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Max Lucado Daily: He Leads
Worrying is one job you can’t farm out, but you can overcome it. There’s no better place to begin than in Psalm 23:2. “He leads me beside the still waters,” David declares. “He leads me.” God isn’t behind me, yelling, “Go!” He’s ahead of me bidding, “Come!” He’s in front, clearing the path, cutting the brush. Standing next to the rocks, He warns, “Watch your step there.”
Isn’t this what God gave the children of Israel? He promised to supply them with manna each day. But He told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Matthew 6:34 says, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
God is leading you! Leave tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow!
From Traveling Light
Habakkuk 3
Habakkuk’s Prayer
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.[i]
2 Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.[j]
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed—
but he marches on forever.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
when you rode your horses
and your chariots to victory?
9 You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.
You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 94:3-23
How long, Lord, will the wicked,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?
4 They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, Lord;
they oppress your inheritance.
6 They slay the widow and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob takes no notice.”
8 Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise?
9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?
10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?
11 The Lord knows all human plans;
he knows that they are futile.
12 Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
the one you teach from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.
15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy.
20 Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—
a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
21 The wicked band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
23 He will repay them for their sins
and destroy them for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
Rock Of Refuge
June 20, 2013 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
The Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge. —Psalm 94:22
One year during my vacation, I walked along the shoreline of a large lake. As I approached a pile of boulders, I noticed a small alcove between the rocks and observed that a tiny plant had taken root there. The plant appeared to be absorbing the right amount of sunlight and water, and it was also getting something else: protection. No downpour or windstorm would ruffle its tender leaves.
The plant’s secure habitat reminded me of these familiar hymn lyrics: “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” Those words express what many of us want when we encounter people with evil intentions—people characterized by pride, cruelty, and a lack of regard for God (Ps. 94:4-7). When we are the target of someone’s wrongdoing, we can remember the testimony of the psalmist: “The Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge” (v.22).
As our rock, God is dependable and strong. As our refuge, He can provide safety until problems pass. The psalmist reminds us: “Under His wings you shall take refuge” (Ps. 91:4). With God as our defender, we don’t have to fear what others will do. We can trust that God will support us when trouble comes.
Thank You, God, for Your stable and unchanging
nature. Help us to hide ourselves in You
when trouble comes our way. Remind us that we
don’t have to fight our own battles.
Refuge can be found in the Rock of Ages.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 20, 2013
Have You Come to “When” Yet?
The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends —Job 42:10
A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I pray, “Lord, I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer— I will walk rightly before You if You will help me.” But I cannot make myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just beginning to save us— He has already saved us completely. It is an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.
If you are not now receiving the “hundredfold” which Jesus promised (see Matthew 19:29), and not getting insight into God’s Word, then start praying for your friends— enter into the ministry of the inner life. “The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.” As a saved soul, the real business of your life is intercessory prayer. Whatever circumstances God may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you come in contact now.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
You Can Walk But You Can't See - #6899
Thursday, June 20, 2013
The other night I saw one of the most adorable scenes I've seen in ages. I was coming out of a restaurant, and right ahead of me was a mother and a father. In between them was their little girl who was obviously a rookie at walking. She was just learning, and she had both hands extended upward. Mom had one hand and Dad had the other. She was dressed in this pretty little pink dress. She also had this cute, frilly little pink cap on. You can kind of picture it.
I came up behind them and I said, "Hey, she's thinking this is really a big deal isn't she folks? She's kind of going, 'I can walk! I can walk! Look at me!'" I walked past them and Dad at that point said to me, "Yeah, but she's got a problem." So, I looked back to see what he meant, and her little cap had fallen down over her forehead and was completely covering her eyes. So she's still walking, sort of staggering around, and her Dad spoke for her when he said, "I can walk, but I can't see!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Can Walk But You Can't See."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Galatians chapter 5. Verse 16 says, "Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Verse 25: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Now, here's the description of an exciting lifestyle. The Apostle Paul calls it "keeping in step with the Spirit." The old King James Version says "walking in the Spirit."
Now, you can walk without the Spirit's leading. Sure you can go through your day, make your choices, make your schedule, but there's a problem. Like that little girl, you can walk but you can't see. We make our plans. We make our schedule. We make our choices based on what looks best or what feels best, based on what we can see. We've got our cap over our eyes most of the time. We can't see the long-range consequences of the choice we're making today, but the Holy Spirit can.
We can't see what choice would fit best into God's plans for us, but the Spirit can. We can't see where the resources will come from or the people, but the Holy Spirit can. The Holy Spirit has been placed by God inside your personality to nudge you to the right place at the right time in today's schedule. So our job is to learn to recognize and respond to those inner Holy Spirit pushes and pulls and nudges.
How do you do it? Well, first you pray that God will sensitize you, "Lord, I want to be able to recognize those Holy Spirit nudges so I don't disregard them. I want to know when you're pushing me to do something." Then frequently ask the Lord through the day, "Spirit, what's the next step in this situation?" And then practice obeying those Spirit impulses: to make that phone call when He says to do it, to write that note, to go and just suddenly hug that family member, to drop everything for a person that He drops into your schedule, to open up to a certain passage of scripture.
The disciples had Jesus there and He said, "Follow me." And it was easy, because He was right there physically. Well, we can do it today because we have His Spirit inside saying, "Come this way." Don't just pray in the morning and then go run off for the day with your pre-set course and then check back at bedtime.
You need the security, the adventure of following the Spirit's leading all day long. After all, you can walk but you can't see.