Max Lucado Daily: Where is God When I Hurt?
The Bible says in Romans 8:28 that “in everything God works for the good of those who love Him.” Do this simple exercise. Remove the word everything and replace it with the symbol of your tragedy. How would Romans 8:28 read in your life?
In hospital stays God works for the good.
In divorce papers God works for the good.
As hard as it may be to believe, you could be only a Saturday away from a resurrection. Hours from that precious prayer of a changed heart. “God, you did this for me?”
Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, Paul said. “The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope.” (Romans 15:4).
from Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 32
A Lament Over Pharaoh
In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
“‘You are like a lion among the nations;
you are like a monster in the seas
thrashing about in your streams,
churning the water with your feet
and muddying the streams.
3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘With a great throng of people
I will cast my net over you,
and they will haul you up in my net.
4 I will throw you on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.
5 I will spread your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your remains.
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood
all the way to the mountains,
and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.
7 When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not give its light.
8 All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darken over you;
I will bring darkness over your land,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
among[b] lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
when I brandish my sword before them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment for his life.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘The sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you.
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
by the swords of mighty men—
the most ruthless of all nations.
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
and all her hordes will be overthrown.
13 I will destroy all her cattle
from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
or muddied by the hooves of cattle.
14 Then I will let her waters settle
and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I make Egypt desolate
and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the Lord.’
16 “This is the lament they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Egypt’s Descent Into the Realm of the Dead
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit. 19 Say to them, ‘Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.’ 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be dragged off with all her hordes. 21 From within the realm of the dead the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.’
22 “Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. 23 Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.
24 “Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.
26 “Meshek and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old,[c] who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields[d] resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.
28 “You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.
29 “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
30 “All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
31 “Pharaoh—he and all his army—will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel 32:9 Hebrew; Septuagint bring you into captivity among the nations, / to
Ezekiel 32:27 Septuagint; Hebrew warriors who were uncircumcised
Ezekiel 32:27 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text punishment
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 8:1-11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Embarrassing Moments
Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” —John 8:11
The flashing lights of the police car drew my attention to a motorist who had been pulled over for a traffic violation. As the officer, ticket book in hand, walked back to his car, I could clearly see the embarrassed driver sitting helplessly behind the wheel of her car. With her hands, she attempted to block her face from the view of passersby—hoping to hide her identity. Her actions were a reminder to me of how embarrassing it can be when we are exposed by our choices and their consequences.
When a guilty woman was brought before Jesus and her immorality was exposed, the crowd did more than just watch. They called for her condemnation, but Jesus showed mercy. The only One with the right to judge sin responded to her failure with compassion. After dispatching her accusers, “Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more’” (John 8:11). His compassion reminds us of His forgiving grace, and His command to her points to His great desire that we live in the joy of that grace. Both elements show the depth of Christ’s concern for us when we stumble and fall.
Even in our most embarrassing moments of failure, we can cry out to Him and find that His grace is truly amazing.
Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see. —Newton
Jesus alone can supply the grace we need for each trial we face.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 12, 2013
The Changed Life
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17
What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.
What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When Love Lets You Down - #7002
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
When I was a teenager, you could tell a girl was going steady by the fuzzy ring around her neck. And when our son started going with a girl, she just got his jacket; football jacket - the one he earned with blood, sweat, tears, and my money. But you could tell this girl was going with my son; the jacket had his name on it. I have to tell you though, it was slightly amusing. See, my son was a big lineman. His girl was lucky to ever break a hundred on the scale. She swam in that coat! And she wasn't the only one. We had a lot of girls in our school who were dating athletes, and they wore their jackets as a symbol, "Hey, I belong to him. He's mine." But it didn't look that great on most of them. You know, wearing what a man gives you for security may not be the best fit for you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Love Lets You Down."
Our word for today from the Word of God. We're in Genesis chapter 29. Let me give you some background. Jacob has worked seven years to earn Rachel's hand. He didn't realize until he lifted the veil on his wedding night that he had been deceived. He had married the sister, Leah, who was not Miss America or Miss Israel. So he had to work seven more years to get Rachel, the one he really wanted. Now he's got two wives. The Bible says, "Rachel he loved. Leah was unloved by him." But Leah, like every woman, had a very deep love hunger.
I read now from our word for today from the Word of God, Genesis 29:31 , "When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, He opened her womb. But Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, 'It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.'" Interesting isn't it? She's looking to this man for the love and the identity she needs and she's coming up empty.
Well, then, she finally has another baby. And it says in verse 34, "Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have born him three sons.' So he was named Levi. Again the man does not give her what she needs. Finally in verse 35, "She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'This time I will praise the Lord.'" See, Leah had hoped to find her identity in Jacob's love. She didn't get it. But finally, after three times of counting on a baby to secure her man's attention, she refocuses her love hunger from Jacob to Jehovah; from her husband to her Heavenly Father.
There's many a woman who has been disappointed by a man; hurt by a man. There's frustration, there's bitterness. If you're a woman, maybe you've been hurt by a father whose love or approval you could never seem to win, or maybe a boyfriend or a husband has let you down like Jacob did Leah. Or maybe you've been abused or betrayed, abandoned. It could be that you've had positive relationships with the men in your life but they still haven't been able to be all you need.
Leah, like so many women, was looking at the wrong place for identity. No woman was ever meant to derive her identity and worth from the approval of a man. She said, "I'm going to turn to the Lord." Maybe you ought to do that. The jacket that reflected some of my son's identity didn't fit the woman in his life. She was never meant to find her identity in being his girl. Every woman is headed for disappointment and chronic insecurity if she's trying to define herself by some man in her world.
It's a liberating day when you discover that no man could do for your worth what the Lord can do. He loved Leah; her man didn't. He gave her His divine blessing when her man wouldn't give his. Learn from Leah. Don't waste time trying to find your identity in the fickle, fragile love or approval of people. Look beyond them to the Lord. Start drawing on Him for all you need. "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want."
Your identity is that you are a unique, masterpiece creation of a loving God. If you've given your life to Christ, you're a daughter of the King. He thought you were worth dying for. What you get from any man is just a bonus.
Maybe you've never experienced the love of Jesus for yourself. If you want to have that begin for you today, would you go to ANewStory.com and find out how to begin that relationship.
Be sure that you bring your love hunger to the only One who will never disappoint you or never disappear on you - your Savior, your Shepherd, Jesus Christ.