Max Lucado Daily: As in Christ
As in Christ
Posted: 30 Jun 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Let us love one another, for love is of God.” I John 4:7, NKJV
Long to be more loving? Begin by accepting your place as a dearly loved child. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1, NIV).
Want to learn to forgive? Then consider how you’ve been forgiven. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32, NIV).
2 Thessalonians 3
Those Who Are Lazy
1-3One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master's Word will simply take off and race through the country to a ground-swell of response, just as it did among you. And pray that we'll be rescued from these scoundrels who are trying to do us in. I'm finding that not all "believers" are believers. But the Master never lets us down. He'll stick by you and protect you from evil.
4-5Because of the Master, we have great confidence in you. We know you're doing everything we told you and will continue doing it. May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God's love and Christ's endurance.
6-9Our orders—backed up by the Master, Jesus—are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you. Don't permit them to freeload on the rest. We showed you how to pull your weight when we were with you, so get on with it. We didn't sit around on our hands expecting others to take care of us. In fact, we worked our fingers to the bone, up half the night moonlighting so you wouldn't be burdened with taking care of us. And it wasn't because we didn't have a right to your support; we did. We simply wanted to provide an example of diligence, hoping it would prove contagious.
10-13Don't you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? "If you don't work, you don't eat." And now we're getting reports that a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings are taking advantage of you. This must not be tolerated. We command them to get to work immediately—no excuses, no arguments—and earn their own keep. Friends, don't slack off in doing your duty.
14-15If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don't let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he'll think twice. But don't treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares.
16May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!
17I, Paul, bid you good-bye in my own handwriting. I do this in all my letters, so examine my signature as proof that the letter is genuine.
18The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:25-34
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
A Worry List
July 1, 2010 — by Anne Cetas
Do not worry about tomorrow. —Matthew 6:34
I was worrying about a few things as I sat in my car under a shade tree at lunchtime. Then a robin, with a fat worm dangling from its mouth, landed near my door and looked up at me. The robin was a vivid reminder to me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-26, “Do not worry about your life . . . . Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Years ago, in an article in the Denver Seminary magazine Focal Point, Paul Borden gave some helpful suggestions for worriers:
Start a worry list. Write down what you’re worried about. The bills. Your job. Your children or grandchildren. Your health. The future.
Turn your worry list into a prayer list. Ask the Lord to work in those situations you’re concerned about. Pray specifically for your needs and depend on Him.
Turn your prayer list into an action list. If you have any insight that there’s something you can do about your cares, do it. As we turn our worries into prayer and action, Borden says, “Paralyzing anxiety can be replaced by concern for the responsibilities of life.”
Why not start your list right now?
Don’t fret about the future
Or be consumed by cares;
Instead take all your worries
And turn them into prayers. —Sper
What you have made a matter of prayer should cease to be a matter of care.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 1, 2010
The Inevitable Penalty
You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny —Matthew 5:26
There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and] . . . you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” ( 5:25-26 ). Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.”
These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.
If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Good News About a Cold Season - #6124
A Word With You - Your Mission
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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It was one of those winters when the bottom dropped out of the temperature in our area. Folks there just aren't used to visits from North Pole weather. For a while, our favorite song was, "Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow." I was discussing this extended freeze with a friend who has lived in the area most of her life, and she actually helped me have a very positive outlook on the cold weather. She just said, "Well, just think - it's killing a lot of bugs!" Well, with all the ticks and other pests we had the previous summer, that was pretty good news. So the next time I walked outside and felt a blast of that chilling cold, I said to myself, "Well, I'm turning blue, but bugs are dying!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Good News About a Cold Season."
Most of us have lived long enough to see it happen - something good coming out of something that's difficult and unpleasant. If you're in a season in your life that's pretty cold right now, that may be an encouragement that would be good to remember. As you're feeling the chill of the moment, God is doing something that you're going to benefit from later on; something that could not happen without this time of bitter cold.
Just ask Joseph. The Book of Genesis tells us about a very long winter season in the life of this Old Testament hero. His brothers hated him because he was his father's favorite. They threw him in a pit and nearly let him die there. At the last minute, they changed their minds and lightened up a little - they settled for selling him into Egyptian slavery. Joseph got a great job in the house of a powerful man, and then lost it when he refused the advances of the boss's wife and she falsely accused him of assaulting her. Then, two long years in the king's prison as a result.
Ultimately, Joseph came to the attention of Pharaoh who eventually promoted him to second in command in the mighty Egyptian empire. That's when a famine drove Joseph's brothers to Egypt in search of food - food only the brother they had betrayed could give them. When they finally realize who he is and experience the forgiveness and mercy that they don't deserve, Joseph speaks these words in Genesis 50:20 . Our word for today from the Word of God says; "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
From the pit to the prison, Joseph was sustained by one thing he knew had not changed - God was working on a bigger plan. If you belong to Jesus, then Joseph's God is your God, too. And He is a God who uses even the wickedness of man to do great things. For Joseph, vengeful brothers, false accusations, and terrible injustices became tools that God used to take him to places and positions he could never have gone to otherwise.
If it's cold right now, if it's dark right now, don't let discouragement win. Don't let bitterness or resentment or resignation ruin the greater plan God is working on. The question to ask in times like these isn't, "Why, God?" You may not have that answer till you get to heaven. The better question is, "How can You use this, God?" He really does "...work all things together for the good of those who love God" (Romans 8:28 ).
During this winter in your life, He wants to build in you qualities that will lead to future greatness. He wants to give you a closeness to Him that you've never had before and would never get any other way. And then, He wants to use this season to position you to make a greater difference with the rest of your life than you ever imagined.
