Max Lucado Daily: Just for You
I'm about to tell you something you may find hard to believe. You don't have to agree with me, but I'd like you to consider it with me. Here it is. If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings and spray light on the desert in the mornings. If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree.
Because He did it all for you. And He's waiting for you to discover His gift, for your eyes to pop, your heart to stop. He's waiting for the moment between the dropping of the jaw and the leap of the heart. For in that silence He whispers, I did it just for you.
from Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 31
Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon
In the eleventh year, in the third month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:
“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
3 Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
its top above the thick foliage.
4 The waters nourished it,
deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
all around its base
and sent their channels
to all the trees of the field.
5 So it towered higher
than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
and its branches grew long,
spreading because of abundant waters.
6 All the birds of the sky
nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
gave birth under its branches;
all the great nations
lived in its shade.
7 It was majestic in beauty,
with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
to abundant waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God
could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees
compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
could match its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful
with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden
in the garden of God.
10 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, 11 I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, 12 and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it. 13 All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches. 14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.
15 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away. 16 I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below. 17 They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword, along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.
18 “‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.
“‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Lamentations 3:19-33
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
Disaster Diaries
November 11, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. —Lamentations 3:22-23
Yves Congar was just 10 years old when World War I began and the French town where he lived was invaded by the German army. His mother encouraged him to keep a diary, and what resulted was a lucid description of a military occupation, complete with written narrative and colored sketches. His diary recorded a disaster from a child’s perspective. What he witnessed had such a profound effect on him that he felt called to bring others the hope of Christ.
Centuries earlier the prophet Jeremiah was an eyewitness to the invasion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. He wrote down his observations in his “diary”—the book of Lamentations. Despite these distressing times, the prophet found hope in the heart of God. He wrote: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (3:22-23).
At various times, we may experience or witness disasters that feel like hostile forces entering our lives. But these times of trouble do not last forever. And, like Jeremiah, our most sustaining hope is to reflect upon the faithfulness and provision of our heavenly Father. The Lord’s compassions are new every morning, and His faithfulness is great!
The best reason for hope is God’s faithfulness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 11, 2013
The Supreme Climb
He said, ’Take now your son . . .’ —Genesis 22:2
God’s command is, “Take now,” not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.
“So Abraham rose early in the morning . . . and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3). Oh, the wonderful simplicity of Abraham! When God spoke, he did not “confer with flesh and blood” (Galatians 1:16). Beware when you want to “confer with flesh and blood” or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings— anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.
Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, “I will only go to there, but no farther.” God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Fixing What Almost Sank You - #7001
Monday, November 11, 2013
A friend told me an amazing true story about his father, Joe, who was a submariner in WWII on the torpedo crew. Now unfortunately, a lot of torpedoes apparently malfunctioned during the war, including some that almost cost Joe and his shipmates their lives. The battleship that those torpedoes missed went after Joe's submarine with depth charges. And they suddenly dived to the bottom; shut off everything that sonar could detect, and they had to sit there for a whole day. Their oxygen was almost gone, and they barely survived.
Well, Joe vowed that if he ever got out of that predicament he was going to help build a torpedo that would not fail. And that's exactly what he did. Later Joe learned that one out of three torpedoes was defective. So he went to night school, he studied to be an electrician and a machinist. He eventually ended up with a major role and a highly respected reputation with the Defense Department. Yes, he helped develop the better weapon that he promised he would.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fixing What Almost Sank You."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 1:18-19 . God says, "You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ; a Lamb without blemish or defect." See, what Christ did on the cross has the power to rescue us from what the Bible calls "the empty ways of life handed down to us by our forefathers."
We all got handed down some empty ways of doing things from our parents, because all of us were raised by sinners; there are no perfect parents. Our parents passed on to us some good things, but part of our heritage is what I call "family germs" or "family sins." We've all got some destructive or selfish ways that probably wounded us as we were growing up around those ways. You say, "I'll never talk like that." "I'll never treat people like that." "I'll never act that way." Guess what? We do. "Oh, no! I sound like my Father; I'm acting like my Mother."
See, chances are your parents grew up around parents with the same weakness they had. And if we could go back in a Time Machine we might be amazed to find out how many generations have been marked by that family sin, which brings us to torpedo Joe. He saw what had almost sunk him, and he determined he was going to fix it so it wouldn't sink anyone else.
In the same way, we can see the traits in our growing up family that almost sank us. And we can decide it does not have to touch another generation. It doesn't have to mark the people we love. We can decide that only because there's a Savior who redeems us from those empty ways of life. Think about the family sins in your background. What is it? Is it a negative, critical mouth, untruthfulness, unfaithfulness? Maybe there's an addiction in the family tree, or a perfectionism that almost drove you crazy, maybe some manipulative ways of getting your way. Is there some selfishness there, impatience, workaholism? Whatever it is, it can stop in your generation.
That begins when you come to Jesus Christ and say, "Lord, it's going to stop here. I give this dark part of me, this dark part of my family to You. Believing there is power in Your blood, the blood of Christ shed on a cross for those sins to break the power of this sin."
It may be that you've never opened up your life to this awesome sin-forgiving, sin-changing, death-reversing Savior, Jesus Christ. Boy, this would be the time to do that and begin to be able to have the power to say, "The dark stuff stops here." If you want to begin a relationship with Him, I hope you'll meet me at our website and let me show you how to do that. Go to ANewStory.com.
This is such great news! You don't have to settle for the failures in your past that almost sank you. You can face it. You can fight it. You can beat it in Jesus' name. And you can begin to win the battle, not only for yourself but for all those who will follow.