Max Lucado Daily
What is it about birthdays that causes us to quiver so? Certainly part of the problem is the mirror. Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician. But the real pain is deeper. Sometimes a dream-come-true-world has come true and it’s less than you’d hoped. Regret becomes a major pastime.
Luke 17:33 says, “Whoever tries to keep his life safe will lose it, and the one who’s prepared to lose his life will preserve it.” “There are two ways to view life,” Jesus is saying, “those who protect it or those who pursue it. The wisest are not the ones with the most years in their lives, but the most life in their years.”
You can take the safe route. Or you can hear the voice of adventure—God’s adventure. Adopt the child. Teach the class. Change careers. Make a difference. Sure it isn’t safe, but what is?
from He Still Moves Stones
Jeremiah 20
New International Version (NIV)
Jeremiah and Pashhur
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 You deceived[a] me, Lord, and I was deceived[b];
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.
14 Cursed be the day I was born!
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb,
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 10:35-45
New International Version (NIV)
The Request of James and John
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Creating Your Life
July 18, 2013 — by Anne Cetas
Whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. —Mark 10:44
The advice that I read in a self-help book sounded good: Do only what you’re great at because that’s when you’ll feel most fulfilled. The author was trying to help readers create the kind of life they wanted. I don’t know about you, but if I did only what I was great at, I wouldn’t accomplish much!
In Mark 10, we read about two disciples, James and John, who had some plans for the kind of life they wanted for themselves someday. They asked to be at Jesus’ right and left hand in His kingdom (v.37). The other 10 disciples were “greatly displeased” with them for asking (v.41). (Possibly because that was the kind of position they wanted for themselves!)
But Jesus used the opportunity to teach His followers about another kind of life—one of serving others. He said, “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (vv.43-44). It appears that service for others is God’s design for us.
Even Jesus, the Son of God, “did not come to be served, but to serve” (v.45). As we look at Christ’s example and depend on the Holy Spirit’s help, we too can be servants and will create a fulfilling life.
I admit, Lord, that my eyes do get focused on
myself. But I really do want to live from a
heart of love for You. Teach me to be a servant
and to look for my fulfillment in You.
Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 18, 2013
The Mystery of Believing
He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.
Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Cancer That's Killing You - #6919
Thursday, July 18, 2013
After a while I gave up trying to read those little blurbs that were next to the senior pictures in a high school yearbook. In our school, the seniors got to write their own, and it was usually in cryptic abbreviations so they can get in as many words as possible. Now, those abbreviations refer to something meaningful to the person who wrote it; some important people, some important memories, "Oh, yeah, sure." But most of those blurbs are hopelessly cryptic. I guess you had to be there in order to understand what they're writing about, right?
But I understood Scott's when I read it. He was one of the top scholars in our recent graduating class; honored many times over. At the end of his blurb he had these three words, "Miss U Mom." His mother was a teacher at the high school. She died of cancer in his sophomore year, and it added a note of sadness to the joy of graduation to know that Scott's Mom wasn't there to see him on his night of high honor. She, with so many others, was taken by that monster we call cancer. You know what? I'm a cancer victim too. So are you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cancer That's Killing You."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from James chapter 1, and I'll read verse 15 today. "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death." This is a description of a killer disease called sin, and we all have it. Romans 3:23 in the Bible says, "Everyone has sinned and come short of the glory of God."So, it's a disease we all have, and frankly it does work very much like cancer.
All of our cells are kind of programmed to do a certain job within the body. They sort of answer to central intelligence, and there's a master plan built into the cells; the millions of cells in your body. It's built right into the control center in that cell, and that's why some of them know that it's time to rush to a certain spot in your body when you get injured, or they build a wall around an infection so it won't spread. That's their job.
But one day one cell says, "Forget the master plan; I'm going to do as I please." And it no longer takes orders from central intelligence, goes off on its own, begins to multiply, and ultimately attacks a vein or a vital organ, and then a young man writes in a yearbook, "Miss U Mom."
Inside you is the spiritual cancer called sin. It's really made up of the middle letter of that word - "I". The master plan is that I live for God and I live for others. But I've chosen to go off on my own and pretty much do like the song says, "I'll do it my way." That's true of me, too.
That disease kills the people that we cut with our temper, it kills closeness, it ruins the reality and meaning of sex, love, and families. And you have it! You have this disease. James 1:15 says, "When it is fully conceived it gives birth to death. See, there is a wall between God and us. I probably didn't have to tell you that wall was there; you already know it. If it's there when we die, it's there forever. Cancer uncontrolled will kill your body; sin uncontrolled sends you and me to hell.
Your biggest problem in your life isn't death or family or finances. It's sin. This is your deadly condition. But listen to Jesus saying, "I let it kill Me so it doesn't have to kill you." See, Jesus took all the dying for this spiritual cancer of sin when He died on the cross. There is a cure for the killer in you.
I want to invite you today on behalf of Jesus to go to the place where you get the cure-at Jesus' cross, where the price was paid. A blood cure is the only cure. He invites you today to go there and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
Listen, I want to invite you to join me today at our website, where I've laid out as simply as I can how you can begin your personal relationship with Jesus and be cured of the deadly disease that we have in our soul. Go to ANewStory.com. You can open your life to the Savior today and be cured of the sin that otherwise is killing you.