Max Lucado Daily: Joy Within Your Reach
There's a delicious gladness that comes from God. A joy which consequences cannot quench. His is a peace which circumstances cannot steal.
Nine times he promises it. And he promises it to an unlikely crowd: The poor in spirit. Those who mourn. The meek. Those who hunger and thirst. The merciful. The pure in heart. The peacemakers. The persecuted. It is to this band of pilgrims that God promises a special blessing. A heavenly joy.
But this joy is not cheap. What Jesus promises is not a gimmick to give you goose bumps or a mental attitude. No, Matthew Chapter 5 describes God's radical reconstruction of the heart. It's no casual shift of attitude. It's a demolition of the old structure and a creation of the new.
God's joy. And it's within your reach. You are one decision away from joy!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 75
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds.
2 You say, “I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge with equity.
3 When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm.[c]
4 To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.[d]
5 Do not lift your horns against heaven;
do not speak so defiantly.’”
6 No one from the east or the west
or from the desert can exalt themselves.
7 It is God who judges:
He brings one down, he exalts another.
8 In the hand of the Lord is a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices;
he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth
drink it down to its very dregs.
9 As for me, I will declare this forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
10 who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:5-15
Prayer
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Footnotes:
Matthew 6:13 The Greek for temptation can also mean testing.
Matthew 6:13 Or from evil; some late manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Words That Help And Heal
January 7, 2014 — by David C. McCasland
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. —Matthew 6:9
On November 19, 1863, two well-known men gave speeches at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The featured speaker, Edward Everett, was a former congressman, governor, and president of Harvard University. Considered one of the greatest orators of his day, Mr. Everett delivered a formal address lasting 2 hours. He was followed by President Abraham Lincoln, whose speech lasted 2 minutes.
Today, Lincoln’s speech, the Gettysburg Address, is widely known and quoted, while Everett’s words have almost been forgotten. It is not just Lincoln’s eloquent brevity that accounts for this. On that occasion, his words touched the wounded spirit of a nation fractured by civil war, offering hope for the days to come.
Words do not have to be many to be meaningful. What we call the Lord’s Prayer is among the shortest and most memorable of all the teachings of Jesus. It brings help and healing as it reminds us that God is our heavenly Father whose power is at work on earth, just as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:9-10). He provides food, forgiveness, and fortitude for each day (vv.11-13). And all honor and glory belong to Him (v.13). There is nothing in our past, present, and future that is not included in our Lord’s brief words that help and heal.
How easy it is to use many words
And give little thought to the things you say;
So willingly yield your lips to the Lord
And hearts will be blest by them every day. —D. DeHaan
Kind words soothe, and quiet, and comfort the hearer. —Blaise Pascal
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 7, 2014
Intimate With Jesus
Jesus said to him, ’Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?’ —John 14:9
These words were not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise; Jesus was encouraging Philip to draw closer. Yet the last person we get intimate with is Jesus. Before Pentecost the disciples knew Jesus as the One who gave them power to conquer demons and to bring about a revival (see Luke 10:18-20). It was a wonderful intimacy, but there was a much closer intimacy to come: “. . . I have called you friends . . .” (John 15:15). True friendship is rare on earth. It means identifying with someone in thought, heart, and spirit. The whole experience of life is designed to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ. We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we really know Him?
Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away . . .” (John 16:7). He left that relationship to lead them even closer. It is a joy to Jesus when a disciple takes time to walk more intimately with Him. The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ (see John 15:1-4).
Once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely and we never lack for understanding or compassion. We can continually pour out our hearts to Him without being perceived as overly emotional or pitiful. The Christian who is truly intimate with Jesus will never draw attention to himself but will only show the evidence of a life where Jesus is completely in control. This is the outcome of allowing Jesus to satisfy every area of life to its depth. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When You Just Don't Feel Like It - #7042
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
I have a friend who seems like every winter he reminds me, "January is my bad month." I thought, "Well, does he get the credit card slips from Christmas, or what?" He said, "No, my biorhythms are always down in January. I feel unmotivated; things go wrong." I don't spend a lot of time with him in January.
Well, I'm not sure about the biorhythms being the reason for a bad January, but there is an interesting new area that scientists have explored. The biorhythm idea is that our lives are significantly affected by predictable, physical cycles, intellectual cycles, motor cycles...no, no, not motor cycles. Emotional cycles; that's what I meant. Actually, a biorhythm could be just a fancy new word for a condition that's as old as mankind. It goes like this, "I don't feel like it." Maybe that's what we're talking about. You know, that's the reason for a lot of things we do or fail to do. "I don't feel like it."
I guess that's why couples promise to keep their marriage vows "as long as we both shall live" instead of "as long as we both shall love." "I'll leave when the feelings change." See, your life depends greatly on what you do on those days when you feel flat and fatigued.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Just Don't Feel Like It."
Our word for today from the Word of God is coming from the life of the Apostle Paul. It's recorded in 1 Corinthians 4. I think it would be at a time if biorhythms were accurate, when Paul's biorhythms would have been very, very low. I don't know whether it was a bad month in his life or a bad time, but listen to this and think about how he must have been feeling. He says, "To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty. We are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless." Now, I can't believe that he was feeling really great. I don't think he was necessarily feeling like treating people gently and kindly...wanting to work on what needed to be done. You ever feel like that? "I just don't feel like doing what I have to do. I don't feel like praying. I don't feel like being very unselfish right now."
Well, here's how he operated. It says in verse 12, "We work hard with our own hands" even though he felt that way. "When we are cursed, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure it. When we are slandered, we answer kindly." You say, "What in the world has kept Paul functioning so victoriously when he probably doesn't feel like it?"
1 Corinthians 4:2 is the key. "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." There is the word that takes over when your feelings leave off - faithful. Maybe you're in a time right now where you just don't feel like doing what you're supposed to do. You started when the feeling was there, but now you feel flat; you just don't feel like following through on your school work, or your job, or that ministry you once were so excited about. You've lost your enthusiasm. You don't feel like reaching out to the people in your family or your world. Maybe you feel more like withdrawing into a cave somewhere. You don't feel like finishing what you started. You don't feel like keeping your commitment or you don't feel like taking your time with Jesus.
You're at a crossroads right now, and that crossroads will determine whether you're a roller coaster Christian or a solid rock Christian. See, the difference in the people God can trust and can't trust is that word faithful. You've been given a trust. Will you be faithful to that trust even when the feeling isn't there and depend on His resources because now you don't have any? God's reward will be these words, "Well done good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things, I'll make you ruler over many."
The feelings will be back, but for now you keep moving toward your goal. You'll be very glad you did. Faithful - that's why you do what you've been trusted to do even when you just don't feel like it.
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