(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Untying Knots
Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. And, oh the advice. Everyone had a different approach. Can’t anyone agree? On only one thing. You need to know how!
My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench each morning. One day he noticed a little fellow struggling to board the bus. He was leaning down, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment—eyes darting back and forth between the shoe and the ride. All of a sudden the door closed. The boy fell back and sighed. That’s when he saw Roy. With tear-filled eyes he asked, “Do you untie knots?”
Jesus loves that request. Life gets tangled. People mess up. You never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” Look who shows up. Jesus, our next door Savior.
“Do you untie knots?” He answers emphatically, “Yes!”
from Next Door Savior
Micah 1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you,
listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces;
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Weeping and Mourning
8 Because of this I will weep and wail;
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague is incurable;
it has spread to Judah.
It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,
because disaster has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Akzib[f] will prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.[g]
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.
16 Shave your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 5:1-11
Peace and Hope
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
True Sacrifice
May 27, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. —John 15:13
Eric was one of the good guys. As a police officer, he saw his work as service to his community and was fully committed to serving at all costs. Evidence of this desire was seen on the door of Eric’s locker at the police station, where he posted John 15:13.
In that verse, our Lord said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Those words, however, were not merely noble ideals. They expressed Eric’s commitment to his duty as a police officer—a commitment that demanded the ultimate price when he was killed in the line of duty. It was a real-life display of the heart of true sacrifice.
Jesus Christ lived out the powerful words of John 15:13 within hours of stating them. The upper room event where Jesus spoke of such sacrifice was followed by communion with the Father at Gethsemane, a series of illegal trials, and then crucifixion before a mocking crowd.
As the Son of God, Jesus could have avoided the suffering, torture, and cruelty. He was utterly without sin and did not deserve to die. But love, the fuel that drives true sacrifice, drove Him to the cross. As a result, we can be forgiven if we will accept His sacrifice and resurrection by faith. Have you trusted the One who laid down His life for you?
’Twas not a martyr’s death He died,
The Christ of Calvary;
It was a willing sacrifice
He made for you—for me. —Adams
Only Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, can declare guilty people perfect.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2013
The Life To Know Him
. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Strange Credentials - #6881
Monday, May 27, 2013
We were scheduled to fly to a national staff conference for a youth ministry I was with, when one of the women on our staff came to me and said, "Ron, I'm afraid to fly." Well, the conference was so far away we didn't have much choice. She said, "I want to talk to somebody on the staff about flying, and I decided I would talk to you." And I said, "Well, how did I become the lucky winner here?" She said, "Well, you go up and come down so many times in those things, I figured you'd understand." She was seeking out someone who's done it a lot. Well, I mean, we have 23 people on the staff she could have talked to, but she said, "I'm going to go to the person who's done it a lot. I want to hear from someone who's been there."
You know what? I've found that's especially true of people who are, let's say, trying to lose weight. You try to talk to people who've been there, done that. Have you noticed the weight loss products that are sold on television about every ten minutes? They don't always have a doctor come on and some very thin person. Now, maybe a thin person who had benefitted from the product. They usually have someone who has lost weight using the product, who traded in their larger sized clothes for a smaller size, and they're the ones who come on and pitch it. Advertisers know that the best salesmen for a product is someone who's been there.
Being overweight - take it from me, I've had experience - it's not fun. But a lot of people want to know how you lost it if you used to be there. And even though it wasn't fun, it gives you credentials with people who are struggling with it now. It's interesting: yesterday's misery can become today's credentials.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Strange Credentials."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 9. I'm going to begin at verse 24. Jesus healed a man who had been blind from his birth. The Jewish leaders didn't understand what Jesus had done and when He had done it, so they are really interrogating this guy. It says, "The second time they summoned the man who had been blind. 'Give glory to God,' they said. 'We know this Man," speaking of Jesus, "is a sinner.' He replied, 'Whether He's a sinner or not I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!'"
Blindness had been his lifelong burden; it had been his personal tragedy. And then Jesus came, and suddenly all those years of being blind became this man's credentials for speaking to other people. God loves to do things like that, taking the garbage of the past, no matter how ugly and how awful it has been and then He recycles it into ministry to other people; people who are where you were. Paul's crimes of the past became his credentials to speak about how Christ could change a life, even a life like his. He said in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, "We comfort others with the comfort we have received." The tragedies of our life become credentials to minister to other people in their tragedies.
Sin is ugly; sin is destructive. It's so destructive it took Christ's death to pay for it. But God's so majestic that He can take the things you did against Him, forgive you, restore you, change you, and then use those sins to sensitize you to others who are still trapped. Today's frustration, today's agony, today's illness, today's hurt takes on meaning when you bring it to the Lord and say, "Lord, sanctify this experience. Teach me new sensitivities. Teach me new things about You. I want this tragedy to count, to help other people." It's the same with sins that have been sinned against you; the abuse, the mistreatment, the criticism. You know how it feels, and it's not a waste. It becomes equipment for ministry to other wounded people.
It's terrific! God uses the apparent junk of our lives to build radar in you for ministry to others like you. You talk about amazing grace? How God can recycle that garbage into something He can use to change lives - it's amazing. In God's hands, the misery of today can become tomorrow's strange credentials.
