Max Lucado Daily: God's Best Idea
Your dad makes you come to church, but he can't make you listen. At least that's what you've always muttered to yourself. But this morning you listen because he speaks of a God who loves prodigals, and you feel like the worst sort of one. You can't keep the pregnancy a secret much longer. Soon your parents will know. The preacher will know. He says God already knows. You wonder what God thinks!
Grace is God's best idea. Rather than tell us to change, he creates the change. Do we clean up so he can accept us? No, he accepts us and begins cleaning us up. What a difference this makes.
Can't forgive your past? Christ can, and he is on the move, aggressively budging you from graceless to grace-shaped living. Forgiven people forgiving people. Deep sighs of relief.
Grace is everything Jesus!
From GRACE
Revelation 20
New International Version (NIV)
The Thousand Years
20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They[a] had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
The Judgment of Satan
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The Judgment of the Dead
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Footnotes:
Revelation 20:4 Or God; I also saw those who
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Isaiah 30:1-5,18-19
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
30 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
Insight
In Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s text, we see the great heart of patience our God has toward us even in our worst moments (see 2 Peter 3:15). In verse 18, Isaiah says that the Lord waits “that He may be gracious” to those who fail. His exalted position is one from which He exercises mercy on our behalf. Isaiah issues the challenge that we also are to wait upon Him, for He alone can bring justice into our broken world.
Boo!
By Julie Ackerman Link
[God] will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. —Isaiah 30:19
One of the early games that many parents play with their children involves a fake scare. Dad hides his face behind his hands and suddenly reveals himself while saying, “Boo!” The child giggles at this silliness.
Being frightened is a fun game until the day when the child experiences a real scare. Then it’s no laughing matter. The first real scare often involves separation from a parent. The child wanders away innocently, moving from one attraction to another. But as soon as she realizes she is lost, she panics and lets out a loud cry of alarm. The parent immediately comes running to reassure the child that she is not alone.
As we get older, our fake scares become sophisticated—scary books, movies, amusement park rides. Being scared is so invigorating that we may begin taking bigger risks for bigger thrills.
But when a real scare comes, we may realize that we, like the ancient Israelites (Isa. 30), have wandered from the One who loves and cares for us. Recognizing that we are in danger, we panic. Our call for help does not require sophisticated words or a well-reasoned defense, just a desperate cry.
Like a loving parent, God responds quickly for He longs to have us live in the protection of His love where we need never be afraid.
Trusting God’s faithfulness helps dispel our fearfulness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 06, 2014
Taking the Next Step
. . . in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses —2 Corinthians 6:4
When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17 .
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Grandfather's Three Big Ideas for Justin Bieber - #7084
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Justin Bieber's been in the headlines an awful lot. Not so much for hit records any more, but for a lot of the trouble that he's gotten into. Well, I'm a grandfather, and so I thought there are some things I might like to write to him. It might go something like this: "I've got six grandsons, Justin. I can't believe it! One is almost your age.
So when I read about your troubles with the law, saw you in a jail jumpsuit, my grandfather's heart was sad. I know you've gotten it all from people. I mean, you've gotten affection, you've got attack, you've got sympathetic people, snarky people. I know you've been blessed with a tsunami of success. I mean, who knew when you were shooting those little YouTube videos, who could have imagined all the massive hits you'd have and all the fans going crazy over you?
And all the choices you'd have because you could do and have anything you want. That's a pretty heavy backpack for a 19-year-old guy to carry. With all the people slamming you and all the people sweet-talking you, I thought you might be ready for a couple of big ideas from a grandfather's heart."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, by the way, and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Grandfather's Three Big Ideas for Justin Bieber."
Back to the letter: "Justin, let's say we're taking a slow walk on a long beach. Here's what I'd want to tell you... Big Idea #1 - You are choosing a road, not just something to do.
One time I was driving from northern Arizona, straight south to Phoenix to see my little grandson in the hospital. When I got to Flagstaff, I picked a ramp. Two hours later, I wasn't seeing Phoenix; I was seeing signs for California! Little did I know when I got on that ramp I was choosing a road that would take me where I did not want to go.
Life has a lot of "ramps" like that: deciding to hook up with someone, picking friends to hang out with, partying like you want because, 'Hey, I'm young, I want to have some fun! What's wrong with that? Trying stuff that helps you feel good or forget feeling bad.'
What we don't realize until it's too late, like 'why am I in California?' is that we're choosing a road we'll be on for a long time. And if it's the wrong road, we're going to end up where we never meant to go; like in a courtoom, in rehab, or just looking in a mirror and saying, 'What happened to you, man?' I don't want that to happen to you.
Jesus actually said these words, and it would be a word for today from the Word of God. It's in Matthew 7:13-14. 'Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road.' Hey, that's a good one; an easy one to be on. '...that leads to destruction.' Oh! '...and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.' It's the destination that matters most isn't it?
Here's Big Idea #2 - The calculator's always running. Temptation says, 'Hey, forget the consequences.' Reality says, 'The bill is gonna come, man.' Or, as the Bible says in Galatians 6:7, 'Whatever you sow, you will reap.' The harvest may not come immediately, but it's gonna come. We may not see it. We may not feel it. But that calculator is always running, and it's adding up the bill we're going to get.
Big Idea #3 - You're made for more. When millions of people are freaking out over you, it's easy to start believing you're the "sun" and everyone else is the "planets" who revolve around me. That's not how it's supposed to be. You've probably already discovered that a world that's only as big as "me" is a world that's too small to live in. Yeah, being a celebrity may allow you to act like you're bigger than the rules and more important than everyone else. But it ain't so. "Me" living leaves you lonely, empty and hurting. As the old saying goes, 'laughing on the outside, crying on the inside.'
No, man, you're made for more. You've been blessed with a lot. You're 19 and you've got so much influence. So whatever road you're on, other people follow you there. If it's a road to a 'make a difference' life, you'll lead other people there. If it's a road that goes over a cliff, they'll crash with you.
I read somewhere that you recently added a tattoo of Jesus on your calf, I think. If you want a hint of the "more" you were made for, take a look at that picture. He showed us how to really live. The Bible says, 'All things were created by Him and for Him.' We're made to revolve around Him, not to have everybody revolve around us. And He died for you, man, and He rose from the grave to prove that He can conquer everything in your life.
If you want that love and that power, you just tell Him, 'Jesus, I'm Yours.' I would love to meet you at our website and help you begin that relationship with Him. Just go to ANewStory.com. It's crossroads time; a lot riding on which road you choose.
My favorite poet, said: 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the road less traveled. And that has made all the difference.' I pray you'll choose that road, because I like happy endings."
