Max Lucado Daily: He Leads Us
How can a person deal with anxiety? One fellow decided to hire someone to do his worrying for him. He found a man who agreed to do so for a salary of $200,000 a year. After the man accepted the job, his first question to his boss was, "Where are you going to get $200,000 per year?" To which the man responded, "That's your worry!" Worrying is one job you can't farm out-but you can overcome it.
David declares in Psalm 23:2, "He leads me beside the still waters." He leads me! God isn't behind me, yelling, "Go!" He's ahead of me bidding, "Come!" He leads us. He tells us what we need to know when we need to know it. Hebrews 4:16 says, "We will find grace to help us when we need it!"
God leads us. God will do the right thing at the right time. What a difference that makes!
From Traveling Light
Job 26
Then Job replied:
2 “How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insight you have displayed!
4 Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
5 “The dead are in deep anguish,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6 The realm of the dead is naked before God;
Destruction[a] lies uncovered.
7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.
8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9 He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.
12 By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
13 By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 139:7-16
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Insight
In David’s inspired reflections on the presence of God everywhere, we see an eloquent description of the child’s development within the mother’s womb. “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret” (v.15). God’s providential oversight of the development of new life is a testimony to the image of God in humans. God cares about us and our need for rescue. It was because of this love that He became a man and purchased redemption for all who place their trust in Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection.
New Birth
By Alyson Kieda
You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. —Psalm 139:13
What is there about babies that makes us smile? Many people will stop everything at the sight or sound of a baby and will flock to gaze at the little one. I noticed this when I visited my dad at a nursing home. Though most of the residents were wheelchair-bound and suffered from dementia, the visit of a family with a baby almost unfailingly brought a spark of joy to their eyes that—tentatively at first but then undoubtedly—became a smile. It was amazing to watch.
Perhaps babies bring a smile because of the wonder of a new life—so precious, tiny, and full of promise. Seeing a baby can remind us of our awesome God and the great love He has for us. He loved us so much that He gave us life and formed us in our mother’s womb. “You formed my inward parts,” the psalmist says, “You covered me in my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13).
Not only does He give us physical life but He also offers us spiritual rebirth through Jesus (John 3:3-8). God promises believers new bodies and life eternal when Jesus returns (1 Cor. 15:50-52).
Physical life and spiritual rebirth—gifts to celebrate from our Father’s hand.
In His own image God created man,
He formed his body from the dust of earth;
But more than that, to all who are in Christ
He gives eternal life by second birth. —Hess
I will praise You . . . ; marvelous are Your works. —Psalm 139:14
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
The Habit of Keeping a Clear Conscience
. . . strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men —Acts 24:16
God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.
Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what we regard as the highest standard. This explains why conscience is different in different people. If I am in the habit of continually holding God’s standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I can live without any offense toward anyone. I should be living in such perfect harmony with God’s Son that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 ; also see Ephesians 4:23).
God always instructs us down to the last detail. Is my ear sensitive enough to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God . . .” (Ephesians 4:30). He does not speak with a voice like thunder— His voice is so gentle that it is easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is— drop it, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Fresh Cooked is Always Better - #7132
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
After all the hamburgers I have eaten in my life, I must be an expert. Now, when they say, "You are what you eat", oh that's scary. I'm the world's largest hamburger. I might have to spend the rest of my life on a bun. No, no, no. Well, my schedule actually sometimes leaves me no choice but fast food. I'm kind of stuck with something like a fast-food hamburger.
But, every once in a while, I can take a few minutes extra and go to our local restaurant that specializes in grilled foods. I'd rather do that. I can get one of those juicy, mouth-watering, succulent, tasty, real hamburgers. I know the difference between pre-cooked and fresh cooked. Fresh cooked takes longer, but it tastes great! When it comes to eating well, we know that fresh cooked is always better.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fresh Cooked is Always Better."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jeremiah 15:16. Jeremiah says, "When your words came, I ate them. They were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear Your name, O Lord God Almighty." Now, Jeremiah here is excited about getting direct nourishment from God's Word. He's got his spiritual food fresh, not pre-cooked.
We live in a world that is loaded with "helps" for getting spiritual nutrition. Oh, man, there are a lot of devotional books around; shelves and shelves of them at the Christian book store and they're good. There are these radio programs that people do, or so I've heard. There are lots of sermons, conferences. You can hear messages live, you can hear them on CD, you can hear them on the internet, you can get them on DVD if you like the way the guy looks. There are a lot of things out there that are available, and they're all good. But in a sense, it's all pre-cooked through someone else's life.
For them, when God spoke it to them through His Word, it was fresh. For you, it's sort of spiritual fast food. I mean, we live in a time when time is really precious. We want to have our time with the Lord, but we want to have it quick; sort of microwave Jesus time. So we grab a devotional Big Mac or Whopper, and it's better than nothing. But the heart of your intimacy with your Lord is when you go direct - you to Him/Him to you. You maybe need to put all those helps away for a little while. They're just supplemental. Get your Bible open; speak to the author. Ask Him to connect those words that came from His heart to your heart. And then to something going on in your life, let God's words pass from His heart to yours and no one in the middle. Takes a little longer, just like fresh cooking does, but it's so much better.
That's why Jeremiah says, "I got it from You straight Lord. Your words came. I ate them. My joy, my heart's delight." The Psalmist in Psalm 119 prayed, "Show me wonderful things from Your law O Lord." What a prayer to pray! Every day, "Oh, Lord, show me some wonderful things from Your Word." He said, "I get Your word from Your mouth."
Okay, you meditate on His Word. What does that mean? It means to simply think about it until you have connected it to something that's happening in your life right now. You don't just read the Bible. The Bible should read you. It's supposed to be a life-changer; changing something in your day. You pray through what you have just read and say, "Lord, make it come alive in my heart, make it come alive in my mind, and make it come alive in my life today." And then write down what God has said to you and what you feel you should do about it. Write it down in a journal; put it in your own words. Write down, "What did God say to me today and what am I going to do about what He said?"
Don't just rely on someone else's experience with God's Word. Get it from God direct to you. Don't let a busy schedule or spiritual laziness rob you of a meal God is preparing just for you, just for today-fresh cooked.
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