Max Lucado Daily: Pride and Shame
Pride and shame. You'd never know they're sisters. They appear so different. Pride puffs out her chest. Shame hangs her head. Pride boasts. Shame hides. Pride seeks to be seen. Shame seeks to be avoided.
But don't be fooled, the emotions have the same impact. They keep you from your Father. Pride says, "You're too good for him. Shame says, "You're too bad for him." Pride drives you away, shame keeps you away. If pride is what goes before a fall, then shame is what keeps you from getting up after one. God the sinless and selfless Father, loves us in our pride and shame.
The Greek word for reconcile means to render something otherwise. Reconciliation touches the shoulder of the wayward and woos him homeward.
From He Chose the Nails
Genesis 22
Abraham Tested
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[f] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring[g] all nations on earth will be blessed,[h] because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahor’s Sons
20 Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
Genesis 22:13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him
Genesis 22:18 Or seed
Genesis 22:18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Galatians 5:1-14
Freedom in Christ
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b]
Footnotes:
Galatians 5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.
Galatians 5:14 Lev. 19:18
Left Side Of The Road
April 10, 2014
—Dennis Fisher
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” —Galatians 5:14
Growing up in the US, I always thought it interesting that in some countries motorists drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. Then, when I was in England, I heard a London tour guide explain one possible reason for this law: “In the 1800s, pedestrians as well as horse-and-carriages used the same roads. When a carriage was on the right side of the road, a driver’s horse whip would sometimes hit a passerby. To remove this hazard, a law was passed requiring all carriages to travel on the left side of the road so the pedestrians could be kept safe.”
Just as the rules of the road are for our benefit and protection, so are God’s commands. Because He loves us, He has given them to us for our benefit. Paul writes: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:13-14).
As we apply God’s Word to our hearts, let’s keep in mind that the God of grace has given us His guidelines to help us grow in our love for Him and our concern for others. —Dennis Fisher
Thy Word is everlasting truth;
How pure is every page!
That Holy Book shall guide our youth
And well support our age. —Watts
The Bible has treasures of wisdom to mine.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Complete and Effective Decision About Sin
. . . our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin —Romans 6:6
Co-Crucifixion. Have you made the following decision about sin—that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you-not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified—just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage.
Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, “Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me.” Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.
This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life. Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life— to see the very things that struggle against God’s Spirit in you? If so, will you then agree with God’s verdict on the nature of sin— that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” (Romans 6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God.
Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . .” (Galatians 2:20).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
It Ain't Over - #7109
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Well, it had been a long wait, like 20 years, but then the 1996 New York Yankees won the World Series! Now, they had to beat the champs to do it, the Atlanta Braves. And after the first two games of that best of seven series, I thought the Yankees had gone into a coma; they got creamed! That's when it got exciting. They came back to win the next two games, and then the series was tied at two games apiece of course. And the Yankees, then, appeared to doze off again in game five. They were behind six to nothing!
Speaking of dozing off, that's what at least one Yankee fan did, including the guy I heard buying a newspaper the next day. See, he saw the headline announcing that the Yankees had come back and won that game eight to six. He grabbed the newspaper, he saw the outcome of the game, and then he said... (Well, I can't tell you everything he said), but "I can't believe it! I gave up on them in the seventh inning; I went to sleep!" Well, he missed a great victory.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "It Ain't Over."
Our word for today from the Word of God is a verse we need at least several times a year I think. Maybe this is one of your days for it and God knew that. Galatians 6:9. Here we go, "Let us not become weary in doing good." Maybe you're feeling that way right now. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if (there is an if)... if we do not give up."
Now, God is challenging the mistake that we make so often that costs us His best. We give up too soon. Like that sleeping Yankee fan, he looked at the way the game seemed to be going, decided it was as good as over, and he missed a great victory. Well, God doesn't want you to make that same mistake with something that you've been hoping for; something that looks like it just isn't going to happen. You're tending to give up. But God is flagging you down today to say, "Don't become weary in doing good. The harvest you've hoped for is coming." It's like Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'till it's over."
The problem is that we look at the score right now and we lose hope. But on God's scoreboard it's only your third inning, or the sixth or maybe the seventh. And maybe you're saying, "Well, there just isn't enough time for it to happen now." Or, "I can't see any way it could happen." Be careful! You're underestimating your all-powerful God. After all, He's the One who delivered a nation from Egypt in one night. But we tend to assume what the final score will be based on the score in the middle of the game. And that's when we give up and we start taking God's will detours. We panic.
We put together some patchwork solution of our own. We start leaning on our own understanding instead of trusting in the Lord with all our heart. Or we just stop hoping or praying or looking for it, which leads me to that wonderful challenge I heard years ago from a seasoned old saint, "Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light." Don't give up in the middle of the game. Don't give up even if it's near the end of the game. You can't tell what God is going to do for a wonderful finish to this game.
God has a way of hitting bases loaded, grand slam home runs in the bottom of the ninth with two outs if you don't give up before the harvest comes. I just hope you don't miss that grand finish because you gave up on the game too soon.
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