Max Lucado Daily: If Only…
Maybe your past isn't much to brag about. Maybe you've seen evil and you have to make a choice. Do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses?
Many choose the convalescent homes of the heart. Healthy bodies. Sharp minds. But retired dreams. Lean closely and you'll hear "If only…" The white flag of the heart. "If only." Maybe you've used those words. Maybe you have every right to use them. Perhaps you were hearing the ten count before you even got into the ring.
Let me show you where to turn. Go to John's gospel and read Jesus' words in John 3:6, "Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from one Spirit."
Your parents have given you genes, but God gives you grace. God is willing to give you what your family didn't.
From When God Whispers Your Name
2 Peter 3
New International Version (NIV)
The Day of the Lord
3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Footnotes:
2 Peter 3:10 Some manuscripts be burned up
2 Peter 3:12 Or as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 13:1 Or languages
1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts body to the flames
Real Love
November 26, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. —1 Corinthians 13:7-8
A few years ago, my friend’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, Beth has been forced to make tough decisions about her mom’s care, and her heart has often been broken as she watched her vibrant and fun-loving mom slowly slipping away. In the process, my friend has learned that real love is not always easy or convenient.
After her mom was hospitalized for a couple of days last year, Beth wrote these words to some of her friends: “As backwards as it may seem, I’m very thankful for the journey I am on with my mom. Behind the memory loss, confusion, and utter helplessness is a beautiful person who loves life and is at complete peace. I am learning so much about what real love is, and even though I probably wouldn’t have asked for this journey and the tears and heartache that go with it, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
The Bible reminds us that love is patient and kind. It is not self-seeking or easily angered. It “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
Real love originated with our Father, who gave us the gift of His Son. As we seek to show His love to others, we can follow the example of Christ, who laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16-18).
Real love is helping others for Jesus’ sake even if they can never return the favor.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 26, 2013
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
. . . except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me. . .” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Jesus Stretch - #7012
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Last summer I got to explore the world my wife grew up in. It took us to a lot of beautiful back roads. One of those was this road that she walked every morning to the school bus. She was only five, and it's about two miles from where she lived to the main road. Fortunately, she's not the kind who bores her kids with the "When I was your age" stories. But boy this would have made a good one. That was a long, sometimes scary walk for a little girl alone. I can almost picture it when we were driving there.
As we drove, my wife said, "Now, Mom stood by the road there and watched me until I got to this point. And then when Mom couldn't see me, I was within sight of my grandparents place. Then as soon as I got to the next curve beyond their place, I could see the house of those real good friends. And, then she told me how she passed from one security zone to the next until that last stretch. And there it was just woods, and she was out of sight of any of those "watch me" people. See, that was the scary part. There was no one. Well, not exactly no one.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Jesus Stretch."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 23:4. You'll recognize the earlier verses where they talk about the Lord being our Shepherd and He makes us lie down in green pastures. He leads us by quiet waters and then He guides us in paths of righteousness. Verse 4, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
Well, here's your life's journey; stretches of green pastures, quiet waters, some righteous paths, and the valley of the shadow. Maybe you're there right now, or you're about to head into one of those valleys. It doesn't have to be death. It can just be a dark time; a time when you are or when you feel very alone like a little girl walking beyond all the people who could protect her or who could help her.
When I asked my wife what she did when she hit that lonely stretch of her walk, she said, "I sang the only songs I knew - Jesus songs." Sounds like what the psalmist wrote, "I will fear no evil for You are with me." When no one else can be with me, You are with me. In fact that's what Jesus promised in Hebrews 13:5, "I will never leave you or forsake you." In Matthew 28:20, "I am with you always." That dark, lonely part of your walk I call the Jesus stretch. It may feel like it's a time when you're abandoned, but it is the time when you can experience Jesus as you have never experienced Him before.
I have a doctor friend who I just talked to, and he's been through this painful year of his young, vibrant son-in-law's battle with cancer and then his son-in-law's death. He himself had a painful injury. He's gone through some major personal changes. I said, "Boy, I'll bet you'll be glad to see a new year." He said, "Yeah, but it was a great year too, last year for my family and the Lord."
Often it happens that way doesn't it? The Bible says, "He's a very present help in time of trouble." The worst times in our life often are the best times with our Lord. See, you never really know the Lord until you really need the Lord. And you never need Him more than those seasons when no one else can help; when it's too dark to see; when all of your usual points of reference are gone. And if you collapse into His arms and let Him love you, you will touch Jesus as you have never touched Him before.
In this dark stretch, and ahead...that darkest stretch of all - the last stretch - before the end of our life, you need the one person who will be with you through every season, every stretch of the road. That Jesus will walk with you. But first, you've got to begin a relationship with Him. That happens when your sins are forgiven. And only He can do that, because only He died for them.
At the moment when you reach out and say, "Jesus, I want to take the forgiveness. I want to take the eternal life You died to give me." You have the wall between you and Him come down and He is by your side, walking with you through every step of this life and right into eternity. I'd love to help you begin that relationship today. Would you meet me at ANewStory.com?
See, you'll never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you've got. And you might be there right now. This is supposed to be the Jesus stretch; a part of the road where Jesus is the only one who can walk with you. Strangely, it's the safest stretch of all.
