Max Lucado Daily: Sight to the Blind
When people are refused access to Christ by those closest to him, the result is empty, hollow religion. Ugly religion.
Hard to believe? Yet it happens—even in the church. It happens when a church spends more time discussing the style of its sanctuary than it does the needs of the hungry. It happens when a church is known more for its stance on an issue than its reliance upon God. It happens when we think Jesus has more important things to do than to be bothered by such insignificant people.
Christ thought otherwise. Jesus felt sorry for the blind men and touched their eyes, and at once they could see. In that moment, of all the people, it was the blind who really saw Jesus.
From And The Angels Were Silent
Esther 6
Mordecai Honored
That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. 2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3 “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.
“Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered.
4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.
5 His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered.
6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”
Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” 7 So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, 8 have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. 9 Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’”
10 “Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”
11 So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”
12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, 13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!” 14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 John 3:16-24
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Insight
Today’s reading establishes the benchmark for loving others by looking at what Jesus did for us on the cross (v.16). We know love because of the willingness of Jesus to die for us, and the necessary response to this love is that we be willing to give of ourselves for others. The context implies that this does not require a physical dying on another’s behalf. It does, however, challenge us to sacrifice our own interests for the welfare of others as evidence that we have received God’s love (v.17).
The Telltale Heart
February 5, 2014 — by David C. McCasland
If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. —1 John 3:20
Recently I read about a private investigator in the US who would knock on a door, show his badge to whoever answered, and say, “I guess we don’t have to tell you why we’re here.” Many times, the person would look stunned and say, “How did you find out?” then go on to describe an undiscovered criminal act committed long ago. Writing in Smithsonian magazine, Ron Rosenbaum described the reaction as “an opening for the primal force of conscience, the telltale heart’s internal monologue.”
We all know things about ourselves that no one else knows—failures, faults, sins—that although confessed to God and forgiven by Him may come back to accuse us again and again. John, one of Jesus’ close followers, wrote about God’s love for us and the call to follow His commands, saying: “By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:19-20).
Our confidence toward God grows out of His love and forgiveness in Christ, not our performance in life. “We know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (v.24).
God, who knows everything about us, is greater than our self-condemnation.
No condemnation now I dread,
I am my Lord’s and He is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine. —Wesley
The one who receives Christ will never receive God’s condemnation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 5, 2014
Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (1)
If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all—Philippians 2:17
Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ’Well done.’ ”
It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased . . .” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket—to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted—not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Spare Parts - #7063
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
This is probably going to take a little imagination; maybe a lot of imagination. Let's say you go to buy a new car and you're going to pay in cash. So, let's make up a number - $25,000 in cash. Is your imagination still going? OK, good! Now, the dealer stamps the invoice Paid In Full. He says it will be here in two weeks. You show up all excited about getting your new car and you say, "Here I am. Remember me?" He says, "Oh yeah! Sure!" And he gives you this gift-wrapped box, shakes your hand and walks away. You go, "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" He says, "No, open the box, I think you're going to like it." So you open it up and here's a new steering wheel, a new carburetor, and a new hub cap. You go, "Hey, wait, Buddy! These are just spare parts! I paid the full price! I should get the full product."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spare Parts."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation chapter 5. I think in many ways this is one of the most incredible chapters in the Bible. It pulls the curtain on heaven in John's vision and it reveals Christ in all His majesty as we seldom see Him in the Bible. This is not the Jesus of Bethlehem or the cross. This is Jesus as He is now; as we're going to meet Him one day.
In this vision there are 24 elders who represent the church - us believers. And in the middle of their praise and their amazement they say this to Jesus Christ in Revelation 5:9-10 , "And they sang a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its' seals because You were slain and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God. And they will reign on the earth."
Man, in heaven they're celebrating nonstop the inconceivable price the Son of God paid for you and me, which brings us to that box of spare parts. How much of you have you given to this One who gave everything for you? This says that Jesus purchased men for God with His blood. A lot of us tend to divide our lives into compartments, and we've got a nice Jesus compartment. In that compartment we've got our Bible reading, our prayer, our church, and our ministry work.
But then there are all those other compartments; how we treat our family, how we treat our coworkers, here's what we do for fun, there's our music over there, here's our recreation, here's the websites we go to. And then there's the compartment for our business, our career, our love life, sexuality, our friends, our prized possessions. Those are the things that really matter to us.
When we heard the knock of Jesus on our heart, we said, "Come into my life, Lord." And maybe we give Him a compartment. In essence, we brought Him a gift-wrapped box filled with spare parts; the things that really didn't matter much to us. But this is Jesus, the King of kings. He's expecting to get what He paid so much for. Could it be Jesus is coming to you where you are right now and He's saying, "Please don't give Me the parts of your life you don't need anyway. I paid the whole price for you. I should get the whole product."
He could have stopped in the garden when He wanted to, but He didn't. He could have stopped when they were torturing Him, but He didn't. He could have stopped when He was agonizing on that cross, but He paid your death penalty instead. The old hymn writer said, "He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free. But He died alone for you and me."
Remember, you are very expensive. God's one and only Son paid for you with His life. By the way, have you ever embraced this man who died for you as your only hope of a relationship with God, of having your sins forgiven and going to heaven? If you never have, you know one day God's going to ask you, "What did you do with My Son who died for you?" You need to be able to say, "I gave Him me."
If you never have, I would love to introduce you to Him and show you how that could begin. Join me at our website today, will you - ANewStory.com. Give Jesus what He paid for; all of you. He sure deserves more than spare parts.
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