Max Lucado Daily: Divinely Human
“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.” 2 Timothy 2:8, NIV
In a letter written within earshot of the sharpening of the blade that would sever his head, Paul urged Timothy to “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David . . .”
Remember the dead called from the grave with a Galilean accent. Remember the eyes of God that wept human tears. And, most of all, remember this descendant of David who beat the hell out of death.
Luke 9:18-36
New International Version (NIV)
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
Jesus Predicts His Death
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
The Transfiguration
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure,[a] which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 123
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
4 We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
Sticks And Stones
July 18, 2011 — by David H. Roper
Our soul is exceedingly filled with . . . the contempt of the proud. —Psalm 123:4
The psalmist was fed up with “the contempt of the proud” (Ps. 123:4). Perhaps you are too. People in your neighborhood, office, or classroom may be scornful of your faith and determination to follow Jesus. Sticks and stones do break our bones, but words can wound more deeply. In his commentary on this psalm, Derek Kidner refers to contempt as “cold steel.”
We can fend off the jeers of the proud by becoming like them, or we can view their attempt to humiliate us as a badge of honor. We can rejoice that we’ve been “counted worthy to suffer shame for [Jesus’] name” (Acts 5:41). Better to bear shame for a short time than to endure “everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2).
We must not be like the mockers by mocking them in turn, but bless those who persecute us. “Bless and do not curse,” Paul reminds us (Rom. 12:14). Then God may draw them to faith and repentance, and turn our moments of shame into eternal glory.
Finally, as the psalmist counsels us, we must “look to the Lord our God” (123:2). He understands as no other, for He too has endured reproach. He will show compassion to us according to His infinite mercy.
When persecution comes your way
And people mock your Lord,
Remember what’s in store for those
Who love and trust His Word. —Sper
When others’ treatment of you gets you down, look up to Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 18th, 2011
The Mystery of Believing
He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.
Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Greatest Enemy of the Best - #6396
Monday, July 18, 2011
I've never been a mother. You probably guessed that, but I have talked to a lot of them. In fact, one of my very best friends on earth is a mother; in fact a couple of them. And I understand that the nine months of waiting for a baby...I guess it's fun at the beginning, but it gets a little long about the eighth or ninth month.
I remember when my wife was carrying our third and our youngest. It turned out to be a boy. Our oldest, our daughter, was about four years old then. I don't remember my wife commenting on the wait for baby, but my little girl sure got impatient. In fact, more than once she would curl up on the couch next to her Mom, because she couldn't sit on her lap any more. There was no lap to sit on. And she would lean over and put her head right up against Mom's tummy and yell and she would go, "Hey, you, when are you coming out!"
Well, fortunately her brother did not respond to that call. He did not come when his sister thought he should. If he had, well, that wouldn't have been a joke at all. He would have been premature. Who knows? He might not have even survived. If you want a healthy baby, you don't want to rush it. Actually, if you want a healthy anything.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Greatest Enemy of the Best."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 27. I'll begin reading with verse 5. Now, you might remember that Isaac and Rebecca had two sons - Jacob and Esau. And the promise had been that Jacob would receive the father's blessing, even though he was the youngest. Now it appears that Isaac's on his deathbed and it hasn't happened, so Rebecca starts to panic.
"When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back," the Bible says, "Rebecca said to her son Jacob, 'Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, "Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die." Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats so I can prepare some tasty food for your Father just the way he likes it. Then take it to your Father to eat so he may give you his blessing before he dies.'"
Well, that's exactly what happened. Jacob impersonated his brother, lied to his Father because of his mother's scheme. And later we find out that Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his Father had given him.
I think Rebecca epitomizes someone who can't wait for God to do it...for God's time table. So, as a result of this trick, Jacob had to leave home and Rebecca didn't see him for 14 years. There was war in the family, and guess what? P.S. - ironically, Isaac lived 20 more years. He didn't die. Rebecca was working for the right result; it was one God had promised. But she rushed it and she ruined it. The plan was premature; the baby wasn't full term yet.
Oh, but Rebecca's not unique. We all have a hard time waiting for God to deliver what He promised. So we try to help Him. So, what's the greatest enemy of God's best? Impatience. We are the microwave generation. We get 30-second solutions to every problem in commercials. We like fast food. We want God's provision, but we want it now.
Maybe you're in a waiting time right now. You're waiting for the person you need, or a breakthrough, or money you need, a house, an opportunity, a job, and maybe you're tempted to interfere, to take what you can get now - to pull a Rebecca. Well, don't ruin God's perfectly timed plan with your impatience. He's the God of full term answers.
Like an impatient four-year-old, tired of waiting, we yell, "When's it going to come?" Don't rush the plan and then end up with a premature delivery that becomes a problem instead of an answer.
Remember, impatience is the greatest enemy of God's best.
