I'm not even worthy to hold his coat for him."
28These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time.
The God-Revealer
29-31The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I've been talking about, 'the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.' I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God."
32-34John clinched his witness with this: "I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' That's exactly what I saw happen, and I'm telling you, there's no question about it: This is the Son of God."
Come, See for Yourself
35-36The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb."
37-38The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, "What are you after?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"
39He replied, "Come along and see for yourself."
They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.
40-42Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John's witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, "We've found the Messiah" (that is, "Christ"). He immediately led him to Jesus.
Jesus took one look up and said, "You're John's son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas" (or Peter, which means "Rock").
43-44The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me." (Philip's hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)
45-46Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding."
But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself."
47When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body."
48Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me."
Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree."
49Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!"
50-51Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 15:1-7
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
5 A fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.
6 The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings them trouble.
7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.
Words—Do They Matter?
May 3, 2010 — by Dave Branon
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. —James 1:26
I heard a teenager from a Christian family declare, “My mom doesn’t think swear words are bad.” He then indicated which words she found acceptable—words that have long been considered inappropriate.
Society’s standard of language has declined in recent years, but we don’t have to decline with it. As we strive to be “very careful . . . how [we] live” (Eph. 5:15 niv), we should think about how to honor God with our words.
We please the Lord with our tongue when we show discernment. “He who restrains his lips is wise,” Proverbs 10:19 reminds us. When we do speak, we are to filter the words that escape our lips: “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (21:23).
It is important to use kind, positive words—even to address tough subjects. “A harsh word stirs up anger,” but “the tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly” (Prov. 15:1-2).
Finally, avoid words that reflect poorly on who we are as God’s children. Paul’s admonition to “let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29) sets a strong standard for the righteous use of words.
To honor God in each part of life, use words that are pleasing and acceptable to a holy God.
The tongue can be a blessing
And the tongue can be a curse;
Say, friend, how are you using yours:
For better or for worse? —Anon.
What we say reveals who we are.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 3, 2010
Vital Intercession
. . . praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . . —Ephesians 6:18
As we continue on in our intercession for others, we may find that our obedience to God in interceding is going to cost those for whom we intercede more than we ever thought. The danger in this is that we begin to intercede in sympathy with those whom God was gradually lifting up to a totally different level in direct answer to our prayers. Whenever we step back from our close identification with God’s interest and concern for others and step into having emotional sympathy with them, the vital connection with God is gone. We have then put our sympathy and concern for them in the way, and this is a deliberate rebuke to God.
It is impossible for us to have living and vital intercession unless we are perfectly and completely sure of God. And the greatest destroyer of that confident relationship to God, so necessary for intercession, is our own personal sympathy and preconceived bias. Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will. It is sympathy with ourselves or with others that makes us say, “I will not allow that thing to happen.” And instantly we are out of that vital connection with God.
Vital intercession leaves you with neither the time nor the inclination to pray for your own “sad and pitiful self.” You do not have to struggle to keep thoughts of yourself out, because they are not even there to be kept out of your thinking. You are completely and entirely identified with God’s interests and concerns in other lives. God gives us discernment in the lives of others to call us to intercession for them, never so that we may find fault with them.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Navigating Without Going Aground - #6081
Monday, May 3, 2010
It was a dark night off the Atlantic Coast, and the captain saw a disaster just ahead - a light that was on a collision course with his ship. There wasn't much time to get the other vessel to change course. So he urgently radioed this message: "Move ten degrees north immediately." The answer came back, "Move ten degrees south." This was no time for playing navigational games! With some growing aggravation, the captain answered back, "I'm a captain! You adjust your course ten degrees north." The reply came back: "I'm a seaman second class! Adjust ten degrees south." Well, at that point, the captain thundered his final word: "I'm a destroyer - adjust your course now!" And the answer came back: "I'm a lighthouse! Adjust your course!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Navigating Without Going Aground."
Don't try to move the lighthouse. Navigate with the lighthouse as your fixed point, unless you want to go aground. For those who belong to Jesus Christ, there is one lighthouse that is supposed to always govern what course we set. But over and over again, we set the course we want; often the course that is easiest and most convenient, ignoring the beam from the lighthouse that keeps us from ending up on the rocks. Just in case you think I'm talking about someone else, stay tuned.
In Joshua 1:7-8, our word for today from the Word of God, God reveals the secret of living a successful life; something that's very good to know. He says, "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law...do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." No gray here, just black and white. God has revealed the truth about life in His book, the Bible, and He gives this simple formula for success. Do everything by My book - no detours.
If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, you almost surely think of yourself as a Bible person. Right? I'm sure you profess belief in God's Word and you would say it's the compass for your life. That's beliefs. Now let's look at reality. Many of us Bible people actually make our life choices based more on what we want to do, what we want to be true, on what our culture says is the thing to do. Whether it's the youth culture, the pop culture, the church culture, the business culture, the military culture, the educational culture - whatever our niche is.
Some people follow whatever their favorite spiritual leader says, or their favorite author or teacher or personality. Paul commended the Christians at Berea as being "of more noble character" because "they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (Acts 17:11).
If even the great Apostle Paul said it was true, they still checked it out with the Word of God. That's the only way to avoid beliefs and choices that cause shipwrecks. See what God says about it and do it, no matter how costly or unpopular that may be.
Shall we let our kids, or ourselves, watch, read or listen to something because the culture says it's a good thing? Check with God. Turn the lighthouse light on it! Shall we base our view of divorce or sexual standards or entertainment on what "everybody" thinks? No, we'll believe what God says. His one vote decides it, even if millions are going the other way. Shall we compromise just because suddenly the issue involves us or someone close to us? Not unless we want a shipwreck.
It takes a real man, a real woman, a moral hero to say about an issue, "God hasn't changed His mind, and He's calling the shots. The lighthouse isn't moving, and I am navigating - not by my feelings, not by your feelings - but by the unchanging light from heaven called the Bible. Any other course means that sooner or later, we're going down!"