Max Lucado Daily: You Cannot Save Yourself
You work hard, pay your dues, and "zap"-your account with God is paid in full. Jesus says, "No way."
What you want costs far more than you can pay. You don't need a system of payment, you need a Savior. You don't need a resume, you need a Redeemer.
The Bible says, "For what is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27). Don't miss the thrust of this verse. You cannot save yourself. Not through the right rituals. The right doctrine. Not through the right goose bumps. Jesus' point is crystal clear. It is impossible for human beings to save themselves.
It's not the possessions-it's the pomp that hinders us. It's a different path. Admission of failure isn't usually admission into joy. Complete confession isn't commonly followed by total pardon. But then again, God has never been governed by what's common!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you forever;
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:7
Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians
17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
Insight
In today’s passage, Paul reminded the Thessalonian believers about the great opposition to the gospel that accompanied his ministry to them. This young congregation had experienced its share of persecution, so Paul’s transparency about his struggles helped strengthen their faith.
Much More Than Survival
January 13, 2014 — by C. P. Hia
Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love. —1 Thessalonians 3:6
In April 1937, Mussolini’s invading armies forced all the missionaries serving in the Wallamo region to flee Ethiopia. They left behind just 48 Christian converts, who had little more than the gospel of Mark to feed their growth. Few even knew how to read. But when the missionaries returned 4 years later, the church had not just survived; it numbered 10,000!
When the apostle Paul was forced to leave Thessalonica (see Acts 17:1-10), he yearned to learn about the survival of the small band of Christians he left behind (1 Thess. 2:17). But when Timothy visited the Thessalonian church later, he brought word to Paul in Athens about their “faith and love” (1 Thess. 3:6). They had become “examples” to the believers in the surrounding regions in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thess. 1:8).
Paul never claimed credit for any numerical increase in his ministry. Nor did he attribute it to anyone else. Rather, he gave credit to God. He wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6).
Difficult circumstances may thwart even our best intentions, separating friends from each other for a season. But God is growing His church through every difficulty. We need only be faithful and leave the results to Him.
Lord, we are so prone to be fearful when we face
opposition, yet so often we want to take credit
for every little success. Help us see that You are
the One who blesses and builds Your church.
I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. —Jesus (Matthew 16:18)
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 13, 2014
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)
When He was alone . . . the twelve asked Him about the parable —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
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Leaky People - #7046
Monday, January 13, 2014
For many years I was kind of an old fashioned sort of guy in shaving. You know, I wasn't going to have any of those electric shavers for me. I've sort of succumbed now. But for many years I shaved, well, what I thought was like real men. Which meant cooking my beard with hot water first. And that required filling that sink with hot water; as hot as I could stand it. Now, in order for that to happen, the sink has to be able to hold water for a few minutes. And you know what I've noticed traveling around? They don't all do it. I can get them all full; I just couldn't keep them all full. So I'd close the drain, but they just didn't all hold water. I have to keep filling the sink, filling the sink because it leaked.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leaky People."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 5:17-18. Here's the real secret of spiritual power. "Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery. Instead, (Now listen to these words.) be filled with the Spirit." Now, those words cover one of the most powerful possibilities in the Bible. When you trust Jesus, God - the Holy Spirit - moves into your body. It becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 6. He brings with Him all the power of God right into your body.
The question isn't a believer getting the Holy Spirit; it's how much of you the Holy Spirit is getting. You live supernaturally when you're filled with the Spirit. Now the Greek word means to be saturated, to be controlled by, to be taken over by the Holy Spirit. It's a command here, "be filled with the Spirit."
If you read it in English, you might conclude that you just show up once at the Holy Spirit pump and get your lifetime fill-up. "There, I've been filled with the Spirit." But the Greek is what they call a progressive tense verb, "Be filled with the Spirit over and over again. Keep on being filled with the Spirit." It's not a once-and-for-all spiritual zap.
Somebody once asked the great evangelist, D. L. Moody, why he kept praying for the filling of the Holy Spirit. He said, "Madam, I leak." Well, we all do! It's like filling those sinks with hot water when I was shaving. I could get them full but I couldn't keep them full. They leak. So a leaky sink requires repeated refilling. Fill it just once and pretty soon it will be empty. A Holy Spirit take-over yesterday does not guarantee one for today. There are so many other things that fill you up in a day's time.
We Western Christians are products of an instant, get-it-now, get-it-fast culture. We want instant money from those machines, instant food from a restaurant, instant cooking from a microwave. We like to get it done. So we want to find a quick and final spiritual experience that we can go on for the rest of our lives. Being filled with the Spirit sounds like a good choice, but we leak like D. L. Moody said. He said, "I need a fresh filling for Boston, then for Philadelphia. When I'm in New York, I need to get a fresh filling for New York."
Well, we need a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit for Wednesday, and for Thursday, and we need another one for Friday, for today's calls, for today's conversations, for today's To Do List, today's challenges and surprises and stress. Keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let each day begin with a sacred rendezvous between you and your God; a time when you identify what else may have taken over; what else you may be filled with. And then repent of it. And then open yourself up to let your Lord again take over your personality, and take over your tongue, and your thoughts and your judgment. To take over your body and your plans.
Just keep on being filled with the Spirit. Remember, we're leaky people, and God - the Holy Spirit - offers free refills so you can have a supernatural day.