Max Lucado Daily: Anticipating His Return
Anticipating His Return
Posted: 07 Feb 2011 10:01 PM PST
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me.” John 14:1
Don’t be troubled by the return of Christ. Don’t be anxious about things you cannot comprehend. Issues like the millennium and the Antichrist are intended to challenge and stretch us, but not overwhelm and certainly not divide us. For the Christian, the return of Christ is not a riddle to be solved or a code to be broken, but rather a day to be anticipated.
Jesus wants us to trust him.
Mark 2
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 6:1-4
Ephesians 6:1-4 (NIV)Eph 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Space Scouts
February 8, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
You, fathers, . . . bring [your children] up in the training and admonition of the Lord. —Ephesians 6:4
Many of the first astronauts were once Boy Scouts. The scouts were good at capturing the imagination of young boys and instilling discipline to reach their goals—even if it meant reaching for the stars.
On July 20, 1969, the Boy Scouts were busy celebrating at a conference. During the gathering, the scouts were delighted to hear from former Eagle Scout Neil Armstrong, who sent them greetings from space. One of their own had grown up to realize a wonderful dream!
In some ways, the Christian home can be like a loving, spiritual scout camp. The Bible encourages parents to provide a positive growth environment for children in the home. Parents are exhorted to “bring [children] up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). “To bring up” refers to nourishing children by providing resources for their physical, mental, and spiritual needs. “Training” includes concern about all aspects of a child’s development. And “admonition” speaks of providing direction by well-chosen words uniquely suited to each child.
Let’s strive to make our home a place where loving discipline enables the children in our charge to reach their potential for God’s glory.
They are buds of hope and promise,
Possessed by Him whose name is Love;
Lent us here to train and nourish
For a better life above. —Crosby
What you put into your children’s hearts today influences their character for tomorrow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 8th, 2011
The Cost of Sanctification
May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:23
When we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns. Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view. It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? “For their sakes I sanctify Myself . . .” (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God’s perspective. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God.
Are we prepared to be caught up into the full meaning of Paul’s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, “Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can”? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John 17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit’s work in us?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Relief From Fit-In Pressure - #6282
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
One day I caught a snatch of a TV talk show which I otherwise would have never seen. But the host was interviewing a former FBI agent. He's a man who successfully infiltrated the mafia for several years, and he'd been responsible for bringing evidence in some major indictments against mob leadership. Now, one factor in his underground life was a major source of criminal income. OK, here he was, basically himself a pretty straight person, surrounded by cocaine. Well, the host asked the FBI man an interesting question. He said, "Did you ever have to use cocaine?" That's a pretty good question, I thought. After all, his life depended on his fitting in, right? Well, he said, "No, I never did." And the host said, "Well, how did you avoid it?" I liked his answer. It might even help you when you're feeling the pressure to fit in.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Relief From Fit-In Pressure."
Now, how does a mafia infiltrator deal with the pressure to use cocaine? Here's what he said, "Well, the first time I ever got offered any, I hit the guy." Now, wait a minute. I'm not suggesting when somebody pressures you to do something wrong you hit him. Don't blame me for that. I like the next thing he said, "If you let them know from the start where you stand, they'll leave you alone."
Our word for today from the Word of God is from the book of Daniel. He wasn't in the mafia, but he did very much the same thing to relieve the pressure around him. He had the opportunity it says in chapter 1, verse 5, to become a leader in the king's court. "The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. And they (including Daniel) were trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service." Now, he had a great career path ahead of him. The only thing is he had to eat food that he considered to be by his biblical standards defiled.
Here's what it says, "Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine." Now, they gave him a test. A few days of testing to eat just what would be legal and righteous for him. "At the end of ten days," it says, "they looked healthier and better than all the rest." And they ended up being leaders in the kingdom.
Now, Daniel could easily have waited to take his stand. He could draw the line maybe later when there was a major compromise. But he let them know from the start where he stood and they left him alone. That will work for you too.
My daughter began as a freshman to say, "I'm going to take my stand against what a Christian ought to stand against." And I watched as she got very pressured. And then she was consistent. And then it kind of turned to respect. Eventually her friends defended her, and they would say, "Hey, don't even bother her. She's not that kind of person."
See, as long as people are trying to live like Jesus in a dirty world, they'll be pressured to fit in. You probably feel it where you are...little compromises of the truth, of your purity, or you know, maybe you don't want to be clearly identified with Jesus. Every time you compromise a little to fit in, you increase the pressure. Once you take a firm stand and pass a couple of tests, people will let you be what you said you'd be.
My son summed it up one day. He said, "Dad, life is so much simpler when you've decided to be totally for Christ." Now, he's right. Starting now, why don't you verbally, clearly let it be known where you stand? And pretty soon they'll back off, and they'll expect you to be what you said you'd be like.
That's the very best relief you can buy from the pressure to fit in.