Max Lucado Daily: My Defender
He is my defender; I will not be defeated. Psalm 62:6
What does God do when we are in a bind? ... He fights for us! He steps into the ring and points us to our corner and takes over. “Remain calm; the Lord will fight for you” (Exodus 14:14).
His job is to fight. Our job is to trust.
Just trust. Not direct. Or question.
Or yank the steering wheel out of His hands. Our job is to pray and wait.
Psalm 59
Psalm 59[a]
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
be my fortress against those who are attacking me.
2 Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from those who are after my blood.
3 See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, LORD.
4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
5 You, LORD God Almighty,
you who are the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
show no mercy to wicked traitors.[c]
6 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
7 See what they spew from their mouths—
the words from their lips are sharp as swords,
and they think, “Who can hear us?”
8 But you laugh at them, LORD;
you scoff at all those nations.
9 You are my strength, I watch for you;
you, God, are my fortress,
10 my God on whom I can rely.
God will go before me
and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
11 But do not kill them, Lord our shield,[d]
or my people will forget.
In your might uproot them
and bring them down.
12 For the sins of their mouths,
for the words of their lips,
let them be caught in their pride.
For the curses and lies they utter,
13 consume them in your wrath,
consume them till they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
that God rules over Jacob.
14 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
15 They wander about for food
and howl if not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
you, God, are my fortress,
my God on whom I can rely.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 40:25-31
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Drained Of All Strength
October 12, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. —Isaiah 40:29
When I was a teenager, my dad and I went on many hunting and fishing trips together. Most became happy memories, but one fishing expedition was nearly a disaster. We drove up into a high mountain range and set up camp in a remote area. Then Dad and I trudged a long way down the mountain to get to a stream to fish. After a long day fishing in the hot sun, it was time to return to camp. But as we began to head back, Dad’s face grew pale. He was dizzy and nauseated, and he had almost no strength.
Trying not to panic, I had him sit down and drink liquids. Then I prayed aloud to God for help. Bolstered by prayer, rest, and nourishment, Dad improved, and we began to go slowly back up the mountain. He held on to my loosened belt as I crawled upward—leading the way back to camp.
Sometimes we find ourselves in what feels like a hopeless valley without the strength to go on. When this happens, it’s important to recall God’s promise: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isa. 40:29).
Do you feel drained? Exhausted? Ask God for help. Depend on Him for the power to go on and the strength to make it through the valley.
When circumstances overwhelm
And seem too much to bear,
Depend upon the Lord for strength
And trust His tender care. —Sper
When we have nothing left but God,
we discover that God is enough.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 12th, 2011
Getting into God’s Stride
Enoch walked with God . . . —Genesis 5:24
The true test of a person’s spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person’s worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (seeJohn 1:35-37 and John 3:30). It is painful work to get in step with God and to keep pace with Him— it means getting your second wind spiritually. In learning to walk with God, there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride, but once we have done so, the only characteristic that exhibits itself is the very life of God Himself. The individual person is merged into a personal oneness with God, and God’s stride and His power alone are exhibited.
It is difficult to get into stride with God, because as soon as we start walking with Him we find that His pace has surpassed us before we have even taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways. It was said of Jesus— “He will not fail nor be discouraged . . .” (Isaiah 42:4) because He never worked from His own individual standpoint, but always worked from the standpoint of His Father. And we must learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is learned through the atmosphere that surrounds us, not through intellectual reasoning. It is God’s Spirit that changes the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible. Getting into God’s stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don’t give up because the pain is intense right now— get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Nothing To Hide - #6458
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
It's amazing what a difference a camera can make. Some years ago there was a very popular TV series that lasted for years and kept getting reincarnated, pioneered by a guy named Allen Funt. Now he was pretty well known in his time, and the reason he became well known was one thing. He became the creator of a program called Candid Camera. And he proved the principal over and over again, that the camera can make a big difference. See, he would prove that people do these dumb little things totally unaware that the nation was watching. If they knew that, they never would have done what Allen Funt tricked them into doing. Course, the results of clicking cameras aren't always amusing. Incriminating photos can bring down a presidential candidate or a Christian leader and they have. You can imagine the photographer's victims saying, "If I'd only known they were recording this." Well, why don't you assume they are?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nothing To Hide."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 13:12-14. "The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." So this verse is saying, "Hey, it's daytime; don't do nighttime things. Live as if the lights are always on." Now, okay, here's the modern Hutchcraft version of that--live as if the cameras are always running; live as if the video is always recording. Live as if the tape recorder is always catching it.
Would people in Richard Nixon's Oval Office some years ago have said all they said if they knew the tapes were being made? I doubt it. Would certain gangsters have said what they said on the phone if they knew it was going to be played back in court later on? Would certain public figures have been with that woman if they knew those pictures would be displayed for all the world to see?
One of life's unnecessary fears--unnecessary fears--is the fear of discovery. It's kind of like when you're driving along and you're always looking in the rear-view mirror because you know you're speeding, you know you're breaking the law, you know you might get caught, and you can't really totally enjoy the trip. See, life lived in the rear-view mirror is a very, very anxious, stressful way to live. There's such freedom in not having to worry about getting caught. God calls us in this passage to live transparently, without the paralyzing stress of dark secrets. No fear of discovery, because there's nothing to discover.
Are you living in such a way that you have nothing to fear if there's some kind of recorder running in your car, in your motel room, your office when the doors are closed, on your phone? Do you have nothing to worry about if there's a camera covering your activities or someone who's monitoring your Internet activity 24 hours a day? Actually, we're being watched much more than we know. And one day God will, according to Romans 2, "Judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ."
Don't be fooled by the myth of getting away with it. You never do. Live as if someone is recording everything, because Someone is. And enjoy the glorious freedom of living by those three liberating words: nothing to hide.
