Max Lucado Daily: God’s Staying Power
God’s Staying Power
Posted: 18 Nov 2010 10:01 PM PST
God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does. Psalm 145:13; The Message
God never gives up.
When Moses said, “Here I am, send Aaron,” God didn’t give up…When Peter worshiped him at the supper and cursed him at the fire, he didn’t give up…
So, the next time doubt walks into your life remember the cross, where in holy blood is written the promise, “God would give up his only son before he’d give up on you.”
Matthew 17
The Transfiguration
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21]
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
The Temple Tax
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 2:9-17
1 Peter 2:9-17 (NIV)1Pe 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
National Pride
November 19, 2010 — by Joe Stowell
You are a chosen generation, . . . a holy nation . . . that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness. —1 Peter 2:9
My wife, Martie, and I have grown to love England—its history, culture, and people. One of our favorite activities when we visit is going to outdoor concerts (also known as proms) on the sloping lawns of ancient estates. “The Last Night of the Proms” event is the best, with fireworks and hundreds of nationals waving little British flags to rousing patriotic tunes.
We loved joining the celebration—until the summer our children came with us. When we started waving our flags with all the enthusiastic Brits, our kids were aghast. I can still hear them shouting over the music, “What are you doing?! You’re Americans!”
God must often feel like that when we blend in and live like the “locals” around us. I can almost hear Him saying, “What are you doing living like that?! You belong to My nation!”
Peter reminds us that we are different from the locals—we are a “holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). Being holy means that we are unique, set apart for Jesus, becoming like Him, and reflecting His countercultural ways of living. It means that we are forgiving in the face of cruel offenses; and merciful, gracious, truthful, and loyal to our promises. It means being just like Him.
So let’s start waving the flag of holiness as members of the “Jesus nation”!
O child of God, guard well your life
From anything that stains the heart;
Forsake those things that soil the mind—
Your Father wants you set apart. —Fasick
Our loyalty to Jesus should be seen and heard in our lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 19th, 2010
"When He Has Come"
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned . . .” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Poison in Your Soul - #6225
Friday, November 19, 2010
The weather wasn't the greatest on that cold November night in Colorado. But Dick Ebersol's pilot felt they were good to take off. As head of NBC Sports, and the man who took the worldwide coverage of the Olympics to a new level, Dick Ebersol is known as one of the most powerful men in the sporting world. But that night, he was just a dad who lost his son. The plane crashed on takeoff. Dick's older son literally pulled him from the wreckage. But his 14-year-old son Teddy didn't make it out. A few days later, Dick's wife and Teddy's mom, retired actress Susan St. James, was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show. She spoke with amazing poise. At one point, she talked about trying to help the surviving kids know how to handle some of the feelings that might come up - including what she referred to as "resentment." Out of her pain, she made a statement filled with so much insight that I hope I'll never forget it. She said, "I've always told my kids, having resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Poison in Your Soul."
Poison. It's a strong word to describe bitterness and resentment in your heart. But experience proves, and the Bible clearly confirms, that poison is the right word. And it's a poison that affects the person who's hurt you only a little, if at all. But for you, it's a poison in your soul that eats at you from the inside out most of the time.
One of the Bible's warnings about bitterness begins with this sobering possibility: "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." That's in Hebrews 12:15 , our word for today from the Word of God. If you're wounded and hurt, that's no time to be missing the grace of God - not when you need it the most. So how do you miss God's grace? Read on. "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." God's grace and our bitterness apparently cannot coexist in the same heart. Either God's grace will push out your bitterness, or your bitterness will push out God's grace.
In reality, you don't hold a grudge - a grudge holds you. It's like you can't stop thinking about the very person you wish you could forget. But a grudge shackles you to that person emotionally. The poison in your soul isn't hurting them, but it's killing you inside. It's a huge, heavy backpack you carry with you everywhere you go.
And hard or bitter feelings toward someone don't just hurt you. They end up "causing trouble" and "defiling many." That negativity spills out on other people; people who don't deserve it. A darkness emanates from your personality, poisoning your other close relationships; sometimes ruining friendships, marriages, children, and churches.
There's only one antidote for the poison - forgiving. Ephesians 4 says "get rid of all bitterness...be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other..." Now comes the zinger. "...just as in Christ God forgave you." The person who hurt you may not deserve to be forgiven, but then you didn't deserve God's forgiveness. To forgive them is not to pretend there was nothing wrong with what they did - it's releasing them completely to God for Him to deal with them. It's drawing a line and making a decision that from this day on you will, with God's strength, base your treatment of them, not on how they treated you, but on how Jesus treated you! You'll copy Him.
You've been the forgivee - now you become the forgiver. Or you store poison in your soul; poison that will cripple or destroy so much that could have been. It's time for the antidote. It's time to be free. It's time to forgive.