Max Lucado Daily: Thank you, God
If you feel the world owes you something, brace yourself. You'll never get reimbursed! Henry Ward Beecher said, "A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves." The sky is never blue enough, the steak isn't cooked enough, the universe isn't good enough to deserve a human being like you.
Pursue gratitude. The grateful heart is like a magnet, sweeping over the day, collecting reasons for gratitude. Thank you, God. Your lungs inhale and exhale 11,000 liters of air every day. Thank you, God. For the jam on our toast and the milk on our cereal, the blanket that calms us and the joke that softens us and the warm sun that reminds us of God's love. Gratitude leaves us looking at God and away from dread. It does to anxiety what morning sun does to valley mist. It burns it up!
Thank you God.
From You'll Get Through This
Ezekiel 9
Judgment on the Idolaters
Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.” 2 And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”
5 As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
7 Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city. 8 While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’ 10 So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”
11 Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 6:25-35
Jesus the Bread of Life
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[a]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Footnotes:
John 6:31 Exodus 16:4; Neh. 9:15; Psalm 78:24,25
Life Without Bread
October 9, 2013 — by Marvin Williams
I am the bread of life. —John 6:48
In cultures with an abundance of food choices, bread is no longer a necessary part of the diet so some choose to live without it for various reasons. In the first century, however, bread was viewed as an essential staple. A diet without bread was a foreign concept.
One day a crowd of people sought out Jesus because He had performed the miracle of multiplying loaves of bread (John 6:11,26). They asked Him to perform a sign like the manna from heaven that God had provided for His people in the desert (6:30-31; Ex. 16:4). When Jesus said He was “the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32), the people didn’t understand. They wanted literal daily bread. But Jesus was saying that He had been sent to be their spiritual bread; He would supply their daily spiritual needs. If they, by faith, applied and took His words and life into their very souls, they would experience everlasting satisfaction (v.35).
Jesus doesn’t want to be an optional commodity in our diets; He desires to be the essential staple in our lives, our “necessary” food. As first-century Jews could never imagine life without physical bread, may we never attempt to live without Jesus, our spiritual bread!
For Further Thought
What are some ways you can let Jesus, the
Bread of Life, and His words satisfy the
hunger pangs of your soul today?
Only spiritual bread satisfies the hunger of the soul.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 9, 2013
Building on the Atonement
. . . present . . . your members as instruments of righteousness to God —Romans 6:13
I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life— an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation— it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every kind of experience you have by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
The atonement of Jesus must be exhibited in practical, unassuming ways in my life. Every time I obey, the absolute deity of God is on my side, so that the grace of God and my natural obedience are in perfect agreement. Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.
Beware of the human holiness that denies the reality of the natural life— it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the trial or test of the atonement and ask, “Where is the discernment of the atonement in this, and in that?”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Who Validates Your Ticket? - #6978
Our friends were expecting their baby in about six weeks.
Our friends were expecting their baby in about six weeks. But the baby didn't get the message. They had flown in from Denver to attend a convention in Chicago; we were all at the same convention. Since I was living in Chicago at that time, I said, "Hey, if anything happens, call me. I'll get you to the hospital in plenty of time. Hey, it's my city. You don't have anything to worry about." We were all laughing. I wasn't laughing at 6:00 A.M. the next morning when I got a phone call in my hotel room saying, "She's in labor!" Of course, I'm going crazy. I've got to get them to the hospital.
I ran down to the garage after throwing on some clothes, and in the parking garage there at the hotel I said, "Lady, I need my car. Bring up my car." And she said, "You must have your ticket validated." I said, "Lady, there's somebody about to have a baby! I don't have time to go up and get my ticket and go to the desk and have my parking ticket validated." She said, "You must have your ticket validated." I said, "Ma'am, there is going to be a lady having a baby right in front of you, right here in the parking garage." She said, "I'm sorry. You must have your ticket validated."
Well, the good news is we finally did get to the hospital and even though there was quite an adventure just getting there, the baby was fine. But no thanks to the parking lot lady. Now, that situation isn't usually that dramatic in a parking lot, but the rules are pretty consistent. You are not going anywhere until you get your ticket validated.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who Validates Your Ticket?"
Our word for today from the Word of God; Galatians 3:26. "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, (In other words racial identities aren't really the issue.) slave nor free (Okay, it's not your class identity that really matters.), male nor female (Gender isn't really the basis of your identity.), for you are all one in Christ Jesus." See, you've been clothed with Christ. There's only one thing that matters, "I belong to Jesus Christ." There's only one solid basis for identity and for security - who I am in Christ.
For most people, their validation comes from someone else. We spend a lot of time and effort trying to get other people to validate our ticket; to make us feel good about ourselves. The problem is that no one on earth can give you a secure identity. Is your validation your company? If the company says you're okay, is that it? The opposite sex? If you have a husband or wife, you think you're okay? A friend of yours; maybe a business friend? All the people we try to get approval from. Well, you could be on your first step to freedom if you understand that the source of our identity is the One who gave you your life in the first place.
Ephesians 2:10 says Jesus gave you your worth before you were born. "You are" it says, "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do." See, you are created by God, you're purchased by God when He died on the cross to pay for your sins. You're loved by God and He's prepared works for you that only you can do. That's all you need to know. What can anybody else give you to add to your worth?
See, you got your worth the day you were born. No one on earth gave you your worth, and no one on earth can take it away. So any validation you get from someone on earth is a bonus, because all earth approval is written in pencil. God's OK is stamped on your life in indelible ink. It all starts the day you ask Him to remove from your heart and your life and His record the sin of a lifetime. How can you even ask Him to do that? Because Jesus died for it; walked out of His grave and is alive today. And when you give yourself to Him, you belong to Him and you are home in the identity and the security and the love you were made for.
If you've never begun that relationship, I invite you to join me at our website. Find out how to do that. It's ANewStory.com. You won't need to have your identity validated so many other ways. You'll have the OK of Jesus. He's all you need.