Max Lucado Daily: A Loveburst
“Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, stand up, take your mat, and go home.’ ...The people were amazed and praised God, saying ‘We have never seen anything like this!’ Mark 2:12”
Lovebursts. Spontaneous affection. Tender moments of radiant love. Ignited devotion. Explosions of tenderness.
Here’s what I mean. The women you’re standing with at the party start complaining about their spouse, but you look across the room at your husband and smile. Still as handsome as when you met—a bit paunchier, but you don’t see that. All you see is the man who stole your heart.
That’s a loveburst!
When friends of a paralyzed man heard Jesus was in town, they hurried to get their friend to Him. It was his only hope! But Jesus was surrounded—packed into a crowded house. No way they could get inside. Unless, of course, they lowered him through the roof! It was risky. But it was their only chance to see Jesus! The gospel says, “When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Young man, your sins are forgiven.’”
Jesus applauds—not with his hands—but with his heart!
And we witness a divine loveburst!
Proverbs 4
Get Wisdom at Any Cost
1 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
2 I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.
3 For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
4 Then he taught me, and he said to me,
“Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get[d] wisdom.
Though it cost all you have,[e] get understanding.
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.
9 She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown.”
10 Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
16 For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the[f] paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 14:1-6
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The Catcher
March 14, 2012 — by Joe Stowell
If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. —John 14:3
Life is a risky enterprise. Sometimes we fly high, enjoying great success. But then suddenly we fall into deep disappointments and the haunting reality of failure, leaving our hearts wondering if there is anything worth looking forward to.
At a funeral recently, the pastor told the story about a trapeze artist. The performer admitted that although he is seen as the star of the show, the real star is the catcher—the teammate who hangs from another trapeze bar to grab him and guarantee a safe landing. The key, he explained, is trust. With outstretched arms, the flyer must trust that the catcher is ready and able to grab him. Dying is like trusting in God as the catcher. After we have flown through life, we can look forward to God reaching out to catch His followers and to pull us safely to Himself forever. I like that thought.
This reminds me of Jesus’ comforting words to His disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled . . . . I go to prepare a place for you. And . . . I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).
Life is indeed a risky business, but be encouraged! If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, the Catcher is waiting at the end to take you safely home.
Home from the earthly journey,
Safe for eternity;
All that the Savior promised—
That is what heaven will be. —Anon.
Our heavenly Father’s arms will one day catch His children.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Yielding
. . . you are that one’s slaves whom you obey . . . —Romans 6:16
The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.
If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding. For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is— “I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.) No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “. . . He has anointed Me . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives . . .” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).
When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t. You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s life
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When the Party Turns to Pig Slop - #6568
Wednesday, March 13, 2012
We entered a new era when our daughter entered college, and we discovered there was one word sweeter than any other to a student away at college - (yeah, not money, no, no) - home. Now, there are a lot of jokes about kids getting in contact with home from college. You know the one about the young woman who wrote to her parents and said, "I haven't heard from you for a while. Please send money so I'll know you're okay."
Okay, there are jokes about it, but actually our daughter loved to call home even when there was no money involved. Okay, yeah, we had to talk about paying the bill occasionally, but there was one number she knew that she could call no matter how she was feeling. And she loved even more to come home. There was one time when she was flying back to school; she waited a half day allowing herself to get bumped from a flight just so she would get a free ticket. She said, "Man, I'll wait all day if I have to, to get a free ticket to get back (yeah)...home. You know, when you get away, home sure looks good.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When the Party Turns to Pig Slop."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 15, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 13. You know about the son who went to his father and asked for his inheritance, and then the Bible says, "...not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he'd spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs."
Now, that story might be more than a story for you. Maybe there's a modern prodigal somewhere in your life; a friend or a family member who in some way is wandering from the Lord...or maybe it's you. Listen to the home coming. In verse 18 the prodigal says, "I will set out and go back to my father." See, he knows where home is. And in verse 20 it says, "While he was still a long way off, his father saw him, was filled with compassion for him, ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." What a tremendous ending to this story!
Now, you notice his Dad did not chase him in his rebellion, but he did continue loving him. There's a life principle here that maybe you might need to be reminded of today. It's something you need to remember as someone you love is drifting. When the party turns to pig slop, you look for the person who never stopped loving you. I'll tell you, any party that takes you away from God is always ultimately going to turn to a pig sty.
Some people have to drive to the end of their dead-end street - all the way to the end - before they start to turn around. The question is, "Can you love them while they're driving down that dead-end street?" Unconditional love usually wins in the end. In the meantime, that loved one may test your love to the limit. In fact, they may drive you to Jesus for the love you don't even have any more. But no matter how far they get, keep loving them. In fact, when a person is least lovable, that's when they need your love the most.
Now, you don't approve of the sin. In fact, you can gently express how it's hurting you, and them, and God. But then you keep your arms open. You tell that person, more than ever, "I love you." Touch him, write to him, remember their special days, find ways to help. This street they're on? It will come to an end, maybe with a crash. But crawling out of the wreckage many wanderers have said, "Who is there that never stopped loving me?" And they run to that person.
Maybe today you know that there's a great distance between you and the Heavenly Father, and today He stands ready to meet you and greet you and welcome you home. Home to the relationship you were made for; a relationship with Him. One that it took Jesus' death on the cross to make possible. And if you would grab Jesus as your hope of getting to God and getting to heaven, today you could come home. This could be your homecoming day.
Our whole website is there to help you understand how to begin life's most important relationship. Would you visit us there today? YoursForLife.net.
The homing instinct in the human heart knows where to go when everything else has failed. You go to the person who never stopped loving you.