Max Lucado Daily: Give Every Day a Chance
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:20
A friend shared with me the fate of a hoarding grandmother. She refused to part with anything.
She couldn’t rest because junk covered her bed. She lost treasures because they were obscured by mountains of trash. Jewelry, photographs, favorite books—all were hidden.
No rest. No treasures.
Squirrel away your hurts and expect the same. Or clean your house and give the day a fresh chance!
“But, Max” you say, “the hurt is so deep.”
I know, they took so much.
But why let them keep taking from you? Haven’t they stolen enough?
“But Max, I’ve been so angry for so long.”
Forgiveness won’t come overnight. But you can take the baby steps in the direction of grace. Forgive in phases.
Quit cussing the perpetrator’s name. Start praying for him; understand her.
Give the grace you’ve been given! Make it a day changer!
Psalm 86
A prayer of David.
1 Hear me, LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; 3 have mercy on me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord,
for I put my trust in you.
5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, LORD;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, LORD,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths,
from the realm of the dead.
14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
ruthless people are trying to kill me—
they have no regard for you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did.
17 Give me a sign of your goodness,
that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
for you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 116:1-6
1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“LORD, save me!”
5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The LORD protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Knocked Off Your Feet?
February 16, 2012 — by Dave Branon
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. —Psalm 46:1
Because I’ve written many articles and a book about dealing with life’s losses, I have the privilege of being introduced to a number of fellow strugglers along life’s journey. One of my new friends is a mom whose 21-year-old daughter died suddenly in 2009, which sent her reeling. She told me, “I feel like an outcast from the normal world. I feel crushed and my soul is in so much pain.”
Indeed the losses that visit us can knock us off our feet—whether a death in the family, a child who walks away from God and family, or a physical or mental setback.
Yet what I’ve discovered is something musician Jeremy Camp made clear in a song he wrote after the death of his wife in 2001: When you are knocked off your feet by life’s difficulties, remember that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). That’s reason enough to get back up again. Camp described his struggle in the song called “Understand.” He asked, “Why don’t I get back on my feet again?” And he recognized that he could because “I know You understand it all.”
When trouble knocks us down, we can look up. God is there. He understands and cares. It’s not easy, but we can trust Him to help us get back on our feet again.
Lift up your eyes, despairing one,
The Lord your help will be;
You have a friend in heaven who cheers,
And calms the troubled sea. —Anon.
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are felt more than in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Arise from the dead . . .—Ephesians 5:14
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard—just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead . . . .” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life—He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead . . . ,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Each of our kids has gone through a baking stage as they were growing up, and my wife and I got to sample some very interesting cookies, and cakes, or whatever they were. You know, new cooks have a hard time waiting for their first masterpiece to get done. They keep peeking, opening the door, checking on it, and even taking it out too soon. That just fouls up the temperature in the oven and you get results like a cake that's burned on the edges but gooey in the center. Or like our daughter baked...a cake that's flat. The young cook, at least one without a microwave, soon learns that impatience can ruin the final result.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "If You Rush It, You Ruin It."
Our word for today from the Word of God, Genesis 16:1-2. And here we're going to find out the greatest obstacle to you getting God's best in your life. "Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar." Now, time out here long enough for me to remind you that God had promised them a son that would come miraculously in their old age. Well, he hadn't come yet. So she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant.'" What? "Perhaps I can build a family through her. And Abram agreed to what Sarai said."
You know what happened here? God's will was taking too long, like that cake or those cookies taking too long. So Sarai and Abram rushed it and they ruined it, and there has been lasting fallout that has lasted to today's newspaper. For the son of Hagar is Ishmael, the father of the Arab's of today. The son of Sarah, God's promised one is Isaac, the father of the Jews. And the war continues. See, they could have had God's best, but they tripped over the greatest obstacle to God's best - impatience, you just can't wait.
See, God's plans are not microwavable. You might be waiting out God's will right now for someone to marry, for some breakthrough, for a prodigal or unsaved family member, for the money to come through, for a promotion, a raise, a job. And you're tempted to give God a hand right now. Remember, if you rush it, you may ruin it, because God is weaving a tapestry right now. He's working all things together for good. Ephesians says that "He will work out everything in accordance with His will." He is carefully, deliberately, skillfully putting your future together so you will be just the right person, at just the right place, at just the right time. But guess what? Just like Abraham and Sarah, you can blow the whole thing if impatience causes you to meddle in it.
Make it a goal to not find your fingerprints on your future. Only one set of prints - God's. See, your involvement could well become interference. Would you let God finish His masterpiece in His time? For He promises in Ecclesiastes, "He makes everything beautiful in it's time." Impatience can, as young cooks often learn, ruin the final result.
Oh, you'll love what God is cooking up. Just don't try to rush it.
