Max Lucado Daily: It’s a Choice
Be happy with those who are happy, and be sad with those who are sad. Romans 12:15
I often find it easier to “weep with those who weep” than I do to “rejoice with those who rejoice!”
The summer before my 8th grade year, I made friends with Larry. He was new, so I encouraged him to go out for our school football team. It was one of those good news—bad news things. The good news? He made the cut. The bad news? He won my position!
A few
weeks into the season Larry broke a finger. I remember the day he stood at my front door holding up his bandaged hand. “Looks like you’re going to have to play,” he said. I tried to feel sorry for him, but … “weep with those who weep” was a lot easier for Paul to write than for me to practice!
Psalm 11
For the director of music. Of David.
1 In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
“Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 6:27-36
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Don’t Laugh It Off
January 2, 2012 — by Dave Branon
Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. —Luke 6:35
Driving a huge truck over the icy roads of northern Alaska would seem to be a task that requires a sense of humor. But when one driver heard another driver named Alex laugh often and rather loudly over the truck-to-truck communication system, he grew irritated. So he made some disparaging remarks about Alex and his good-natured guffaws.
Not long after that, the critical driver lost control of his big rig and ended up in a ditch—up to his axles in snow. And guess who came along the isolated road and saw his predicament? That’s right. Alex.
So, what would you do? Keep on trucking right past with a hearty laugh at the other guy’s trouble? That’s not what Alex did. He stopped and spent several hours helping dig his critic out. When he was done, he simply said, “Any opportunity I can have to make amends, I’m happy to do it.” And then, of course, he laughed.
What a lesson for all of us. Isn’t that what Christ commanded us to do in Luke 6—to help out even those who seem to be our enemies? The next time someone says something about you that you don’t like, think of Alex—and don’t just laugh it off. Do something positive for that person, and in so doing, you may make a friend.
Doing good to those who hate us,
Lord, is difficult to do;
Help us by Your grace to love them,
Praying they will turn to You. —Sper
A good example is the best sermon.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 02, 2012
Will You Go Out Without Knowing?
He went out, not knowing where he was going —Hebrews 11:8
Have you ever “gone out” in this way? If so, there is no logical answer possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the most difficult questions to answer in Christian work is, “What do you expect to do?”You don’t know what you are going to do. The only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually examine your attitude toward God to see if you are willing to “go out” in every area of your life, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in constant wonder, because you don’t know what God is going to do next. Each morning as you wake, there is a new opportunity to “go out,” building your confidence in God. “. . . do not worry about your life . . . nor about the body . . .” (Luke 12:22). In other words, don’t worry about the things that concerned you before you did “go out.”
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you “go out” in complete surrender to Him until you are not surprised one iota by anything He does?
Believe God is always the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him. Then think how unnecessary and disrespectful worry is! Let the attitude of your life be a continual willingness to “go out” in dependence upon God, and your life will have a sacred and inexpressible charm about it that is very satisfying to Jesus. You must learn to “go out” through your convictions, creeds, or experiences until you come to the point in your faith where there is nothing between yourself and God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Man With "What's Next?" - #6516
Monday, January 2, 2012
The image of a burning candle on an iPad. That's actually the way that many people paid tribute and honored Steve Jobs' death and life. How appropriate. I mean, he was that inventive genius; the innovative marketer who brought the communications revolution from the "geekosphere" to something you could hold in your hand.
Bill Gates described Steve Jobs' impact as "profound." News anchors were quick to say he "changed the world." And yes, he did. He was always a newsmaker when he walked on that Apple stage to introduce technology's "what's next?"
But now with Steve Jobs' passing, I find myself asking "what's next?" on a much deeper level. What's next on the other side of our last heartbeat, when the obituaries and the tributes are for us?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Man With 'What's Next?'"
Speaking at a Stanford University commencement, Steve Jobs said, "Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it." He's so right. A personal expiration date that God alone knows. And God's Book reveals in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 9:27 that "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." So it's not only death that's inescapable. It's that personal appointment with the God who made us.
And at that point, as Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). Not even all the religion in the world will be enough because, well, being right with God is according to the Bible, "not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5).
I'm feeling a certain sadness. Not just because of one man's death, but because of so many lives that are more wired than ever, but more weary of life than ever. No technology, no amount of Facebook "friends," no exciting new experience or relationship can ever satisfy that relentless thirst of our empty hearts, and there's a reason. The Bible says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are forever searching for something that's "ever lasting" in a world where it's all so, you know, "never lasting."
When Jesus was talking at a well to a woman whose life was littered with disappointing relationships, He used the well as an example to tell us all how to fill that "eternity" hole in our hearts. He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again (and, sure enough, we are). But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13).
See, Jesus can promise life that's "eternal" because, well, He proved He's got it to give. Because His obituary quickly became old news when He walked out of His grave and conquered what no one could conquer - He conquered death. But it was His death that made our "what's next?" nothing to fear. The Bible says, "Christ died for our sins" (Romans 5:8). And when He did that, He tore down the wall that would otherwise keep us out of God's heaven. And if that wall is there when you die, then the last heartbeat you have is not the gateway to an awesome eternity, but to an awful eternity.
And that's why Jesus died, to take all of that punishment for us. He stepped out of heaven and onto the stage of earth to introduce what only He could and that's eternal life. He offers this amazing peace and fulfillment of knowing that you're ready to live and you're ready to die, whenever and however it comes. So what we do with Him - whether we give ourselves to Him or stubbornly insist on being our god for our life - is immeasurably decisive. Eternally decisive.
So, what you decide to do with Jesus even this very day could be eternally decisive. I urge you, if you're not sure you've begun your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, make this the day you get that done and to say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website. There's a lot of information that will help you make that choice. It's YoursForLife.net.
I accepted Jesus' invitation to "believe in Him" and as it says, "have eternal life" (John 3:16). So my obituary will not be the end. No, it's only the beginning.
