Max Lucado Daily: Let Him Decide
You've shared your disappointments with your neighbor, your relatives, your friends. But have you taken them to God? James 5:13 says, 'Anyone who is having troubles should pray."
Before you go anywhere else with your disappointments, go to God. Maybe you don't want to trouble Him with your hurts. "He's got famines and wars; He won't care about my little struggles," you think. Why don't you let Him decide that?
He cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about Peter's tax payment to give him a coin. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers. He cares about you! Your first step is to go to the right person. Go to God. Your second step is to assume the right posture. Bow before God. And-trust in Him!
Go. Bow. Trust. Worth a try-don't you think?
From Traveling Light
Job 37
“At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4 After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
7 So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor.[f]
8 The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.
9 The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.
10 The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.
11 He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
12 At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.
13 He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.
14 “Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.
15 Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
17 You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
18 can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
19 “Tell us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?
21 Now no one can look at the sun,
bright as it is in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.
22 Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;
God comes in awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
24 Therefore, people revere him,
for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?[g]”
Job 37:7 Or work, / he fills all people with fear by his power
Job 37:24 Or for he does not have regard for any who think they are wise.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 4:18-22
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Insight
These two pairs of brothers (Peter and Andrew, James and John) were the earliest disciples to respond to Jesus’ call. Most likely, Peter, Andrew, and John had an earlier encounter with Jesus (John 1:35-42). In today’s passage, the Lord is calling them to abandon their fishing trade and to follow Him fully and permanently (Matt. 4:20,22). Later, Peter declared that they had left all to follow Jesus (19:27). These four had been partners in the fishing business (Luke 5:10). Peter, James, and John were also privileged to become the inner circle among Jesus’ 12 disciples (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).
Quest For Stolen Treasure
By Joe Stowell
[Jesus] said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” —Matthew 4:19
In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the dwarfs gathered to go up against Smaug, the fierce dragon, to retrieve their stolen treasure. In spite of the dangerously frightening quest, Balin, the dwarfs’ second-in-command, expressed confidence in Thorin: “There is one I could follow. There is one I could call King.” His commitment to the mission, as dangerous as it was, was empowered by his confidence in his leader.
At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He gathered a group around Him that would join Him in the kingdom task of rescuing the treasure of lost souls from our enemy, Satan. When He called them, He said, “Follow Me” (Matt. 4:19). For them, following Jesus would mean a radical transition from catching fish to the enterprise of being fishers of men and women who were lost in the grip of sin. But the task would not always be easy; Jesus referred to the quest as taking up our cross to follow Him (see Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).
How do we stay engaged in the battle to reclaim Christ’s lost treasures when it seems intimidating or awkward? By keeping our eye on our Leader. He indeed is worthy—One we can follow, the One we call King!
Lord, in the face of intimidation and fear when
seeking to engage others with the gospel, remind
me that they are Your lost treasures. I count it
a privilege to follow You into others’ lives.
Follow your Leader into the lives of those around you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Trademark - #7144
Thursday, May 29, 2014
We tend to remember people by what they are most known for. Like, if you're from an older generation, well they would know Sinatra's "Old Blue Eyes" or you might remember Bob Hope. He had a trademark song, "Thanks for the Memories." Or let's say, "Linus" what do you think of? Right, the blanket - he's known for that. That's his trademark. Of course you have a trademark too...something that the people you work with, the people you go to school with, remember about you. That's your trademark. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, I know what your trademark should be, and it is so rare in our world today it's really noticeable. Didn't use to be rare, but it is now. And if you have it, you'll be noticed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trademark."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in the life of the Old Testament character Nehemiah. He had been carried away in the captivity of the Jews and taken to Persia where he's now a servant. As a Jew, he had worked his way up into the Persian hierarchy. He was actually a servant to King Artaxerxes - cupbearer of the king, which meant that he sampled every meal and participated every time there was a mealtime. He was pretty close to the king. He was a man with a trademark. I think it ought to be every believer's trademark.
And we pick it up in Nehemiah 2. "In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes when wine was brought for him, I took the wine..." This is Nehemiah speaking in the first person, "...and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, 'Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.'"
This little conversation, by the way, led to historic results. Nehemiah was able to talk about his burden for the walls of his city, Jerusalem, which had been torn down, and the king gave him the resources and the permission to go back and rebuild that city - the city of God - and really bring about part of the restoration of Israel in that day. It all started when the king said, "How come you're not smiling? I'm not used to seeing you like this."
You know what? Nehemiah was a man with big problems but a predictable smile. I mean, he's basically a captive. He's being treated well, but he is a captive in another country, he's been ripped away from home, he's got a tremendous burden - a problem he doesn't know how to solve in terms of the city of Jerusalem, but he's always smiling. You could always count on Nehemiah being the positive guy in the room. So, when he was down, it was an event.
How is it for you? I wonder when you are down, is that unusual? Does everybody take note? I wonder what kind of atmosphere you have around you? Well, I can tell you what. Around Nehemiah it was positive, it was radiant, it was happy. Later in this book, Nehemiah shared his secret. Here's what he said, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Not the joy of your situation. A lot of times there's no joy in the situation but the joy of the Lord.
In our world smiles have been replaced by being "cool." You just don't see many smiles. Stand along the street, in a school hallway, in an office building. There are not many smiles. But if you can relax in the great plans of God for your life and stifle the sarcasm and the negativity, your smile could become a fixture where you work like it was where Nehemiah worked.
When it's tense, and late, pressured, fatigued, and worrisome where you are, watch what your smile can do. Let the joy of the Lord light up your life. Let it be your trademark, and it will light up all those stressed out lives of all those people around you.