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Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Give Up
The famous circus promoter, P.T. Barnum said: “There’s a sucker born every minute”—and he spent his life proving it. Maybe you feel like you’ve been suckered in life. You don’t want to take another risk. You don’t want to be hurt again.
Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.” Maybe that’s what you need to do, my friend. Your wounds are deep. Your disappointments are heavy. Remember the story of the Emmaus-bound disciples? The Savior they thought was dead now walked beside them. And something happened in their hearts (Luke 24:12-14). Maybe you are disappointed like they were. But, can you sense the presence of Christ beside you? Don’t give up. Don’t jump out. Be patient and let God remind you… He’s in control!
from He Still Moves Stones
Jeremiah 46
A Message About Egypt
46 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations:
2 Concerning Egypt:
This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
3 “Prepare your shields, both large and small,
and march out for battle!
4 Harness the horses,
mount the steeds!
Take your positions
with helmets on!
Polish your spears,
put on your armor!
5 What do I see?
They are terrified,
they are retreating,
their warriors are defeated.
They flee in haste
without looking back,
and there is terror on every side,”
declares the Lord.
6 “The swift cannot flee
nor the strong escape.
In the north by the River Euphrates
they stumble and fall.
7 “Who is this that rises like the Nile,
like rivers of surging waters?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
I will destroy cities and their people.’
9 Charge, you horses!
Drive furiously, you charioteers!
March on, you warriors—men of Cush[a] and Put who carry shields,
men of Lydia who draw the bow.
10 But that day belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty—
a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour till it is satisfied,
till it has quenched its thirst with blood.
For the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will offer sacrifice
in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
11 “Go up to Gilead and get balm,
Virgin Daughter Egypt.
But you try many medicines in vain;
there is no healing for you.
12 The nations will hear of your shame;
your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
both will fall down together.”
13 This is the message the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt:
14 “Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
proclaim it also in Memphis and Tahpanhes:
‘Take your positions and get ready,
for the sword devours those around you.’
15 Why will your warriors be laid low?
They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down.
16 They will stumble repeatedly;
they will fall over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
to our own people and our native lands,
away from the sword of the oppressor.’
17 There they will exclaim,
‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;
he has missed his opportunity.’
18 “As surely as I live,” declares the King,
whose name is the Lord Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains,
like Carmel by the sea.
19 Pack your belongings for exile,
you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis will be laid waste
and lie in ruins without inhabitant.
20 “Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
but a gadfly is coming
against her from the north.
21 The mercenaries in her ranks
are like fattened calves.
They too will turn and flee together,
they will not stand their ground,
for the day of disaster is coming upon them,
the time for them to be punished.
22 Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
like men who cut down trees.
23 They will chop down her forest,”
declares the Lord,
“dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,
they cannot be counted.
24 Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
given into the hands of the people of the north.”
25 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh. 26 I will give them into the hands of those who want to kill them—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past,” declares the Lord.
27 “Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
28 Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
for I am with you,” declares the Lord.
“Though I completely destroy all the nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 107:1-8
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.[a]
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
Too Blessed
July 24, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! —Psalm 107:8
On my daily commute to and from the office, I have plenty of time for reading—bumper stickers on cars, that is. Some are surly, others clever, and still others downright distasteful. One bumper sticker I saw recently, however, gently challenged my heart about the way I often engage life. The sticker simply said, “Too blessed to complain.”
I must confess that I felt convicted as I pondered those words. Too often I find myself lamenting moments in life that don’t go my way, rather than focusing on the wonderful gifts my heavenly Father has given me. Reading that simple message that day brought me a renewed commitment to be more actively and intentionally grateful because my God has been good to me in more ways than I could ever count.
Psalm 107 is a song that seeks to rectify thankless thinking. The psalmist (who many think was King David) makes a plea to hearts grown cold with ingratitude, repeating four times, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (vv.8,15,21,31). Even in the worst of times, we have much to be thankful for. May we learn to thank God for His goodness to us!
Count your blessings—name them one by one;
Count your blessings—see what God hath done;
Count your blessings—name them one by one;
Count your many blessings—see what God hath done. —Oatman
We don’t need more to be thankful for, we just need to be more thankful.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 24, 2013
His Nature and Our Motives
. . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven —Matthew 5:20
The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke. Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and as simple as a child. The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption.
No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations— He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The 'How Far Can I Go' Fever - #6923
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
I wonder what the question most asked by Christian teenagers is? I don't have any formal research to report to you today, but I have been listening to teenagers for a lot of years, and a lot has changed over those years. But I'm not sure the big question they have has. It was and continues to be, I think the most asked. It's not, "How do I have better devotions?" Or, "How can I serve the Lord?" It's, "How far can I go?" Wish I'd have a dollar for every time I've been asked that question. And they're not talking about driving privileges when they ask that question. How far can I go? Actually, long after our dating years are over, you know, that still seems to be the question we're dealing with. That's too bad.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'How Far Can I Go' Fever."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians chapter 4. I'm going to begin reading at verse 22, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your mind; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
The Apostle Paul here is saying on behalf of our Lord, "Get as far away as you can from your old self. You're done with that. Don't flirt with that. Don't hang on to that. Take it off like old, dirty clothes that don't fit you any more." And then he goes on later in this chapter to define what some of those old self things are, like being deceitful, destroying people with your anger, cheating, stealing, bitterness, dirty talk, dirty jokes, and sexual sins. He says, "Be new! Be like God in your holiness."
Well, that doesn't leave much room for flirting with sin does it? It means being fixated on living up to God's purity. Now, unfortunately, we seem to be missing God's best because of what I call that "how far can I go fever". We keep asking how far can I go to the edge of sin without falling over. How far can I push the truth without actually lying? How far can we push our definition of divorce to let me or someone else close to me out of an unhappy marriage? How far can I go in flirting with someone without being unfaithful to my mate? How far can I go sexually without being immoral?
There are so many areas where we're like those hormone-dominated teenagers. We want to get away with everything we can on the edges of sin. That's just the wrong question, "How far can I go?" When you play on the edges of sin, you fall over and we're missing the whole new self that's the reason God redeemed us and Christ died for us.
It's not "How far can I go toward the edge, how close can I get to the edge?" It's more like, "How far inside God's boundaries can I live?" The question ought to be, "How far can I go toward being like Jesus? How far can I go toward real holiness? Purge the compromises, Lord. Purge all these flirtations I've allowed with sin. Take away this desire to get away with as much earth stuff as I can." We've pushed the boundaries, but God has not moved them and He never will.
You know you're growing up in Christ when you want to do anything to have His blessing and to be like Him. Then the question is no longer, "How far can I go?" But it's, "How pure can I be?"
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