Max Lucado Daily: The Holy One
I am the Holy One, and I am among you. Hosea 11:9
You can claim courage from God’s promises. May I give you a few examples?
When you are confused: “‘I know what I am planning for you’ says the Lord. ‘I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
On those nights when you wonder where God is: “I am the Holy One, and I am among you” (Hosea 11:9).
Psalm 56
For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
1 Be merciful to me, my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
all day long they press their attack.
2 My adversaries pursue me all day long;
in their pride many are attacking me.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
5 All day long they twist my words;
all their schemes are for my ruin.
6 They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
hoping to take my life.
7 Because of their wickedness do not[c] let them escape;
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
8 Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll[d]—
are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
when I call for help.
By this I will know that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I am under vows to you, my God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:19-24
Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Investing In The Future
October 19, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. —Matthew 6:20
Jason Bohn was a college student when he made a hole-in-one golf shot that won him a million dollars. While others may have squandered that money, Bohn had a plan. Wanting to be a pro golfer, he used the money as a living-and-training fund to improve his golf skills. The cash became an investment in his future—an investment that paid off when Bohn won the PGA Tour’s 2005 B.C. Open. Bohn’s decision to invest in the future instead of living for the moment was a wise one indeed.
In a sense, that is what Jesus calls us to do. We have been entrusted with resources—time, ability, opportunity— and we decide how to use them. Our challenge is to see those resources as an opportunity to invest long-term. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” is how Jesus put it in Matthew 6:20. Those protected treasures cannot be destroyed nor taken away, Jesus assures us.
Think of your resources: talent, time, knowledge. These are temporal and limited. But if you invest them with an eye toward eternity, these temporary things can have enduring impact. What is your focus? Now or forever? Invest in the future. It will not only have an eternal impact, but it will also change the way you view life each day.
Whatever is done in love for Christ
Will one day have heaven’s reward;
Today let’s do what we can for Him,
Our loving Savior and Lord. —Hess
The richest people on earth
are those who invest their lives in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 19th, 2011
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Spiritual Termites - #6463
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Let's say that someone steps on the wooden backstairs of your house. Imagine what they do when all of a sudden one of those stairs caves in. Okay, whose fault is it the stair caved in? Well you could blame it on your friend and say, "'Bout time you went on a diet, isn't it buddy?" Or could it be that it wasn't their weight that really made it collapse? Could it be that those little bugs got in and ate it from the inside; and it was already weakened? In fact, even a skinny friend might have made it cave in.
Well, when they call termites a pest, they are really right about that. If you've ever had them in your house, you know what it means to try to get rid of them and you know the damage they can do. You seldom if ever see them, but they quietly, subversively eat away at that wood; and one day beams can cave in, houses can sag, steps can collapse. Not so much because of the weight put on them, but because of the weakness on the inside.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Termites."
Our word for today from the Word of God about spiritual termites is found in the book of Joshua 7, where they had a problem with them, and I'm reading in verse 8. You need to know the context first. The Israelites have been winners at the battle of Jericho when the walls caved in. They have then gone on to the battle of Ai and have been defeated by a much smaller force, and a number of their people have been killed. What many of them don't realize is that there is among them a family that has disobeyed God's orders. God's orders were to take no loot out of the city of Jericho, but Achan and his family did it and hid it. And that is ultimately the reason for Israel's defeat.
Joshua is now on his knees and saying, "Lord, what's happened, how come we lost? I thought we were going to be given this Promised Land," and here's what he says. "O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies. The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this. They will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will You do for your own great name?" The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?" and then in three words He tells what the real problem is. It's not the Canaanites; it's not military defeat; that's what Joshua thinks the problem is. Here's the three word summary of the problem; God simply says, "Israel has sinned" (Joshua 7:8-11).
See, Joshua was doing what we do a lot of times; he was misinterpreting the setback in his life. He thought it was the situation, it was the pressure, it was the enemy that was the problem, but it's not the enemy's strength. It's the not the problem without that defeats us, it's the weakness within--like that stair that collapses because of the termite damage. It's a sin that we've been tolerating and it suddenly becomes noticeable when there's a major setback or a defeat, and you have been weakened, eaten away, corroded by that sin. That's the reason things are collapsing.
Don't blame the pressure. Don't blame the problem. Don't blame the people. It might be a mistake to be looking at the financial problem or the medical problem or the personnel problem or whatever the frustration is as being the issue. It's the result not the cause. Maybe you have, without realizing it, become careless with the truth. Or you've been putting things ahead of people, neglecting some people. Or it could be that you've been slowly seduced by materialism, and your values are all inverted. There's a sin maybe you just won't repent of, or you've been flirting with immorality. Whatever it is, the termites of sin have weakened you.
And the defeat you're experiencing--it's not to bury you, it's to draw your attention to the sin you've consistently ignored. So exterminate the sin; do a little rebuilding, and you'll be stronger than ever. With the weakness inside corrected, you can be a winner again.