Max Lucado Daily: He is Preparing a Place
God's purpose from all eternity is to prepare a family to indwell the kingdom of God. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11).
God's plotting for our good. In all the setbacks, He is ordaining the best for our future. Every event of our day is designed to draw us toward our God and our destiny. When people junk you in the pit, God can use it for good. When family members sell you out, God will recycle the pain. Falsely accused? Utterly abandoned? You may stumble but you will not fall. You will get through this!
Not because you are strong, but because God is. Not because you are big, but because God is. Not because you're good, but because God is. He has a place prepared for you!
From You'll Get Through This
2 Timothy 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[a]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[b]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 15:54 Isaiah 25:8
1 Corinthians 15:55 Hosea 13:14
The End?
October 18, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:57
Everything in this world eventually comes to an end, which at times can be disheartening. It’s the feeling you get when you read a book that’s so good you don’t want it to end. Or when you watch a movie that you wish would go on a little while longer.
But all things—good and bad—do come to “The End.” In fact, life ultimately does come to the end—sometimes sooner than we expect. All of us who have stood by the casket of a loved one know the painful emptiness of a heart that wishes it wasn’t over yet.
Thankfully, Jesus steps into the fray of terminal disappointments, and, through His death and resurrection, He interjects hope for us. In Him “the end” is a prelude to a death-free eternity, and words like “it’s over” are replaced by a joy-filled “forever.” Since our bodies are not an eternal reality, Paul assures us that “we shall all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51) and reminds us that because of Christ’s conquering work we can confidently say, “O Death, . . . where is your victory?” (v.55).
So let not your heart be troubled. Our sorrow is real, but we can be filled with gratitude because God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.57).
Lord, keep our eyes and hearts fixed not on the
temporary joys or disappointments but on the victorious
realities of eternity. Thank You for Your death and
resurrection that guarantee our forever future.
In Christ, the end is only the beginning.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 18, 2013
The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion
. . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . . —3 John 7
Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.
Faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the supernatural work of redemption that has been performed in me by the Holy Spirit— “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5). And it is that love in me that effectively works through me and comes in contact with everyone I meet. I remain faithful to His name, even though the commonsense view of my life may seemingly deny that, and may appear to be declaring that He has no more power than the morning mist.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God. External detachment is often an actual indication of a secret, growing, inner attachment to the things we stay away from externally.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Strategic Investing - #6985
Friday, October 18, 2013
It started a few years ago with a few pieces of colored cardboard. Our oldest son was about five years old, and I bought him a few baseball cards. Once he hit college, that baseball card collection paid for a lot of things in his life. In fact, other guys saw that he knew how to invest in a card that would appreciate quickly and give them a profit. So they gave him money to invest for them. Now that boy has become a man and the love for his hobby has been passed down to his son. But here's the thing. My son never had very much money to work with, but he knew how to take a limited amount and invest it in what would pay off.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Strategic Investing."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God; we're in Luke chapter 16. We're going to read one of the most curious parables I think Jesus ever told. He told His disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. This man's called on the carpet for doing that. And in verse 4 it says of this steward, "I know what I'll do. When I lose my job here, I want to make sure people will welcome me into their houses." So he goes on to call in all the people who owe his master money and he discounts their debt. Well, they say "Hey, what a great guy you are!" Then he loses his job, but boy has he got friends.
Verse 8, "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people in this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." Now, what's going on here? What's the point?
Obviously Jesus is not commending the manager's morals. It's his shrewdness; strategic investing. He handled what he had in such a way that he insured he would have friends later on. That's why Jesus says, "Use your wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings." But He's talking here about forever friends; people who will be your friends in heaven.
The question is, "How can you use what resources you have on earth to in essence buy yourself friends in heaven?" Well, you use your resources to reach lost people for Jesus Christ. In Philippians 4:17 Paul asks for a financial gift from the people in Philippi, and he says, "I want you to give a gift, not because I need it, but so my fruit will be credited to your account."
See, when you invest in the work of a missionary, every person that missionary or that ministry brings to Christ you bring to Christ. That's true of any ministry you give to. In 1 Samuel 30:24 it says this: "The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle." Now, your faithful prayer for someone on the frontlines buys you a spiritual share in every person they reach.
Isn't that incredible? Your behind the scenes volunteer help; the gift of your time. That makes you a partner in the eternal results. It's no wonder the Bible talks about cheerful givers. When you give to the work of God, you are doing strategic investing with a tremendous ROI; a tremendous payoff and return on investment. Like a certain baseball card collector I know, you're taking what you have and you are investing as much of it as possible in things that will pay off later.
And remember, long after the mansions and the millions of earth are just dust, you can have friends in heaven - maybe from around the world; friends who will forever say to you, "Thank you for sacrificing what you had on earth so I could hear about Jesus and so I could be in heaven forever."
