Max Lucado Daily: In Debt
Debt. To be in debt is to owe someone something. If that’s true, isn’t it appropriate for us to speak of debt in our prayer, for aren’t we all in debt to God? Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disobey His commands? Rather than love our neighbor, we hurt our neighbor. Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disregard Him? He makes the universe and we applaud science. Maybe if I wave at my neighbor or go to church next Sunday, I’ll get caught up. But how do you know when you’ve made enough? That’s the problem. You never can.
Romans 4:5 says, “People cannot do any work that will make them right with God.”
You’re going to spend the rest of your days huffing and puffing to get to the drive-through window before the bank closes. Just try this– trust His grace! It is God who justifies your account!
from The Great House of God
Isaiah 50
Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience
50 This is what the Lord says:
“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce
with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
did I sell you?
Because of your sins you were sold;
because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 When I came, why was there no one?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Was my arm too short to deliver you?
Do I lack the strength to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea,
I turn rivers into a desert;
their fish rot for lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with darkness
and make sackcloth its covering.”
4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
I have not been rebellious,
I have not turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near.
Who then will bring charges against me?
Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
Who will condemn me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
the moths will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one who walks in the dark,
who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on their God.
11 But now, all you who light fires
and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
You will lie down in torment.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: James 1:1-8
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Cape Tribulation
April 16, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. —James 1:2-3
On June 10, 1770, British navigator James Cook’s ship hit a reef off the northeast coast of Australia. He sailed the ship out into deeper water only to hit the reef again, and this time the collision almost sank the ship. This experience moved Cook to write in the ship’s log: “The north point [was named] Cape Tribulation because here began all our troubles.”
Many of us have experienced a trial that has seemed to trigger a string of other trials. The loss of a job, the death of a loved one, an unwanted divorce, or a decline in health could all be part of the list.
Even though a crisis may seem to be our “Cape Tribulation,” God is still sovereign and He most certainly is in control. It is His purpose to use tribulation to build resilience into us. James writes: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3). The word translated “patience” means to have staying power or the ability to endure.
In the midst of your life-changing trial, remember that God is still at work. He wants to use your “Cape Tribulation” experience to build your character. He has promised His grace to see you through (2 Cor. 12:9).
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
—Annie Johnson Flint. © Renewal 1969. Lillenas Publishing
Faith grows best in the winter of trial. —Rutherford
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 16, 2013
Can You Come Down From the Mountain?
While you have the light, believe in the light . . . —John 12:36
We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just doit! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.
Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
How to Burn Off Your Personal Fog - #6852
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Well, the world sure looks different on a foggy morning. In our neighborhood the neighbor's houses suddenly aren't there. There's a hill I can usually see out our back door. On a foggy morning - no hill. And on the highway, forget it! I mean, it's suddenly hard to find where you turn or to plan much beyond the car immediately in front of you.
I remember this 40-car-pile-up on a foggy morning on one of the major highways near us. The pile-up happened because people couldn't see what the car in front of them was doing. Now, on those foggy mornings it looks as if the world's going to be gray all day doesn't it? It's kind of a depressing way to start the day, but that fog seldom lasts past 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. Why? Well, the fog developed over night when there was no sun out to warm the air and evaporate all that moisture. Sometimes when the fog gets thick, well, we lose sight of the sun.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How To Burn Off Your Personal Fog."
There are three facets of Jesus that His followers should be known for, and they're all mentioned in our word for today from the Word of God in Colossians 3:15-17: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
Now, notice here it talks about the fact that you and I should be known by the peace of Christ in our relationships, by the word of Christ in our attempts to minister to people, and by the name of Christ in everything we do. So, we're to be characterized by Jesus' peace, Jesus' words, and a Jesus uniform everywhere we are. That peace, especially, appeals to me-the peace of Christ.
Did you notice that each involve the same ingredient? They all involve saying, "Thank you." With the peace of Christ, the word of Christ, and the name of Christ, there's a thank you emphasis. I wonder if we were to play back recordings of you in recent weeks, would they sound a little more negative than usual? Maybe there's a pessimistic tone there; a tone of criticism or complaining, negativity. Hey, the fog's rolling in and everything is looking gray to you.
I can describe it because I've felt it. Maybe the fog is winning right now. What you need, of course, is the sun, and the sun that burns off the fog of pessimism and negativism is called giving thanks. That means you make a decision to focus today on what is rather than what isn't; what you have rather than what you don't have. To focus on what God has been doing in your life; to concentrate on answered prayer rather than on the not yet answered prayer. To go through your day on a God-hunt, looking for where He is, where He's working in your life. If you look for Him, you'll see Him all over the place.
Paul and Silas could sing at midnight in a prison because they were praising and giving thanks. You can sing at midnight. You can give thanks in the fog.
When I stop living gratefully, a dark gray attitude starts to blanket my soul-the spiritual blahs. But the fog doesn't ever have to last long. A thank you mindset is the sun that burns off your personal fog.