Max Lucado Daily: No Easy Solutions
Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is in an affair. Not the teenager who discovers a night of romance has resulted in a surprise pregnancy.
We'd be foolish to think we're invulnerable. But we'd be just as foolish to think evil wins the day. The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith; God recycles evil into righteousness.
I don't have an easy solution or magic wand. But I have found something-or Someone-far better. God Himself. When God gets in the middle of life, evil becomes good. Trust God. No, really trust Him! He will get you through this. Will it be easy or quick? I hope so. But it seldom is. Yet God will make good out of this mess. That's His job.
From You'll Get Through This
Ezekiel 21
Babylon as God’s Sword of Judgment
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to her: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. 5 Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.’
6 “Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. 7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
8 The word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘A sword, a sword,
sharpened and polished—
10 sharpened for the slaughter,
polished to flash like lightning!
“‘Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.
11 “‘The sword is appointed to be polished,
to be grasped with the hand;
it is sharpened and polished,
made ready for the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry out and wail, son of man,
for it is against my people;
it is against all the princes of Israel.
They are thrown to the sword
along with my people.
Therefore beat your breast.
13 “‘Testing will surely come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue? declares the Sovereign Lord.’
14 “So then, son of man, prophesy
and strike your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice,
even three times.
It is a sword for slaughter—
a sword for great slaughter,
closing in on them from every side.
15 So that hearts may melt with fear
and the fallen be many,
I have stationed the sword for slaughter[e]
at all their gates.
Look! It is forged to strike like lightning,
it is grasped for slaughter.
16 Slash to the right, you sword,
then to the left,
wherever your blade is turned.
17 I too will strike my hands together,
and my wrath will subside.
I the Lord have spoken.”
18 The word of the Lord came to me: 19 “Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. 20 Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. 22 Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works. 23 It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.
24 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do—because you have done this, you will be taken captive.
25 “‘You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, 26 this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. 27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.’
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says about the Ammonites and their insults:
“‘A sword, a sword,
drawn for the slaughter,
polished to consume
and to flash like lightning!
29 Despite false visions concerning you
and lying divinations about you,
it will be laid on the necks
of the wicked who are to be slain,
whose day has come,
whose time of punishment has reached its climax.
30 “‘Let the sword return to its sheath.
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your ancestry,
I will judge you.
31 I will pour out my wrath on you
and breathe out my fiery anger against you;
I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,
men skilled in destruction.
32 You will be fuel for the fire,
your blood will be shed in your land,
you will be remembered no more;
for I the Lord have spoken.’”
Ezekiel 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-32 is numbered 21:6-37.
Ezekiel 21:15 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 27
Of David.
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked advance against me
to devour[a] me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
spouting malicious accusations.
13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Footnotes:
Psalm 27:2 Or slander
Wait On The Lord
October 28, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. —Psalm 40:1
With so many instantaneous forms of communication today, our impatience with hearing a reply from others is sometimes laughable. Someone I know sent an e-mail to his wife and then called her by cell phone because he couldn’t wait for a reply!
Sometimes we feel that God has let us down because He does not provide an immediate answer to a prayer. Often our attitude becomes, “Answer me speedily, O Lord; my spirit fails!” (Ps. 143:7).
But waiting for the Lord can transform us into a people of growing faith. King David spent many years waiting to be crowned king and fleeing from Saul’s wrath. David wrote, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart” (Ps. 27:14). And in another psalm he encourages us with these words, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He . . . set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps” (40:1-2). David grew into “a man after [God’s] own heart” by waiting on the Lord (Acts 13:22; see 1 Sam. 13:14).
When we become frustrated with God’s apparent delay in answering our prayer, it is good to remember that He is interested in developing faith and perseverance in our character (James 1:2-4). Wait on the Lord!
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless. —Walford
God stretches our patience to enlarge our soul.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 28, 2013
Justification by Faith
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life —Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Drought-Proof Security - #6991
Monday, October 28, 2013
We've all had our share of weathering recessionary economies, and sometimes it's hard to find a business that isn't hurting financially at times like that. But I have this friend, George; he's a funeral director. Dealing with him is quite an undertaking. He has an interesting approach to this whole recession thing and whenever the financial tide goes out, he just sort of cruises his way through it. Now, it's true that in a bad economy people might choose a no-frills casket over the deluxe model, but the fact is that George has a steady flow of business no matter what happens to the economy. He's not in construction for example when people might stop building houses. But people aren't going to stop dying. So George has business. He's pretty secure because he has a source that doesn't really depend on the economy. So do you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drought-Proof Security."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jeremiah 17:7-8 . "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." That's a great passage; it's about a drought-proof tree. When the heat comes - no fear. When the year of drought comes - no worries. This is the person who knows his security is not in his environment, it's in his God.
The other trees that are described here have to be a little worrisome when there's a drought, because they're depending on the rainfall. When the rainfall stops, they start to die. But this particular tree that's described has its roots in the streambed. Its roots are in a more dependable supply.
When the rain can't supply its need, its roots can. What a promise for those of us who are living in difficult economic situations. The economic rain may be sparse. Maybe you're facing unemployment, maybe the value of your house has been a problem, it could be inflation, deflation, all kinds of unexpected expenses, or maybe the medical care is so expensive you hadn't planned on it. If you're depending on the finances of earth to keep you secure, you're going to be scared a lot of the time. But if your roots go deep into God's endless resources, you're pretty secure.
Where's your trust...really? Will you be battered by the same storms that hit everybody else? Sure you will. There's no financial rain on them; there probably won't be any financial rain on you. But your Heavenly Father never has a recession, never has a depression, and never gets laid-off. He may want to use the drought to make you think about where your roots really are, to strip you of all the material sources that you thought you could depend on so you can learn the real truth, the real joy, the real security of trusting only Him.
This verse is about the man who trusts in the Lord and whose confidence is in Him. How many times have we sung that hymn, "Great is Thy faithfulness. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me."
Because you are rooted in your Father's riches, you have a unique privilege even in a time of hand-wringing and nail-biting all around us. You have no worries in a year of drought.