Max Lucado Daily: God is Righteous
The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:18, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." Yes, righteousness is what God is-and yes, righteousness is what we are not! And, yes, righteousness is what God requires. But Romans 3:21 tells us, "God has a way to make people right with Him."
In the 23rd Psalm, David said it like this, "He leads me in the path of righteousness." And Daniel 9:14 declares, "Our God is right in everything He does."
The path of righteousness is a narrow, winding trail up a steep hill. At the top of the hill is a cross. At the base of the cross are countless bags full of innumerable sins. Get the point? Calvary is the compost pile for guilt. Wouldn't you like to leave yours there as well?
From Traveling Light
Job 28
Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found
There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Mortals put an end to the darkness;
they search out the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.
4 Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,
in places untouched by human feet;
far from other people they dangle and sway.
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;
6 lapis lazuli comes from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it.
8 Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.
9 People assault the flinty rock with their hands
and lay bare the roots of the mountains.
10 They tunnel through the rock;
their eyes see all its treasures.
11 They search[a] the sources of the rivers
and bring hidden things to light.
12 But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, “It is not in me”;
the sea says, “It is not with me.”
15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.
22 Destruction[b] and Death say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
28 And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Proverbs 15:16-23
Better a little with the fear of the Lord
than great wealth with turmoil.
17 Better a small serving of vegetables with love
than a fattened calf with hatred.
18 A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,
but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.
19 The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,
but the path of the upright is a highway.
20 A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish man despises his mother.
21 Folly brings joy to one who has no sense,
but whoever has understanding keeps a straight course.
22 Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.
23 A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—
and how good is a timely word!
Insight
Proverbs 15:22 instructs us on the importance of seeking wise counsel. Many of the people in Scripture sought out counsel from wise and trusted advisors. Moses asked advice from his father-in-law Jethro about how to lead and judge Israel (Ex. 18:13-24). Ahithophel was so wise that it was said that his advice “was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God” (2 Sam. 16:23). But the greatest counsel we can seek is from God Himself. James tells us that if we lack wisdom, we can ask of God and He will give it to us because He “gives to all liberally and without reproach” (James 1:5).
Many Advisors
By Marvin Williams
Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. —Proverbs 15:22
The fifteenth-century theologian Thomas à Kempis said, “Who is so wise as to have perfect knowledge of all things? Therefore, trust not too much to your own opinion, but be ready also to hear the opinions of others. Though your own opinion be good, yet if for the love of God you forego it and follow that of another, you shall the more profit thereby.” Thomas recognized the importance of seeking the opinions of trusted advisors when making plans for life.
In order to determine God’s course for life, the wise person should open up to several avenues of counsel, through which God will bring His guiding wisdom. When a person seeks the wise counsel of others, he shows his realization that he might be overlooking some important factors in his decisions.
Solomon, the wisest man in Israel, wrote about how important it is to have counsel from others: “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established” (Prov. 15:22).
The Lord is the Wonderful Counselor (Isa. 9:6), and He desires to protect us through wise advisors. Seek them out and thank God for them. Let them help you discover a clearer picture of His plan for your life.
If you seek wise counsel, you multiply your chances for sound decisions.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 16, 2014
. . you may be partakers of the divine nature . . . —2 Peter 1:4
We are made “partakers of the divine nature,” receiving and sharing God’s own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of recognizing God’s provision for us. We say, however, “Oh, I can’t afford it.” One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is a sign of true humility to say at the end of the day, “Well, I just barely got by today, but it was a severe struggle.” And yet all of Almighty God is ours in the Lord Jesus! And He will reach to the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will only obey Him. Does it really matter that our circumstances are difficult? Why shouldn’t they be! If we give way to self-pity and indulge in the luxury of misery, we remove God’s riches from our lives and hinder others from entering into His provision. No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges— always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. And there is nothing lovely or generous about our lives.
Before God becomes satisfied with us, He will take everything of our so-called wealth, until we learn that He is our Source; as the psalmist said, “All my springs are in You” (Psalm 87:7). If the majesty, grace, and power of God are not being exhibited in us, God holds us responsible. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you . . . may have an abundance . . .” (2 Corinthians 9:8)— then learn to lavish the grace of God on others, generously giving of yourself. Be marked and identified with God’s nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Disposable Commandment - #7135
Friday, May 16, 2014
I was thinking the other day about when my son informed me that our local supermarket near his high school had just installed a new air conditioning system. What he meant was that it had just been bulldozed! That store had been there since I could remember, and then in one day it was rubble in a vacant lot.
You've probably seen something like that happen in your area. Trees and wooded areas all over town are just disappearing quickly, suddenly becoming housing developments. And if there's a tree, let's tear it down and build a house. Couples who have been married for twenty-five or thirty years suddenly aren't couples any more. You and I live in a disposable world where things are dismantled or discarded everywhere we look, including some things that were never meant to be moved.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Disposable Commandment."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus chapter 20. You might recognize that as the Ten Commandments chapter, and I'll begin at verse 8, "Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work." Then it goes on to say, "None of your employees and none of your family should work either."
You can almost hear those that work the land trying to rationalize this and say, "Well, that's pretty good. We'll do that except when it's real busy-like harvest time, planting time." Exodus 34:21, "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest. Even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest." Well, God's pretty serious about this commandment. He's saying, "Even during your busiest season, whatever that is, you've got to have a day reserved and committed to rest and reverence."
If we look at a typical American Christian's Sunday, we might conclude that this is the disposable commandment. Well, there's no such thing, but no one challenges us if we disobey this one. We don't even have any real guilt; we don't even feel like we disobeyed a commandment. But check your Bible. It hasn't moved. It's still there. It's in the commandments.
In our busy lives, and I speak for myself, Sunday tends to become the catch-all day for the tasks you couldn't get done all week: the yard work, the spill over from your job, getting ready for Monday's work, work on the car, work on the house. Now, look, I'm the last guy who wants to start a new legalism. The Bible says, "When you've got an ox in the ditch and it just absolutely has to be done, well okay, you can take care of that on the Lord's Day."
But I'm talking about a reordering of our lives to do everything possible to reserve one day for rest and reverence. We've been commanded to do it. That's hard for me. My life is jammed. I've got to make that choice. It's going to be God, it's going to be family, it's going to be rest and recovery. That's what happens on the day that is called the Lord's Day.
It's hard to keep that commandment sometimes, but God has consistently honored that by making six days more productive for me than seven. It's kind of like tithing where God can do more with the 90% in your life because you gave Him 10%, than you could do with 100%. God seems to have closed all the loopholes here. He wants us to obey Him, no matter how busy we are.
Let's honor our Lord by reserving a day a week. I don't know who said we could knock down the walls around the Lord's Day, but this isn't like our local store. The commandment was never meant to be knocked down, because there are no disposable commandments.
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