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Max Lucado Daily: Just Be Normal
You don’t have to lower your standards. Or saddle a high horse. Just be nice. Normal and nice. Discipleship is sometimes defined by being normal! You don’t have to be weird to follow Jesus. You don’t have to stop liking your friends to follow Him. Just the opposite. A few introductions would be nice. Do you know how to grill a steak?
A woman in a small Arkansas community was a single mom with a frail baby. Her neighbor would stop by every few days and keep the child so she could do her shopping. After some weeks her neighbor shared more than time; she shared her faith, and the woman followed Christ. The friends of the young mother objected. “Do you know what those people teach?” they contested. “Here is what I know,” she told them. “They held my baby.”
I think Jesus likes that kind of answer, don’t you?
from Next Door Savior
Micah 3
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
3 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;
3 who eat my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them
because of the evil they have done.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,
they proclaim ‘peace’
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets,
and the day will go dark for them.
7 The seers will be ashamed
and the diviners disgraced.
They will all cover their faces
because there is no answer from God.”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;
10 who build Zion with bloodshed,
and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 4:35-41
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Peace, Be Still
May 29, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” —Mark 4:39
My friend Elouise has a wonderful way of putting life into clever perspectives. Once when I asked her, “How are you today?” I expected the usual “fine” response. Instead, she said, “I’ve got to wake Him up!” When I asked what she meant, she kiddingly exclaimed, “Don’t you know your Bible?!” Then she explained: “When the disciples faced trouble, they ran to wake up Jesus. I’m going to run to Him too!”
What do we do when we are stuck in a troubling situation with nowhere to run? Maybe, like the disciples who were stuck in a life-threatening storm, we run to Jesus (Mark 4:35-41). Sometimes, however, we may try to bail ourselves out of trouble by seeking revenge, slandering the one who has caused our problem, or just cowering fearfully in the corner as we sink into despair.
We need to learn from the disciples who fled to Jesus as their only hope. He may not bail us out immediately, but remembering that He is in our boat makes a difference! Thankfully, He is always with us in the storms of life, saying things like “Peace, be still!” (v.39). So, look for Him in your storm and let Him fill you with the peace that comes from knowing He is near.
Lord, teach us to run to You in the midst of trouble.
Forgive us for trying to bail ourselves out, and lead
us to the peace of trusting Your wisdom and ultimate
deliverance. Thank You that You will help us!
Make Jesus your first option when the storms of life threaten you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 29, 2013
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Looking Back Attack - #6883
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Most of the major milestones in college revolve around a little four-letter word. Maybe you remember; maybe you're experiencing it now. The word - exam. My wife and I ended up in some classes together while we were in college before we were married, and that meant we ended up being stressed out at exactly the same time, sharing the same questions, the same challenges. But it was after the exam that the differences we had really surfaced because we handled the exam aftermath differently.
I'd come away rehearsing questions and thinking, "Well, how did I do on that one?" "What did you write for that one?" And, "Oh no, I forgot to write about that point." I thought about what I might have aced or what I might have missed; generally, I'd relive the exam. Now, my wife on the other hand; she had no desire to look back. When that exam was over, it was over and none too soon! She didn't want to go back and go over and over what was already history. I think she had the better idea.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking Back Attack."
Our word for today from the Word of God is from Philippians chapter 3, and I'll begin reading at verse 12. Paul says, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
The imagery here is of a track runner. I happen to think that maybe Paul was a sports fan; he seemed to refer to the Olympics pretty often. And here's this runner going for the gold, and his first step to victory is to forget what's behind you. Let history be history; let the ground covered be the ground covered. You can't do a thing about it! You can't change the past. You can't do anything about the ground you already covered. In simple language, "Don't look back."
Too often we're like that college "me." We rehearse again and again what is unchangeable history. I kept thinking about the exam and kept thinking about the questions; couldn't change a thing by thinking about them. And oftentimes we get to the point where we're not focusing on today, on the race that we've still got to run. It's good to learn from the past, but not good to dwell on it.
Maybe you're having a looking back attack right now. Maybe it's a past hurt, and you just replay it over and over again. That replay is leading to resentment. If you don't go to the cross and find that grace to forgive that hurt, to release that hurt, you're going to stumble every time you try to run. It's time to focus on forgiving; a new beginning in that relationship. Maybe you're looking back at a past failure and you're paralyzed by it. You're replaying what you did wrong. Learn from it! Accept Christ's erasing and press on for the prize. Don't look back!
Maybe you're reliving past history, but it doesn't really mean anything today. It's time to make some new victories, some new memories, gain some new ground for Jesus instead of cruising on the glories of the past. You run so much better if you keep your eyes like Paul said, "On the prize" rather than on the past. The steps that you already took just don't matter that much anymore. What matters is going for the gold today.
