Max Lucado Daily: He is Not Far From Us ·
You will never go where God is not! Envision the next few hours—where will you be? In a school? God indwells the classroom. On the highway? His presence lingers among the traffic. In the hospital operating room, the executive board-room, the in-laws’ living room? God will be there.
Acts 17:27 says, “He is not far from each of us.” Each of us. God doesn’t play favorites. From the masses on city streets to isolated villagers in valleys and jungles, all people can enjoy God’s presence.
But many don’t! They plod through life as if there is no God to love them. As if the only strength is their own. As if the only solution will come from within, not above. They live God-less lives. The psalmist determined, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You, God.” (Psalm 56:3). Put your hope in God. You will get through this!
From You’ll Get Through This
Titus 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint[a] elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe[b] and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”[c] 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Footnotes:
Titus 1:5 Or ordain
Titus 1:6 Or children are trustworthy
Titus 1:12 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Chronicles 16:6-13
Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites[a] and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen[b]? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.
11 The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. 13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors.
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 16:8 That is, people from the upper Nile region
2 Chronicles 16:8 Or charioteers
Beneficial Power
September 12, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
The eyes of the Lord run to and fro . . . , to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. —2 Chronicles 16:9
Boxing and strong-man competitions have a unique aspect to them. In the events, the athletes compete individually for the purpose of demonstrating their superior strength. It’s like arm wrestling—you do it to prove that you are the strongest person in the room.
One aspect of God’s glory is His almighty power. But how does He show His strength? He doesn’t do it by rearranging the galaxies before our very eyes, changing the color of the sun at a whim, or freezing a lightning bolt as a trophy to His strength. Instead, in His love and compassion for needy people like ourselves, God has chosen to “show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).
The pattern is consistent throughout Scripture. From the dividing of the Red Sea, to the marvel of manna in the wilderness, to the miraculous virgin birth, and ultimately to the power of the resurrection, our Almighty God has chosen to demonstrate His strength to bless, preserve, and protect His people.
Be assured that He delights in showing Himself strong in the challenges of our life. And when He proves His power on our behalf, let’s remember to give Him the glory!
Lord, thank You for choosing to expend Your
divine power on the needs of my life. When my
strength is weak, teach me to trust that Your mighty
arm is able to guard, protect, and deliver!
All of God’s promises are backed by His wisdom, love, and power.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 12, 2013
Going Through Spiritual Confusion
Jesus answered and said, ’You do not know what you ask’ —Matthew 20:22
There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.
The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember?He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?
The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father?as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Luke 11:10). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.
The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8). “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Voice Majors - #6959
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Let's talk about a goat. "You wouldn't kid us, would you Ron?" No, I'm serious, and that's terrible. It's not a goat I've ever met. I mean, I lived in the New York area most of my life. Where would I meet a goat? But there's this college student who told me about this goat that he met in Israel on a college-sponsored trip. Now, Bill and his buddies were hiking in this desert-like area that's between Jerusalem and Jericho. It's the area actually where Jesus said that man was attacked by thieves. You know the one who was helped by the Good Samaritan?
Well, these students saw some New Testament looking shepherds. I mean they're dressed in their robes that you might see like in a Christmas play at church. And they were herding their flock of goats across this wadi and up an embankment. Somehow one little goat strayed off and got left behind. Bill and his friends heard this goat bleating mournfully, so Bill went over and picked up the frightened animal, held him in his arms, and he talked to this kid and tried to settle it down. At that point, one of the shepherds appeared on top of the embankment and he was looking for his missing goat of course. And the shepherd just called out. The instant that animal heard that voice, he bolted out of Bill's arms and up the embankment to his shepherd.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Voice Majors."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 10. I'm going to begin reading at verse 3, "The watchman opens the gate for the shepherd, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
Well, obviously, these verses came to life for me in a new way when that college student told me his story. Frankly, I think I'd rather be a sheep than a goat symbolically,
but the principle is the same. They are so tuned in to their shepherd's voice, they run to follow him. Well now, that's how Jesus says our relationship with Him is supposed to be. One of the most haunting questions of the Christian experience is this, "How can I know what God's will is?" That's a valid concern. God does have a customized plan for your life, and you sure don't want to miss it.
When we're faced with a decision, we often struggle, don't we, with how we can know God's will? Well, the answer is by knowing His voice. My job as a disciple of Jesus isn't to figure out some cosmic jigsaw puzzle called God's Will. My job is to get good at listening to and responding to my Shepherd's voice; to be a God's will person. That means I can't just try to discern God's voice when I get to some macro decision I have to make. I'll never recognize His leading if I haven't been responding to Him every day in a lot of smaller decisions.
Here's how to become a God's will person. You begin your day with your Bible in your lap and you say, "Lord, I want to hear your voice. Speak to me about something for this day." Then you read with a listening heart, looking for a word that is just for you just for this day. So God will say, "I want to have A Word With You today about..." and there it is. And then you write it down in a journal whatever your heart heard your Master say, maybe in the form of a prayer back to Him. And then you talk to your Shepherd, reiterating what you heard Him say and then committing yourself to do it today. See, that's a micro will of God; a 24-hour will of God.
Then when it's time for a major life decision, you'll be the right person at the right place at the right time. But you got there by a thousand daily little obediences; listening to His voice. See, the macro will of God is the sum total of a thousand micro wills that you get on a daily basis. You'll walk into His will naturally. In a sense, you won't have to find God's will. God's will is going to find you.
Like that little goat, you just have to accumulate experience in hearing your Shepherd's voice in your heart, each day, all through the day. And then when He calls, you'll leap His direction, because all of us Shepherd-needing folks are trained by one vital skill. We all need to be voice majors; majoring in recognizing the voice of our Jesus.