Max Lucado Daily: Which Do You See?
Which Do You See?
Posted: 20 Sep 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“The Lord will be your confidence.” Proverbs 3:26 NKJV
The temple builders and the Savior seekers. You’ll find them both in the same church, on the same pew – at times, even in the same suit. One sees the structure and says, “What a great church.” The other sees the Savior and says, “What a great Christ!”
Which do you see?
Matthew 7
Judging Others
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 30:15-22
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
16 You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill."
18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!"
Navigational System
September 21, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. —John 16:13
Have you ever wondered how an airplane pilot knows how to get from point A to point B? Most likely, he uses VOR, short for VHF Omni-directional Radio Range, a navigational system invented in the early 1950s. It still guides many aircraft to their destination today. The pilot sets the course of the aircraft on his dial. If the aircraft drifts from that set course, the instrument shows the pilot that the plane is deviating so he can correct it to align the aircraft to the set course again.
The nation of Israel in Isaiah’s day badly needed a reliable VOR system. And God wanted to be that for them. But despite God’s warning, they decided to align with Egypt (Isa. 30:1-2). God graciously promised that one day, however, He would be their navigator: “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (v.21).
Today, Christians have an internal navigational system. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, who lives in us to “guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:13). If you need direction as to where to set the course of your life, don’t rely on your own way. Use God’s VOR system. He will surely lead you in the right direction.
The Spirit gives us power to live
A life that’s pleasing to the Lord;
He also guides us and provides
Direction in God’s holy Word. —Sper
The Spirit is our navigational system.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 21st, 2010
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant . . . —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in
John 3:16
— “For God so loved the world. . . .”
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Preparing For the Worst - #6182
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
During the high school football season, our Campus Life Club used to use a crowd breaker that provided a lot of entertainment for all of us. We had four cheerleaders up front with a box of football equipment, minus the more personal stuff, of course. They raced to see who was the first to get fully dressed in shoulder pads, hip pads, knee pads, helmets, the rest, you know. They each had a football player providing verbal coaching, but the results were still hilarious. Those cheerleaders had no idea what gear went where. But that's okay. That didn't need to know. But you can be sure the players knew. Every day, whether it was for a practice or a game, they got their equipment on. They didn't need it all day in school, of course, because they weren't generally being chased, or run into at high speeds, or thrown to the ground. But when it came time to play, the coaches made sure they had the equipment they needed. The coach wasn't about to send them into the battle without what they would need to protect them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Preparing For the Worst."
Our missionary son called us one day and, in an uncharacteristically sober tone of voice, opened with these words: "Mom, Dad, get your grace helmets on." He was preparing us for bad news. They were in their sixth month of pregnancy with our grandson, and the doctor had just spotted some rare and serious medical problems. Our son knew what he, his wife, and our whole family were going to need for the trying months ahead. We were going to need God's grace; the equipment that God provides to give us that extra strength and protection we will need for the battle we are headed into.
Right now, you may be in one of those seasons where all your human resources are totally inadequate to keep you going. Here's God's open invitation, recorded in Hebrews 4:16 , our word for today from the Word of God. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Grace is God's enabling power that sustains us when we're running on empty. It's sort of like a reserve fuel tank that kicks in when our emotional and physical fuel tank has run out.
And it's not just generic grace, you know, "one size fits all." It's customized grace, specially designed for the kind of situation you need it for. God provides parenting grace when that's what's needed; forgiving grace when forgiving is what you need to do, cancer grace, suffering grace, persecution grace, funeral grace. For our family, facing the deep questions, the deep feelings, and the critical decisions about a little baby, God's grace came in like a Daddy's arms picking us up and carrying us when we couldn't walk any farther.
That little guy has had his battles, along with us, and we may have some more. But his story is one miracle after another. Not the least of which is the strength and the grace that has protected us like body armor on a soldier, or gear on an athlete. And, as God promised Paul in the pain and limitations of his thorn in the flesh, "My grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9 ). Or, as the original Greek says, "Enough for you - My grace."
His grace really is enough for you, no matter how desperate the situation. Because He's said "your strength will equal your days" (Deuteronomy 33:25 ). Whatever the burden, He will match it with His grace. More than match it, if you'll go to His throne of grace to get it. You have to go for the grace that this moment requires.
No matter what hits you, God is no less in charge; His plan is no less on target. Things may be out of your control, but they're never out of His control. If you trust Him, He will give you just the equipment you need for the battle you're facing, because God's plan will not lead you where His grace cannot keep you.