Max Lucado Daily: Managing Tough Times
How we handle our tough times stays with us for a long time! When you’re tired of trying, tired of forgiving, tired of hard-headed people, how do you manage your dark days? With a bottle of pills? An hour at the bar, a day at the spa? Many opt for such treatments. So many, in fact, we assume they reenergize the sad life. But do they? They numb the pain, postpone the pain, but do they remove it?
Is there a solution? There is. Be quick to pray. Stop talking to yourself. Talk to Christ, who says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. (Matthew 11:28).”
God, who is never downcast, never tires of your down days.“Come to Me,” Jesus says. “I’ll give you real rest!”
from Facing Your Giants
Jeremiah 32
Jeremiah Buys a Field
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.
3 Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians[f] but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. 5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’
8 “Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’
“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; 9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels[g] of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy— 12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
13 “In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14 ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
17 “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, 19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. 20 You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.
24 “See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see. 25 And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’”
26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. 29 The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
30 “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord. 31 From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight. 32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. 33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. 34 They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. 35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
36 “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
42 “This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. 43 Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’ 44 Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes,[h] declares the Lord.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 6:13-20
New International Version (NIV)
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[a] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
The Anchor Of Our Hope
August 15, 2013 — by David C. Egner
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. —Hebrews 6:19
Frank, Ted, and I were fishing for bluegill on Rice Lake in Ontario, Canada. We were on a pontoon boat, and the fish were really biting. Busy baiting and hooking, we slowly became aware that the action had slacked off. Then we realized why: The boat was no longer sitting where we had put it. A strong wind had come up and pushed it across the water. The anchor could not hold us and was sliding across the lake bottom. We hauled it up, returned to our hot spot, and re-anchored. We were moved away again. After a third try, we went back to shore. We could not get our anchor to grab and stick.
When it comes to our salvation, our hope is anchored in the promise of God and the work of Jesus Christ. The winds and waves of doubt, discouragement, and spiritual attack by the evil one can cause us to think that we are adrift and salvation from God is not secure. Not so! God has given His promise that our salvation is sure, and He cannot lie (Heb. 6:18-19). Our hope is securely fastened in Jesus Christ who redeemed us once and for all when He died, rose again, and ascended to heaven.
Our anchor is the Rock unmovable—Jesus Christ. His limitless love holds us sure and steadfast.
We have an anchor that keeps the soul,
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love. —Owens
Our anchor is the Rock, Jesus Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 15, 2013
The Evidence of the New Birth
You must be born again —John 3:7
The answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born when he is old?” is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life, including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced (John 3:4). This new life exhibits itself in our conscious repentance and through our unconscious holiness.
“But as many as received Him. . .” (John 1:12). Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? Is there something in my life that unites me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior? My spiritual history must have as its underlying foundation a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be born again means that I see Jesus.
“. . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3). Am I seeking only for the evidence of God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new birth gives me a new power of vision by which I begin to discern God’s control. His sovereignty was there all the time, but with God being true to His nature, I could not see it until I received His very nature myself.
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin. . .” (1 John 3:9). Am I seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks, “Should a Christian sin?” The Bible emphatically states that a Christian must not sin. The work of the new birth is being effective in us when we do not commit sin. It is not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have actually stopped sinning. Yet 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin— it simply means that if we will obey the life of God in us, that we do not have to sin.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Light In A Deadly Tornado - #6939
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Even the reporters choked up. What the monster tornado tore up in Moore, Oklahoma, tore at our hearts: houses gone, neighborhoods gone, schools gone, children-gone.
People were wandering the streets "like zombies," trying to figure out where their house was. Parents waited in the mud, looking for some shred of hope that their child was somehow alive beneath the rubble of their school. Children were in shelters, wondering if they'd ever see their parents again. I'll tell you, the photos, the stories, and the video images defied words. Some of them struck a pretty deep chord in my heart.
Like the team from Joplin, Missouri, hurrying to help people in a way only they could. A few years ago, it was part of their town that vanished in one of the deadliest twisters ever. They know how having your world erased in a moment feels.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Light In A Deadly Tornado."
It's strange isn't it? The worst things that happen to us become the compassion and the comfort that we have to give to other wounded people. Those who've been hurt become heroes of healing for others who are bleeding. As the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:4, "We can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." Somehow our pain has meaning when we can use it to rebuild someone else's life. I call it crud-entials. How the crud of your life qualifies you to help a hurting world.
I was touched, too, by the directive given by the rescuers at the leveled Plaza Towers Elementary School. Knowing there were children in that rubble, the first responders asked everyone to just be quiet. They said, "So we can listen for voices." That's what I want to be better at; stopping the chatter so I can listen for the voices of people in trouble. They're all around us, if we have ears to hear their cries. They've been buried by one of life's violent storms. It's easy to miss them if we're running so fast we run right by them. God, help me listen for their voices.
Now the stories of the hero teachers surfaced on every newscast. Like the teacher at Briarwood Elementary who knew what the approaching tornado could do to those children she loved. So she told them, "We're going to line up our desks, get under them and play 'Worms.'" And they sang real loud - a little song I sang as a kid. "Jesus loves me, this I know." It's good to know when your world is falling down around you isn't it? The roof of the school ended up on top of their desks and they were OK.
Then there were the teachers who threw their bodies over their students' bodies; abandoning themselves, risking their lives to save their children. For me, that's the Man whose sacrifice has changed my life. "Jesus loves me, this I know."
I'm still thinking about the woman who got her kids from the soon-to-be demolished school just in time, and reached her home just in time to get everyone into their recently-built safe room. It was all that was left when the storm passed by. I loved what she said about rebuilding her house. "I'll build it around the safe room." That's a good idea. Not just for a house, but for a life.
There are so many sudden storms aren't there, so many life-changers that are beyond our control? We need a safe room where the storm that takes so much can't take you; an unshakeable eternity, an unloseable love.
Well in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 6:19, God says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."That's what the Bible says about Jesus. He's my one Safe Place. Storms have taken their toll to be sure, but I'm OK, because He's never let me go. I know He never will, because He hung on a cross for my sin and for yours.
See, these news stories remind us of how fragile life is, how much a storm can change things. Jesus offers you today, not a religion, but a relationship that anchors you forever. I want to invite you to join me at our website, where you can begin a relationship with Him. It's ANewStory.com and you'll find there the anchor that never moves.