Max Lucado Daily: Looking Unto Jesus
The writer of Hebrews urges us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Heart disease runs in our family, so I run each morning. And as I'm running, my body is groaning. Things hurt. And as things hurt, I've learned I have options. Go home. Meditate on my hurts until I start imagining I'm having chest pains-or-I can keep running and watch the sun come up. I have a front-row seat to watch God's world go from dark to golden. Guess what? The same happens to my attitude.
Wasn't that the counsel of the Hebrew epistle…"Looking unto Jesus?" Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God."
Now-what were you looking at?
From Traveling Light
Matthew 14:22-36
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 10:1-10
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Insight
At the time of Jesus, Jewish shepherds kept their flocks in communal sheepfolds—normally stone-walled enclosures. These sheepfolds would house many flocks overnight. In the morning, the shepherd was allowed to enter the sheepfold. As he walked and called among the mixed flocks, only his own sheep would respond to him. Hearing and recognizing the shepherd’s voice, his sheep would follow him out of the sheepfold to the pasture.
Blessed Forgetfulness
By Julie Ackerman Link
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved. —John 10:9
My office is downstairs, but I make frequent trips upstairs to various rooms in my house for one thing or another. Unfortunately, by the time I get upstairs I often forget what I was planning to do when I got there. Researcher Gabriel Radvansky has come up with an explanation for this phenomenon. He proposes that a doorway serves as an “event boundary.”
After conducting three different experiments, he theorized that a doorway signals the brain that the information held in memory can be filed away—but it’s frustrating when I’m standing there trying to remember why I came upstairs. However, forgetfulness can be a blessing. When I shut the door to our bedroom at night and settle down to sleep, it’s a blessing to forget the worries of the day.
When I think of the fact that Jesus called Himself “the door” (John 10:7,9), I gain a new appreciation for this metaphor. When sheep enter the pen, they enter a safe place protected from thieves and predators. For believers, the Great Shepherd is the door between us and our enemies. Once we enter the sheepfold, we can “forget” all dangers and threats. We can enjoy divine forgetfulness and rest in the protection of the Great Shepherd.
Thank You, Father, for the peace of mind
that comes from knowing You are standing
watch over the events of our lives. Help us
to rest securely in Your protection.
Christ is the door that keeps us in and keeps the dangers out.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
The Life To Know Him
. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Choice and the Child in You - #7142
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
I'm pretty sure a woman wrote that famous rhyme "The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys." Actually, I think there's a little boy that does live inside of most men. Look, we're all grown up now, but we've got this little five-year-old kid in us. Come on. And, by the way, I think there's a little girl who lives inside of most women.
It doesn't come out too often, but it comes out at certain times like when it snows. There's just this urge to throw a snowball. Or when you go to an amusement park with your kids. Oh yeah, and Christmas. Christmas! That brings out the child inside. I think that the more adult responsibilities we get and the more sophisticated we become, the harder it is for that little boy or that little girl to get out. But you need that kid!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Choice and the Child in You."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 18, beginning at verse 2. Jesus was conducting a very memorable object lesson, and it says this: "He called a little child and had him stand among them. And He said: (Now, He's talking to all these sophisticated adults.) 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" Well obviously Jesus is saying here, "You've got to become childlike." Not childish. But you've got to become childlike again if you're going to get eternal life. Wow!
I was talking to a man who struck me as a very serious fellow, and I said, "Hey, listen, there's a child in all of us." I said, "You know, if the little boy in you ever dies, you might as well. It's pretty much over when the kid goes away." Well, spiritually, Jesus might agree with that. Keep that child inside of you alive, because you need it to get to heaven.
What's He saying here? That you've got to be like a little child to get to heaven? Well, the Bible says "Without faith it is impossible to please God." And in John 1:12, the Bible says, "To all those who received Him, to as many as believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God." In other words, if you put all your trust in Jesus, you get into God's family. It's not religion, it's not giving, and it's not correct doctrine. You trust Jesus and what He did when He died for you.
See, the older we get the harder that is. But how about with a child? Well, a child gets hurt, runs to the parent and trusts the parent's treatment. A little child has a question, they ask Mommy or Daddy. A little child is scared? Look to Mom and Dad. The older we get, the more we do for ourselves and the less we put our hope in our parents.
That's okay in our families here on earth. But let's talk about God's family, because that's a sure way to miss God. Maybe you've gotten pretty far on your own and you pride yourself. You're self-reliant. You say, "Hey, I can handle it." Well, you can't handle the gap between you and God. Every culture in the world knows there's something between us and God. And I believe your own heart tells you that.
The Bible confirms that in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sin has separated you from your God." Romans 3:10 says, "There's no one righteous, no not one." Not compared to a perfect God, of course. But Romans 5:6 says, "When we were totally powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Now, maybe you're a believer and you've even told that to others. But you could have missed the one thing that will give you that relationship with God. You have never surrendered yourself to Him and fallen on your knees at the cross where Jesus died for you and said, "Lord, I am powerless." And like a little child, putting all their trust in the parent who can do it for them what they can never do for themselves, you say, "I give myself to You. I put my total trust in You, Jesus, what You died to give me. You're all I've got. You're my only hope."
Have you ever done that? This might be your time. This could change everything: your life and your eternity. You say, "Ron, I don't know how to do that." I want to encourage you to go to our website as soon as you can today and let me meet you there and we'll work together on that. It's ANewStory.com.
Maybe you've tried to know God with a smart, sophisticated, self-trusting, adult reasoning. You can't get to heaven that way. The kids sing it "Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so." It's time to say, "I'm not going to be able to walk to heaven on my own, Lord. Please carry me."