Max Lucado Daily:
A Radical Reliance on Grace
One day it dawned on me. I had become the very thing I hate: a hypocrite. A pretender. Two-faced. I'd written sermons about people like me. Christians who care more about their appearance than integrity. I knew what I needed to do. I'd written sermons about that, too.
1 John 1:8-9 says, "If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right."
I needed to confess. What is confession? Confession is not complaining. If I merely recite my problems and rehash my woes, I'm whining. Confession is a radical reliance on grace.
Maybe you need to do what I've done the last few days and confess. You just need to confess. God will hear your confession and you will find a wonder of God's grace. You see, grace creates an honest confession and His great grace receives it!
From GRACE
Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[q]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”[r]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring[s] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
Genesis 12:7 Or seed
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Titus 3:1-11
Saved in Order to Do Good
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
Insight
In the book of Titus, Paul instructed his younger coworker Titus on how to teach believers in the young church of Crete to live holy lives. Paul emphasized the importance of godly leadership (Titus 1) and of gracious behavior within the church family (ch.2) and in society at large (ch.3).
The Link To Life
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
According to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. —Titus 3:5
By the time he was 16, Morris Frank (1908–1980) had lost his sight in both eyes. Several years later, he traveled to Switzerland where he met Buddy, the canine who would help to inspire Frank’s involvement with the Seeing Eye guide-dog school.
With Buddy leading the way, Frank learned to navigate busy sidewalks and intersections. Describing the freedom his guide provided, Frank said, “It was glorious: just [Buddy] and a leather strap, linking me to life.” Buddy gave Morris Frank a new kind of access to the world around him.
God’s Holy Spirit gives us access to abundant spiritual life in Christ. When we accept Christ as Lord, God washes our sins away and renews us “by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6 niv). Once we know Christ, the Holy Spirit helps us experience God’s love (Rom. 5:5), understand God’s Word (John 14:26), pray (Rom. 8:26), and abound in hope (Rom. 15:13).
Today, as you think about your relationship with God, remember that the Spirit is your guide to life in Christ (Rom. 8:14).
Holy Spirit, Light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine.
Chase the shades of night away;
Turn my darkness into day. —Reed
The Holy Spirit guides us into knowledge and spiritual growth.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity (2)
Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place . . . —Revelation 4:1
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, “Friend, come up even higher.” There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing . . . ?” (Genesis 18:17). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Navigator and the Map - #7099
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Most women have learned that men are never lost. Oh no! Or so men think. Some man is driving, let's say, from Chicago to L.A., and his wife says, "Honey, why did we just enter Pennsylvania?" Is he lost? Oh, no, no! He's exploring a new scenic route.
Now, I have to be realistic and admit that I can get lost; especially if it's in an area I'm unfamiliar with. And it really depends on my sense of direction, which isn't much sense at all. My wife on the other hand? Oh, she's the farm girl; great sense of direction. I've learned over the years that she's great with a map. And, she's very good at evaluating our options and picking the road that will get us there the fastest. So, on a typical trip you would see me driving and her with an atlas in her lap, telling me the road or the exit that's next. I don't need to see the map; I've got a great navigator.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Navigator and the Map."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 37:3-5; wonderful advice for the choices, the challenges that you may have ahead of you right now, and maybe for the road that is pretty new to you. You've got questions about what to do, where to go, or when, or how. Well, listen to God's Word. "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this." Or as the King James says, "He will bring it to pass." That's one of the anchor verses of my life and my wife's life right there.
Now, as you look at what's ahead, you probably wish you had a detailed map. I would like to have one, but you don't have one. Even if you did, it's subject to all kinds of variables beyond your control. There's nothing in these verses about trusting in the plan or in the map. You don't have a map, but you do have a Navigator, and He has the map. Just like my wife and me on a trip in new territory. I don't have to see the map. I just need to trust the Navigator. I need to pay attention to the Navigator.
Our job as Jesus followers? Well, it says, "Trust in the Lord", not in a map. "Delight yourself in the Lord", not in the map. "Commit your way to the Lord." Just as I ask my wife, "What's next, Honey?" You and I just stay close to our Lord and ask Him, "What's the next step, Lord?" My wife the navigator doesn't usually tell me the next five turns we're going to take. I'd probably get them confused. All I really need to know is the next step. That's how your divine Navigator wants to take you through this next phase of your journey, showing you one next step or turn at a time.
In changing seasons, in uncertain seasons we tend to focus on God's will; that perfect cosmic plan that seems like such a massive mystery. But the focus isn't supposed to be on the plan. It's supposed to be on the planner. Not on the map, but on the Navigator. It's easy for God to show you what He wants you to do. It's hard to get you to do what He wants.
So these times of choice and challenge are designed to draw you deeper into Him; to motivate you to spend greater amounts of time in God's Word and in God's presence, and to get you to release your schemes and your dreams so He can lead you into His dream; to sensitize you to recognize and obey those inner promptings of the Holy Spirit. And as we need guidance and we need to know what next step to take, it drives us into His Word. It drives us into needing Him and to learning to listen to His Holy Spirit. It's good stuff.
Maybe you're on some bumpy road right now because you started handling the map and choosing the roads. None of us is designed to be our own navigator. When we are, we will inevitably get lost. The map is God's business; don't worry about it. Your job is to listen very carefully to your Lord, the Navigator. I love the old saying, "God reserves His very best for those who leave the choice to Him." He will show you the road you were made for one obedience at a time.
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