(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)
Max Lucado Daily: Take a Step
Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. Faith is the belief that God will do what is right. My translation of the first few verses of Matthew, Chapter 5 say, “Blessed are the dirt-poor, nothing-to-give, trapped-in-a-corner, destitute, diseased,” and Jesus said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
God says the more hopeless your circumstance, the more likely your salvation. The greater your cares, the more genuine your prayers. Healing begins when we depend on Him. God’s help is near and always available, but it’s only given to those who seek it. Compared to God’s part, our part is minuscule but necessary.
Ask forgiveness. Call a counselor. Confess. Call mom. Visit a doctor. Feed a hungry person. Pray. Teach. Go. Do something that demonstrates faith. For faith with no effort is no faith at all. God will respond. He has never rejected a genuine gesture of faith. Never!
from He Still Moves Stones
Colossians 3
New International Version (NIV)
Living as Those Made Alive in Christ
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 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.
Instructions for Christian Households
18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers,[c] do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 19
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
What We Talk About
July 17, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord. —Psalm 19:14
Perhaps you are familiar with the saying, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Admittedly, there are ways to speak of people that can honor them. But this saying highlights our darker experiences. In a world of ever-present media—social and professional—we are continually confronted with people’s lives at a level of intimacy that can be inappropriate.
Worse, this tidal wave of personal information about others could become grist for our conversational mills to the point that gossip becomes the norm—and not just about the rich and famous. People in our workplaces, churches, neighborhoods, and families can also be targets of sharp tongues and feel the pain of discussions that never should have happened.
How can we escape our inclination to use words to hurt others? By recognizing that the ultimate Hearer of our words is God, who longs for us to be better than that. With the psalmist, we can pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord” (Ps. 19:14). When we seek to please God with our conversations about others, we honor Him. With His help, we can glorify Him through what we talk about.
Forgive me, Father, for the times my speech
crosses the line of that which is appropriate.
Help me to understand the power of words,
and give me the wisdom to use them well.
It is better to bite your tongue than to make a biting remark.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 17, 2013
The Miracle of Belief
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4
Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest degree; he was not speaking here out of a deep sense of humility, but was saying that when he preached the gospel, he would veil the power of God if he impressed people with the excellency of his speech. Belief in Jesus is a miracle produced only by the effectiveness of redemption, not by impressive speech, nor by wooing and persuading, but only by the sheer unaided power of God. The creative power of redemption comes through the preaching of the gospel, but never because of the personality of the preacher.
Real and effective fasting by a preacher is not fasting from food, but fasting from eloquence, from impressive diction, and from everything else that might hinder the gospel of God being presented. The preacher is there as the representative of God— “. . . as though God were pleading through us . . .” (2 Corinthians 5:20). He is there to present the gospel of God. If it is only because of my preaching that people desire to be better, they will never get close to Jesus Christ. Anything that flatters me in my preaching of the gospel will result in making me a traitor to Jesus, and I prevent the creative power of His redemption from doing its work.
“And I, if I am lifted up. . . , will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
How Hard You Try - #6918
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Gym class can be a pretty unfair place in school. You've got your natural athletes, your average athletes, and your basic klutzes, like me, who are all lumped together in the same class. It's tough to get a decent grade if the teacher compares your performances. The natural athletes, of course, are going to play better, score higher, run farther than many others who are trying just as hard. And many a good student has had his grade point dragged down. Not because of a C effort in gym, but because of a C result.
I guess we could debate about what's fair, but I for one appreciate the breed of physical education teacher that my son had, and he said this about him, "Dad, you know, he grades you not on how well you finish, but on how hard you try." Well, you know, I know someone else who grades that way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How Hard You Try."
The Apostle Paul is, as we get to the end of 2 Timothy, a man about to receive his report card, and he's about to graduate. This is the last letter he will write in his many letters of the New Testament, writing to his dear son in the faith, Timothy. Looking at his present situation, he doesn't look very successful. He's a prisoner in Caesar's prison, he's facing execution, there are no awards being given, there's no applause, he's very alone and he really has nothing on earth to look forward to. He is apparently a victim, not a victor. Maybe you know someone like that right now. Maybe it's someone like you. He is looking forward, though, to God's grades and God's rewards.
Listen to what he says in 2 Timothy chapter 4, beginning at verse 5, "Discharge all the duties of your ministry, for I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, and now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day." I love this! He's looking for the Lord's awards.
We know Paul's result. We look back on the tremendous results of his life. But where he was in that prison, he didn't have much to show for his efforts there. It could be you
right now. This word, "having fought a good fight" is the word for wrestling in the Olympics, and from that word we get our word agonize. He has agonized; he has agonizingly fought a good fight. It means he's fought with good technique. He doesn't say, "I won!" He says, "I have fought well." Winning wasn't the issue. Paul knew the issue was what kind of a fight he gave. Paul knows that his Lord rewards the effort, not the result, and so does your Lord. That's why His welcoming words are, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Not successful, faithful servant.
Maybe you've have been in a dark, discouraging time. You've worked hard, you've served faithfully, you've witnessed sincerely, you've lived Christ in front of the people you love, and there just seems to be very little to show for it. The results aren't there. And maybe you feel like you've failed. Maybe others even think you've failed.
But the question is, "Did you fight the good fight? Did you discharge your duties?" Maybe not perfectly, but faithfully, wholeheartedly. Well, then, I think you can expect A's from the only person who really matters; the One who made you; the One who paid for you with His life.
You see, the awards of God are based on how hard you try.