Max Lucado Daily: The Only Reason for Bragging
A philosopher once asked, "Do you wish people to speak well of you? Then never speak well of yourself." In other words-get over yourself!
In Luke 14:10, Jesus said to His followers, "Go sit in a seat that's not important. When the host comes to you, he may say, 'Friend, move up here to a more important place.' Then all the other guests will respect you."
Paul said in Galatians 6:14, "The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging."
Do you feel a need for affirmation? Does your self-esteem need attention? You don't need to drop names or show off. You need only pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this. The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that's a fact. So if you need to brag-brag about that!
From Traveling Light
Job 31
“I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a young woman.
2 For what is our lot from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?
4 Does he not see my ways
and count my every step?
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit—
6 let God weigh me in honest scales
and he will know that I am blameless—
7 if my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands have been defiled,
8 then may others eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.
9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.
11 For that would have been wicked,
a sin to be judged.
12 It is a fire that burns to Destruction[e];
it would have uprooted my harvest.
13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
whether male or female,
when they had a grievance against me,
14 what will I do when God confronts me?
What will I answer when called to account?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor
or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless—
18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
and from my birth I guided the widow—
19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
or the needy without garments,
20 and their hearts did not bless me
for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
knowing that I had influence in court,
22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.
23 For I dreaded destruction from God,
and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.
24 “If I have put my trust in gold
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
the fortune my hands had gained,
26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
or the moon moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.
29 “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
or gloated over the trouble that came to him—
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against their life—
31 if those of my household have never said,
‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—
32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the traveler—
33 if I have concealed my sin as people do,[f]
by hiding my guilt in my heart
34 because I so feared the crowd
and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
that I kept silent and would not go outside—
35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser put his indictment in writing.
36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
I would put it on like a crown.
37 I would give him an account of my every step;
I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—
38 “if my land cries out against me
and all its furrows are wet with tears,
39 if I have devoured its yield without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,
40 then let briers come up instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Job 31:12 Hebrew Abaddon
Job 31:33 Or as Adam did
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 24:32-44
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[a] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[b] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Footnotes:
Matthew 24:33 Or he
Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.
Insight
In His teaching, Christ often used examples from nature, as He did here with the fig tree (Matt. 24:32). He communicated to His listeners with word-pictures that would be familiar to them. They were part of an agricultural society that mostly lived outdoors, so nature became the perfect vehicle for His presentation of spiritual truths.
Once Upon A Time
By Cindy Hess Kasper
The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. —Jonah 1:17
Some people say that the Bible is just a collection of fairy tales. A boy slaying a giant. A man swallowed by a big fish. Noah’s boat-building experience. Even some religious people think that these events are just nice stories with a good moral.
Jesus Himself, however, spoke of Jonah and the giant fish, and Noah and the flood, as actual events: “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39). His return will happen when we’re not expecting it.
Jesus compared Jonah’s 3 days inside the big fish to the 3 days He would experience in the grave before His resurrection (Matt. 12:40). And Peter talked about Noah and the flood when he equated it to a future day when Jesus comes back (2 Peter 2:4-9).
God gave us His Word; it’s a book that is filled with truth—not fairy tales. And one day, we will live happily ever after with Him when Jesus comes again and receives His children to Himself.
We’re waiting for You, Lord, to come
And take us home to be with You;
Your promise to return for us
Gives hope because we know it’s true. —Sper
We have reason for optimism if we’re looking for Christ’s return.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Taking Possession of Our Own Soul
By your patience possess your souls —Luke 21:19
When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning that he previously had. We must learn to express this new life within us, which comes by forming the mind of Christ (see Philippians 2:5). Luke 21:19 means that we take possession of our souls through patience. But many of us prefer to stay at the entrance to the Christian life, instead of going on to create and build our soul in accordance with the new life God has placed within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way God has made us, and we blame things on the devil that are actually the result of our own undisciplined natures. Just think what we could be when we are awakened to the truth!
There are certain things in life that we need not pray about— moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with is simply that we won’t. The Christian life is one of spiritual courage and determination lived out in our flesh.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Problem with Bible Clubs - #7137
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
A Bible is pretty versatile. I mean, it can be a file. Did you ever notice how much people stick in their Bible? I look at mine sometimes, and I find a number of things in there I don't want to lose. Unfortunately it does hurt the binding a little bit. Sometimes the Bible can be a record book. You see these Bibles where people put important dates, their family tree, weddings, deaths, and the autographs of people whose ministry they want to remember.
A Bible can be an antique. You can go into an antique store and drop quite a few bucks getting one of those old Bibles. And a Bible is a great gift. I've gotten several as a gift. A Bible can be your identification. I used to carry mine to school. My kids carried theirs to school; it sort of identifies you as a follower of Christ. At some times in my life the Bible's been a textbook. Oh yeah, there are a lot of ways you can use your Bible. There's one I hope you never use.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Problem with Bible Clubs."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 4:2. "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." This is a call, I think, to Bible balance. First of all, Paul is saying, "Use God's Word to help people know what's right; that's correct. To warn them about what they're doing wrong; that's rebuke. And to encourage them in what they're doing right. Use this book boldly to change people's lives. That's certainly part of it.
Here's the other part: Do it gently, do it patiently, do it carefully. Don't use the Bible as a club! You can use it for a lot of things, but not as a club to win an argument, or beat a person down, or shame them, or corner them. I know it's good to have some Bible clubs where kids meet to study the Bible around the school. I did that in high school. But don't use the Bible as a club. Too many people use the words of the Bible but lose the spirit of the Bible while they're doing it.
Ephesians 4:15 is the perfect balance, "Speaking the truth in love." The problem is often that the truth bearers leave out the love, and the lovers leave out the truth. It's important to be sure that you measure everything you believe and behave by God's Word. There is no room for, "Well, in my opinion..." Or, "I don't feel like it..." Or, "It doesn't seem right to me." "I just read this great Christian book and it says..." No, show me what the Bible says. God has spoken - final word.
It's important to remind each other of what the Bible says about how we're living. But it's important to be gentle, non-condemning and patient like God has been with you. We want to make sure that when we're communicating the truth, we're also communicating, "I care about you. That's why I'm doing this. That's why I'm giving you what the Bible says, to correct, or rebuke or encourage. I want God's best in your life. You're made for more. You're better than this." Not, "I'm sitting in judgment, and here are my verses."
Hebrews 4:12 says, "The Bible penetrates between soul and spirit." It's a sword that does that; it judges. We don't judge, but God's Word judges. So let God's Word do the judging. Share it and then let it do its penetrating work.
Use God's Word to love people with the truth. Don't use it as a club.