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Max Lucado Daily: He’s Been There
Whatever you are facing, Jesus knows how you feel! He’s been there.
Several years ago, twenty-thousand of us ran through the streets of San Antonio raising money for breast cancer research. Most of us ran out of kindness, a few ran in memory of a loved one, others in honor of a cancer survivor. We ran for different reasons.
But no runner was more passionate than the woman I spotted. A bandana covered her bald head, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. She had cancer. While we ran out of kindness, she ran out of conviction. She knows how cancer victims feel. She’s been there.
So has Jesus. Scripture says, He is able—to run to the cry of those who’re being tempted and tested and tried. When you turn to Him for help, Jesus runs to you to help. Why? Because he knows how you feel. He’s been there! (Hebrews 4:15).
from Next Door Savior
Micah 2
Human Plans and God’s Plans
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by lot.
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good
to the one whose ways are upright?
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:1-10
Life Through the Spirit
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness.
Displaying God’s Glory
May 28, 2013 — by Dave Branon
Those who live according to the Spirit, [live according to] the things of the Spirit. —Romans 8:5
I love baseball and have been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid. I especially enjoy following the Detroit Tigers. But during a recent season, the Tigers’ poor play and losing record early in the season frustrated me greatly. So for my own personal well-being, I took a break. I spent 4 days avoiding anything to do with my favorite team.
During those 4 Tiger-less days, I began to contemplate how difficult it is to give up things we’ve grown accustomed to. Yet there are times when God may want us to.
For instance, we may be involved in an activity that has become all-encompassing—and we know it would be best to limit it (see 1 Cor. 6:12). Or we may have a habit or practice that we know misses the mark of pleasing God, and we realize that we need to let it go because we love Him and want Him to be glorified through us (15:34).
When we do find things that interfere with our relationship with the Lord, with His help we can stop. God has given us the provision (1 Cor. 10:13), and the Spirit provides the power (Rom. 8:5).
Let’s ask Him to help us not let anything block His glory from shining through.
You are perfect, Lord, and we are so far from
perfect. Please chip away at our imperfections
through the work of Your Holy Spirit. Help us
each day to grow more and more like You.
Drawing close to Christ produces a growing Christlikeness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2013
Unquestion Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Lost and Found - #6882
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
"We have a little boy here!" That was the announcement we heard when we were down on the boardwalk at the New Jersey shore. We'd been biking along the boardwalk, and it was a great sunny day; thousands of people were milling around the boardwalk. Then came that announcement over the sound system; you could hear it all down the boardwalk. "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost. He's about five years old. He's wearing red shorts and holding a little red truck." All of a sudden my bike ride wasn't as cheerful as it had been. I began to wonder why they didn't at least give out his name. I found out later it was because he was crying so hard he couldn't give it!
Twenty-five minutes later I came back down the boardwalk on my bike. They were still making the announcement, "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost!" Well, I had to leave before I heard the final outcome and man, I've got to tell you, I felt bad for that little guy, feeling so lost and alone. Actually, there's some of that little boy in you and me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lost and Found."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:10. Jesus himself is speaking. He says of Himself, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Now, that's a word the Bible uses to describe you and me quite often-lost. No matter how religious you are, no matter how respected, no matter how powerful, no matter how intelligent you are, you are L O S T like that little boy on the boardwalk-lost. You say, "Well, how do you know all of us are, Ron?"
In Isaiah 53:4, it says, "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows." And it goes on to say in verse 6, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray." "We all" is what God says. "Each of us has turned to our own way." In a lot of ways we're like that little boy. First of all, I don't think you mean to get away from your father. I'm sure that little boy didn't mean to get lost. Few of us have deliberately said, "I need to get away from God." We just keep making choices, taking steps that ease Him out. He ends up on the margins of our life instead of in the center where the Creator of us belongs. We end up with a wall of sin between God and us. Maybe you can tell that. You know there's a wall between you and God; you can feel it.
Some people, like that lost little boy, at first don't know they're lost. They're just enjoying the boardwalk; it's fun, it's exciting. Then you realize how empty you are, how alone you are. Often it's late at night or when a person or a dream comes to mind. Even if you get what you wanted, you still feel empty. But that haunting voice says, "Someone's missing" and you don't know how to find Him.
I'm afraid after being lost, by the time you realize you're lost, you don't know how to find your Father. "How did I get this far from God? How can I find Him?" Well, like that little boy, your only hope of getting home is if your Father comes looking for you. And He did! The Bible says, "Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost." See, Jesus is God come looking for you. He had to go all the way to the cross to do it though. It says, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (or the wrong doing) of us all." That's the end of the verse that says "we all wandered away." He took all the payment for all my wandering and yours. And He's seeking you right now through this visit. What if that little boy's father finds him and the little boy says, "Go away!" I can't imagine that! Think how many of us have done that to God.
He's come to you; He's knocking on the door of your life and maybe you've said, "Not now. Go away, Father. Not today." Hasn't it been too long you've been away from the love only the Father can give you, the peace, the security, the forgiveness, the heaven only He can give you? He's coming to you today. Reach out and say, "Daddy, take me home. Bring me home to a relationship with You," as only He can through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Our whole reason for our website is to help you be sure you belong to Him. Go there today, please - YoursForLife.net - and let this be the day you go from lost to found.