Max Lucado Daily: It’s What Jesus Did
A person is made right with God through faith.
If you’re trying to save yourself—you never know for sure about anything.
If you’ve hurt enough. Wept enough. Learned enough. Those who’re trying to save themselves promote themselves.
Those saved by works display works.
Those saved by suffering unveil scars.
And those saved by doctrine—well—you got it. They wear their doctrines on their sleeves.
Dare you stand before God and ask him to save you because of your suffering or your sacrifice or your tears or your study?
Neither do I. Nor did Paul.
Good works, suffering, or study may be the result of salvation, they’re not the cause of it!
How will you escape God’s judgment? One way: through faith in God’s sacrifice.
It’s not what you do—it’s what He did!
Proverbs 14
1 The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
2 Whoever fears the LORD walks uprightly,
but those who despise him are devious in their ways.
3 A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride,
but the lips of the wise protect them.
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,
but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests.
5 An honest witness does not deceive,
but a false witness pours out lies.
6 The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
7 Stay away from a fool,
for you will not find knowledge on their lips.
8 The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but the folly of fools is deception.
9 Fools mock at making amends for sin,
but goodwill is found among the upright.
10 Each heart knows its own bitterness,
and no one else can share its joy.
11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.
13 Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and rejoicing may end in grief.
14 The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways,
and the good rewarded for theirs.
15 The simple believe anything,
but the prudent give thought to their steps.
16 The wise fear the LORD and shun evil,
but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure.
17 A quick-tempered person does foolish things,
and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.
18 The simple inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19 Evildoers will bow down in the presence of the good,
and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20 The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
but the rich have many friends.
21 It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor,
but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.
22 Do not those who plot evil go astray?
But those who plan what is good find[c] love and faithfulness.
23 All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.
24 The wealth of the wise is their crown,
but the folly of fools yields folly.
25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but a false witness is deceitful.
26 Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress,
and for their children it will be a refuge.
27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
turning a person from the snares of death.
28 A large population is a king’s glory,
but without subjects a prince is ruined.
29 Whoever is patient has great understanding,
but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.
30 A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones.
31 Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
32 When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down,
but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.
33 Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning
and even among fools she lets herself be known.[d]
34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin condemns any people.
35 A king delights in a wise servant,
but a shameful servant arouses his fury.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 40:6-11
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[a]
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
One Beautiful Moment
March 28, 2012 — by Julie Ackerman Link
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. —Isaiah 40:6
One snap of the shutter, and there it was . . . one beautiful moment captured in time for eternity. The late summer sun reflected in the breaking wave made the water look like liquid gold splashing onto the shore. If my friend had not been there with his camera, the wave would have gone unnoticed, like so many others that have come and gone, seen only by God.
Who can imagine how many waves Lake Michigan has sent rolling onto the shoreline? Yet each one is unique. As seen in every wave, God makes extravagant beauty out of seemingly mundane things. Using water and air, He makes wondrous works of art. We enjoy His gallery in skies above and on earth and sea below. But most of earth’s beauty remains invisible to us; it is seen only by God.
God uses another gallery to display His glory—humans. We too are made out of something ordinary—dust (Gen. 2:7). But to us He added an extraordinary ingredient—His very own breath (v.7). Like waves of the sea and flowers of the field (Isa. 40:6), our lives are brief and seen by few. Yet each one is a beautiful “moment” created by God to say to the world, “Behold, your God!” whose Word will last forever (v.8).
Only one life, so live it well,
And keep your candle trimmed and bright;
Eternity, not time, will tell
The radius of that candle’s light. —Miller
We fulfill our purpose when we serve our Creator.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 28, 2012
Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?
’Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to Him, ’. . . are You going there again?’ —John 11:7-8
Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it ” (John 2:5).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Running On Empty - #6578
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
"Dad, you're on E!" Yeah, I heard that a lot from my kids for years as we drove along, as if I didn't know the fuel gauge was nearing the empty mark. Of course, I knew. But why stop any sooner than you have to, right? I did create too much stress in the process for me, and my wife, and for my kids who were leaning over the back seat, and sometimes I actually did flirt with an empty tank. And I guess they all still remembered and reminded me of the time that we sputtered to a stop along the New York throughway out of gas. Yeah, I pushed it a little too far.
Actually, don't tell my family that I admitted this, but it really isn't very smart to run on empty. In fact, it actually saves time to stop.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Running On Empty."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 10 and begins at verse 38. There are few passages in the Bible that have had more of a recurring, convicting effect on my life than this one. Every time I come around to it, it hits me between the eyes, and it happened again recently.
Here we go, "As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me.' 'Martha, Martha' the Lord answered." Sometimes I think He's saying, "Ron, Ron." "Jesus answered, 'You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.'"
Well, here's Martha, miserable in the presence of Jesus. She's got Jesus in her home, and she's...well, as it says, "distracted by all the preparation." In the original Greek that word distracted means pulled or dragged away. She's pulled or dragged away by all the work she had to do. And the Master shows us which one is more important. It's "Mary, sitting at My feet listening." He said that's what's needed; that's what's better. He basically says, "Martha, more important to Me than the tasks you're doing is our time together."
That's a sobering warning in this story. Work for Jesus can actually pull you away from your time with Jesus. Now, if all your discretionary time is used in His work, oh you feel pretty spiritual, but Christian busyness can actually cover up a growing distance between you and the Lord and your empty soul - an empty tank. I'm supposed to be busy building His Kingdom, but that's second. First is time listening to Him; letting Him fill my tank with love for Him. Then my list of Jesus' tasks comes from a heart full of Jesus' love and listening to Him.
When you're listening, you're making sure that you're busy doing what He wants to do through you, not what you want to do for Him. Jesus says, "Sit at My feet before you start running around on yours." When I'm rushing to get places, I don't want to stop for a fill-up. But the result is stress and sometimes eventually going nowhere.
Could it be you've gotten so caught up in running for Jesus that you're running on empty? Stop for a fill-up every morning. You'll enjoy the drive a lot more. Oh, and the people who ride with you; they'll enjoy you a lot more.
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